After last year’s hiatus due to the Olympic Games, Paris is back in the Tour de France to host the final stage on the Champs-Elysées – the venue that was first showcased in the final installment of the Grande Boucle exactly 50 years ago, in 1975. It was the icing on the cake for a landmark edition on which Bernard Thévenet put an end to Eddy Merckx’s domination. The Cannibal was indeed the protagonist of that final stage, racing fiercely to try and triumph in the rainbow jersey – and, maybe, dethrone Thévenet in the eleventh hour. His efforts didn’t come to fruition, and Walter Goodefroot won from a bunch sprint, setting the tone for the final Tour de France stage in the Champs-Elysées to become the unofficial sprinter’s world championship.

It won’t be the case this year, though. The Tour de France has taken a leaf out of the Olympic Games’ book to include on its course the same sharp, cobbled hill in the Montmartre district that showcased in Remco Evenepoel’s golden triumph last summer. The climb will be hit three times by the riders, the last one with just 6 kilometers to go, and can prove an excellent springboard for punchy riders to have a say and a go. It may well wake up Tadej Pogacar’s instincts for him to raise his arms in victory and in yellow at the Champs-Elysées, a feat only achieved by Bernard Hinault. The Slovenian, though, pointed his finger at his teammate Jhonatan Narváez as a potential candidate for the win. The scenario seems suited for riders like the Ecuatorian – proven race craft to read the race, a strong uphill kick in the legs to fly away in Montmartre, some power in the engine to hold off eventual pursuiters. Stars like Ben Healy, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe or Michael Valgren can also be deemed as favorites on a stage that, according to green jersey Jonathan Milan (and the best part of the peloton), is “a big question mark.”