TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 | NICE, THE WORLD'S CYCLING CAPITAL

It is almost 7 p.m. on Sunday 21 July 2024 and the three leaders of the 111th Tour de France are locked in confrontation in the final time trial. From Monaco up to the Col d’Èze, amid a rowdy crowd, the race finishes with these last men. Drones film them eating up the roads that lead to Nice, where the final finish line is located, at an infernal pace. The images, broadcast to 190 countries around the world, are breathtaking: the riders’ commitment to their sport is intense, and the mountain roads, which overlook the azure-blue Mediterranean, form a picture-perfect scene that any cyclist worth the name will henceforth put on their bucket list.

Helicopter cameras capture the yellow jersey rounding the headland on Nice seafront, demolishing the final few hundred metres to the finish. The hot summer evening light caresses the coloured walls of the grand houses on the edge of the old town; further down, the sea sparkles and laps gently at the famous pebbled beach under the Promenade des Anglais – which is itself celebrating its 200th birthday. It’s a dream backdrop to a sumptuous finale. The Slovenian champion, who lives on the Côte d’Azur, knows every centimetre of the road. He’ll leave not a sliver of a chance to his rivals on this TT, just as he has been ruthless in the General Classification all race. He wins a brilliant final victory on this Tour de France 2024.

TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 | NICE, THE WORLD'S CYCLING CAPITAL

Two days earlier, the riders had entered the Nice metropolitan area via the Col de la Bonette. At over 2,800 metres, it is the highest paved road in France, almost in Europe, and has only been used five times in all the history of the Tour. Snow banks on the side of the road bear witness to the altitude at which the riders battle. As thousands of spectators discover via their TV screens just how close to Nice the roads flirt with the highest Alpine cols, Pogacar takes a tight stage at Isola 2000.

The following day proves that – if it heaven exists – the Alpes-Maritimes are a cyclist’s paradise. The penultimate day is one of the most difficult. The most beautiful, too: from the hairpins of the Col de Braus and the Turini, the riders finish on the Col de Couillole. Halfway up the finishing climb, thousands of fans gather at the hilltop village of Roubion to watch the show. In a fitting setting for such majestic performances, Tadej Pogačar will once again triumph over Jonas Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz. The 2024 Tour has been the scene of remarkable events, and remarkable departures.

In his last ever Grande Boucle, Romain Bardet finally dons the yellow jersey for the first time, with the panache that has characterised his career. He is not able to hold back the tears when appreciating this, the end of his time in the pro peloton. And what can be said about Mark Cavendish who, at 39, takes the absolute record for the number of Tour de France stage wins? On the final TT he freewheels along so that he can – after suffering so much under the Italian sun in the race’s first stages – make the most of these final moments. An old hand, he eventually found the opening to win the sprint concluding stage five of this 2024 Tour, and he celebrates his final participation in the world’s greatest bicycle race with his family.

His achievement should stay in the record books for a few years at least. Hot on his tire tracks is a certain T. Pogačar, who, by the end of the 2024 race, has notched up 17 stage victories, and so might one day join – or even surpass – him. Biniam Girmay complicated Cavendish’s job this year. The Eritrean, who rides in the colours of Intermarché–Wanty, won three sprint victories, surprising the more experienced fast men. Behind him, a country – a continent even – erupted in celebration. His cheerful supporters did not hold back behind the finishing barriers whenever the sprinters had the opportunity to shine. These same fans, loudly supporting the new prodigy, will also wait for long hours in front of the team bus to celebrate his remarkable achievement with him.

It's been a celebration of cycling in Nice as the Tour de France reaches an unforgettable finale. A recognition of the famous finish of Paris–Nice, Grand Départ of the Tour in 2020. Nice is not finished with top-level cycling: the Gravel World Cup will take place on its territory in 2025.

Relive the grandeur and excitement of the 2024 Tour de France and experience cycling on the Côte d’Azur to the fullest, with Café du Cycliste’s 20 best rides from Nice port.