The 2021 Tour de France was the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three grand tours. Originally planned for the Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the ) was transferred to Brest because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Copenhagen hosting four matches in the UEFA Euro 2020, which had also been rescheduled to 2021 because of the pandemic. Originally scheduled for 2 to 25 July 2021, the Tour was moved to 26 June to 18 July 2021 to avoid the rescheduled 2020 Summer Olympics. This would have been the first occasion on which the Tour de France had visited Denmark. Denmark instead hosted the in 2022.
The race was won for the second consecutive year by Tadej Pogačar of , becoming the youngest rider to win the Tour twice. Pogačar began to build his advantage with his win in the stage 5 time trial. He first took the maillot jaune on stage 8, when he gained almost three and a half minutes on the other contenders after attacking on the penultimate climb of the Col de Romme. He gained another half minute the next day on the summit finish to Tignes. Pogačar rode defensively in the second week before winning both mountaintop finishes at Col de Portet and Luz Ardiden in the third week. He won by 5' 20" over Jonas Vingegaard of . Vingegaard was originally supposed to be a domestique for his team's original leader, Primož Roglič. After Roglič's crash and eventual abandon, Vingegaard became the team's leader and rode into form in the second week. He managed to finish second on both mountaintop finishes in the third week before finishing third in the final time trial. Third place went to Richard Carapaz of , becoming the first Ecuadorian to finish on the podium in the Tour. He emerged as one of the three strongest climbers in the race, along with Pogačar and Vingegaard, before eventually finishing third on both summit finishes in the final week.
In the race's other classifications, Mark Cavendish of won the points classification for the second time in his career. Cavendish took the green jersey after winning his first Tour stage since 2016 on stage 4. He proceeded to win three more stages to equal Eddy Merckx's record for the most career Tour stage wins. Aside from winning the maillot jaune, Pogačar also won the mountains and young rider classifications for the second successive year. He clinched the win in the mountains classification after his back-to-back wins in the third week, adding 80 points to his tally as both stages' final climbs offered double points. He took the lead in the young rider classification after the first stage and held on to the lead until the end of the race. won the team classification while Franck Bonnamour of won the race's overall combativity award after being involved in several breakaways.
Teams
23 teams took part in the 2021 Tour de France. All 19 UCI WorldTeams were entitled and obliged to enter the race, and they were joined by four second-tier UCI ProTeams. , the best performing UCI ProTeam in 2020, received an automatic invitation, while the other three teams were selected by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organisers of the Tour. The teams were announced on 4 February 2021. Usually, only twenty-two teams would participate in the race, but for the 2021 season, the Union Cycliste Internationale is allowing the total number of riders to increase from the normal 176 to 184. With team sizes still set at eight riders, the decision allows grand tour organizers to invite one extra wildcard team.
UCI WorldTeams
UCI ProTeams
Pre-race favourites
In the lead up to the 2021 Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar () and Primož Roglič () were seen by many pundits as the top pre-race favourites for the general classification. Their closest rivals were considered to be the trio of Geraint Thomas, Richard Carapaz and Richie Porte from .
Pogačar was the defending champion and came into the 2021 edition with a successful start to the season, winning the overall classification at Tirreno–Adriatico and the Tour of Slovenia, finishing third at the Tour of the Basque Country, and winning his first Monument at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. After finishing as the Tour runner-up to Pogačar in 2020, Roglič went on to defend his overall title at the 2020 Vuelta a España. In 2021, Roglič finished fifteenth at Paris–Nice before claiming the overall classification at the Tour of the Basque Country. Thomas, the 2018 Tour champion, won the Tour de Romandie before finishing third overall in the lead-up Critérium du Dauphiné which was won by his teammate Porte. Their teammate Carapaz, the 2019 Giro d'Italia champion, won the other lead-up race, the Tour de Suisse.
The other riders considered contenders for the general classification were Rigoberto Urán (), duo Enric Mas and Miguel Ángel López, French riders Julian Alaphilippe (), Guillaume Martin () and David Gaudu (), 2020 Giro d'Italia champion Tao Geoghegan Hart () and fellow podium finisher Wilco Kelderman ().
The sprinters considered favourites for the points classification and wins on the flat or hilly bunch sprint finishes were seven-time green jersey winner Peter Sagan (), Caleb Ewan (), Arnaud Démare (), Tim Merlier and Mathieu van der Poel (), Wout van Aert (), Sonny Colbrelli (), Michael Matthews () and Mark Cavendish, who was a late replacement for the injured defending champion Sam Bennett at .
Route and stages
In February 2019, it was announced that Denmark would host the of the Tour in 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was delayed to 2022.
The route for the 2021 Tour de France was announced by Christian Prudhomme on 1 November 2020, during France Télévisions' programme. The race covered a distance of , and saw its longest stage since the 2000 Tour de France, with on stage seven. +Stage characteristics Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner 1 26 June Brest to Landerneau Hilly stage 2 27 June Perros-Guirec to Guerlédan (Mûr-de-Bretagne) Medium-mountain stage 3 28 June Lorient to Pontivy Flat stage 4 29 June Redon to Fougères Flat stage 5 30 June Changé to Laval Individual time trial 6 1 July Tours to Châteauroux Flat stage 7 2 July Vierzon to Le Creusot Medium-mountain stage 8 3 July Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand Mountain stage 9 4 July Cluses to Tignes Mountain stage 5 July Tignes Rest day 10 6 July Albertville to Valence Flat stage 11 7 July Sorgues to Malaucène Mountain stage 12 8 July Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Nîmes Flat stage 13 9 July Nîmes to Carcassonne Flat stage 14 10 July Carcassonne to Quillan Medium-mountain stage 15 11 July Céret to Andorra la Vella (Andorra) Mountain stage 12 July Andorra la Vella (Andorra) Rest day 16 13 July El Pas de la Casa (Andorra) to Saint-Gaudens Medium-mountain stage 17 14 July Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan (Col de Portet) Mountain stage 18 15 July Pau to Luz Ardiden Mountain stage 19 16 July Mourenx to Libourne Flat stage 20 17 July Libourne to Saint-Émilion Individual time trial 21 18 July Chatou to Paris (Champs-Élysées) Flat stage Total
Race overview
First week: Brittany to Alps
The first stage featured a hilly course from Brest to Landerneau, with the finish situated atop the climb of Côte de la Fosse aux Loups. A group of six broke away from the peloton, taking a lead of four minutes before Ide Schelling () attacked on the fourth climb of the day, the Côte de Stang ar Garront. The rest of the break were caught before the intermediate sprint, where Schelling took maximum points before Caleb Ewan () outsprinted Peter Sagan () for second. With to go, time trial ace Tony Martin () was brought down by a spectator who was holding a sign greeting her grandparents for TV cameras facing forward, and therefore unaware of the incoming peloton. Triggered by the fall of Tony Martin, over 50 cyclists (most of the entire Stage 1 lineup) tripped over each other and crashed over the road, forming a massive pile-up that completely blocked the path for the ones at the back who didn't fall down. Of the remaining ones that finished Schelling was caught with left, but the KOM points he gained ensured that he wore the polka-dot jersey at the end of the day. With to go, a touch of wheels caused another massive crash, delaying some GC contenders and causing them to lose minutes. On the final climb, Julian Alaphilippe () attacked and immediately created a gap over the rest of the peloton. He kept his advantage all the way to the line, winning the stage and taking the maillot jaune and the green jersey.
The second stage featured another uphill finish as the riders climbed the Mûr-de-Bretagne twice. Six riders broke away from the peloton, building an advantage of four minutes before began to chase the break. On the third climb of the day, Edward Theuns () attacked from the break, with Jérémy Cabot () the only other rider to respond to his attack. Both riders were eventually caught ahead of the first passage of the Mûr-de-Bretagne. Mathieu van der Poel () attacked from the peloton, allowing him to gain eight bonus seconds before being caught on the descent. On the second ascent of Mûr-de-Bretagne, van der Poel attacked again just inside the flamme rouge. He maintained his advantage to the line, winning the stage by six seconds over Tadej Pogačar () and Primož Roglič (). Geraint Thomas () was gapped on the climb, finishing 17 seconds behind the two Slovenians. As a result of his gap and bonus seconds, van der Poel took the maillot jaune as well as the polka-dot jersey.
The third stage featured the first opportunity for the sprinters to come to the fore. The break included five riders, leading by as much as three minutes before being chased. into the stage, a crash in the peloton brought down Geraint Thomas () and Robert Gesink (), with the latter eventually having to abandon the race. Thomas suffered a dislocated shoulder but he managed to continue and eventually made it back to the peloton. With to go, Roglič crashed in the peloton, suffering from road rashes on the left side of his body. Another crash took place with to go, causing Jack Haig (), who sat in sixth place on the GC, to abandon the race. The crash also held up some contenders, including Pogačar. On the final sprint to the line, Ewan went down following a touch of wheels, also taking down Peter Sagan () in the process. Ewan had to abandon the race while Sagan was able to finish the stage. In the aftermath, Tim Merlier () won the sprint ahead of his teammate, Jasper Philipsen. Van der Poel escaped the crashes to retain the maillot jaune while Richard Carapaz () also finished in the front group. Pogačar's group lost 26 seconds while Roglič lost almost a minute and a half. The crashes led to the peloton staging a brief protest before the start of the next stage. The fourth stage featured another sprint stage, with the break featuring Brent Van Moer () and Pierre-Luc Périchon (). Van Moer dropped Périchon with left and still led by a minute with to go. Van Moer would be caught near the finish, where Mark Cavendish () outsprinted Nacer Bouhanni () to win his first Tour stage since 2016. Cavendish took the green jersey while the GC remained unchanged ahead of the first time trial.
The fifth stage featured a individual time trial. Mikkel Bjerg () set the early benchmark time of 33' 01" before being beaten by Mattia Cattaneo (), who was six seconds faster than Bjerg. Cattaneo was immediately beaten by Stefan Küng (), who set a time of 32' 19". His time stood at the top until Pogačar set the quickest time at both time checks before beating Küng's time by 19 seconds. Pogačar kept the lead to win the stage and taking significant time from the other contenders. The maillot jaune, van der Poel, took fifth place, 31 seconds behind Pogačar, to keep the race lead by eight seconds over the Slovenian. The sixth stage featured another chance for the sprinters, where Cavendish outsprinted Philipsen to win his second stage of the race and his 32nd overall Tour stage win.