Mark Cavendish won the final 21 stage of the Tour De France in Paris this afternoon.
The final stage started in Creteil, the capital of the Val de Marne department since 1965 between the Seine and Marne rivers and was a 95km ride to the Champ Elysees in Paris.
The race which has been superbly organised by ASO yet again, started with a minute's silence for those who lost their lives in the Norwegian tragedy and for former TDF winner Laurent Fignon who died last year and came from Creteil.
The Green Jersey wearing Mark Cavendish led the riders away followed by Cadel Evans who was clearly enjoying being in yellow and chatting away to the Schlecks whom he had beaten in the time trial yesterday to win the race.
The jersey's including the Super Combativity Award (Jeremy Roy of FDJ), King Of The Mountain Sammy Sanchez and the Young Rider in Europcar's Pierre Rolland, were decided apart from the Green Jersey. Mark Cavendish had a fifteen points lead of Rojas and today there was an intermediate sprint with 35kms on the highest point of the Champ Elysees and a maximum of 45 points available on the finish line after eight laps of the circuit around Paris which was where Cavendish had won twice before.
The race arrived en Paris on the Pont de Tolbaic with Cadel Evans' BMC team including George Hincapie who was coming to the end of his sixteenth Le Tour.
When they got onto the circuit for the first of eight laps with 51kms to go, the pace started to shoot up with seven minutes and one second for the first lap and seven mins and twenty one seconds for the second lap.
South Yorkshire's Ben Swift (pictured below) went off the front, some four kilometres before the sprint.
Swift was caught and joined five riders including Jeremy Roy and it was Kristain Koren of Liquigas take the intermediate sprint with Cavendish getting ten points ahead of Rojas.
Cavendish had to change his bike but was soon back in the peleton as the break at the front stretched to forty two seconds.
Garmin started the chase back but with 20kms to go, only three seconds had been knocked off the escapers time margin.
The peleton had got that down to 26 seconds with 10kms or a lap and 4/6ths to go of a Paris finish which had been used since 1975.
The bell went for the last lap. Rabobank's Carlos Barredo went to close down gap as Ben Swift and HTC's Lars Bak drove on at the front.
Bak's teammates were coming up behind bringing up Mark Cavendish. They went through the Place De La Concord for the last time. Phillipe Gilbert was now at the front with Cavendish ten back.
Tony Martin got into the lead with Cavendish whilst Rojas was in the back. The line was in sight and there was Mark Cavendish to time his ride to perfection to take his fifth win of this tour in a time of 2hr 27 mins with Boasson Hagen second, Greipel, Farrar and Cancellera.
The win which was Cavendish's 20th in the Tour De France, confirmed him as the Green Jersey champion, whilst Cadel Evans (pictured below), fought back the tears, celebrated his Yellow Jersey victory and being the first ever Australian to win the Tour De France on the podium.
Evans gave thanks to everyone for a great race and a great experience. Mark Cavendish about Evans win: "Chapeau to him after coming second twice, like Andy has. He has been superb in this race."
There was a second Brit on the podium as David Millar's Team Garmin-Cervelo won the Team Award, beating Leopard Trek and AG2R.
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Pictures copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/KM