The Fleming Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a bike) won the 21st and final stage of the Tour de France (WorldTour) on Sunday. The 30-year-old was 1st across the finishing live on the Champs- Élysées in Paris at the end of the 132.3-kilometres final stage from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris. Yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) finished 4th in Sunday’s final stage but was the overall winner of the 2025 Tour de France. It was the Slovene cyclist’s 4th Tour de France victory.
Speaking after his victory in Sunday’s final stage, Wout Van Aert said that “It’s a special day. It's really special to win here again, on the Champs-Élysées, given that we had to ascend Montmartre today for the first time”.
Wout Van Aert broke away on the final ascent of Sunday 21st and final stage. He told journalists that “The rain made things a bit difficult, but I managed to stay upright and had the full support of my teammates. I really want to thank them for believing in me and for always keeping up the effort. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to remain in control and give it my all on the final ascent”.
“Keeping faith was the hardest part.’
Van Aert had been aiming for a stage victory in this year’s Tour de France “I came close several times, but I was also quite far off on several occasions. Even yesterday, when I didn't feel well enough to make break away. The hardest thing for me was keeping faith. But thanks to those around me, I was able to succeed.”
Six stage victories for Belgian cyclists
The 2025 Tour de France finished as it started with a stage victory for a Belgian cyclist. This year Belgians won no fewer than 6 of the race’s 21 stages.
Jasper Philipsen won the 1st stage in Lille, Remco Evenepoel won the 5th stage in Caen, Tim Merlier won stages 3 and 9 (in Dunkirk and Châteauroux respectively), Tim Wellens was first across the finishing line in stage 15 in Carcassonne and Wout van Aert won the final stage in Paris.