After a three-week jaunt around France, cycling"s most prestigious race concludes today with a triumphant procession into Paris before a sprint finish on the iconic Champs-Élysées. The 21st and final stage of this year"s Tour de France—the 108th edition of the famous event—begins in Chatou, a town in the western suburbs of Paris along the River Seine. Tour tradition dictates the overall race leader isn"t challenged on the last day, so it starts out as a victory parade for the champion-elect, who will be wearing a yellow jersey, posing for pictures, and sipping a glass of champagne along the route. But when the riders reach the heart of Paris, the pace picks up as they dash along the Champs-Élysées, a tree-lined promenade often described as the "most beautiful avenue in the world."
Grand finish of Le Tour
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
An historic forest
-
Upstate autumn
-
Tasiilaq, Greenland
-
The ‘Night of Nights’
-
A horse of many colors
-
Jan van Eyckplein in Bruges, Belgium
-
A splash by the sea
-
Can you see the family resemblance?
-
Great Backyard Bird Count
-
Red squirrel in Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
-
Land of the midnight sun
-
Is that a face in the sand?
-
The party’s just starting
-
Noctilucent clouds
-
Forward-thinking women of history
-
Surf s up—Down Under
-
Observing a squirrelly day
-
Let the games begin
-
Flag Day
-
Dancing waters of Dubai
-
Moselle River loop near Kröv, Germany
-
Up, up, and away for Hot Air Balloon Day
-
‘Ocian in view! O! The joy.’
-
An icy extravaganza
-
International Womens Day
-
Three cheers for polar bears!
-
Two rocks and a heart spot
-
Celebrating the Day of the Dead
-
Daiichi Tadami River Bridge, Fukushima, Japan
-
A willowy welcome to spring