July 24, 2005 – Discovery’s Lance Armstrong has finished safely in the bunch on the final, rainy 144km stage from Corbeil-Essonnes to Paris. T-Mobile’s Alex Vinokourov took the stage after a gutsy last minute attack and climbed into fifth overall, jumping over Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer.

The race for the G.C. actually “ended” once the riders hit the circuits in Paris; organizers feared the cobbles might be dangerous and declared no riders could lose time once the city was reached. Armstrong looked regal in Yellow, enjoying every minute of his final day of professional racing – and his record seventh Tour.

Despite yesterday’s horrid TT by Rabo’s Michael Rasmussen, the Dane still walks away with the Polka Dot jersey for best climber.

The only real competition that was left was that of Green – best Sprinter – and Credit Agricole’s Norwegian fastman Thor Hushovd did what he had to do, finishing seventh and cinching the speedster shirt.

With the Tour behind him, Lance Armstrong does what few sportspeople do: leave at his or her top of the game. This Tour has seen several Americans rise to the fore: Phonak’s Landis, CSC’s Julich, Disco’s Hincapie, CSC’s Zabriskie, so it’s safe to say his legacy has already begun…

Stage 21: Corbeil-Essonnes – Paris Champs-Élysées, 144 km

1 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 3.40.57 (39.239 km/h)
2 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française Des Jeux
3 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo
4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
5 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone
6 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth
7 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole
8 Baden Cooke (Aus) Française Des Jeux
9 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux
10 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner

Final G.C.

1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 86.15.02 (41.654 km/h)
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 4.40
3 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 6.21
4 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d’Epargne 9.59
5 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 11.01
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 11.21
7 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 11.33
8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 11.55
9 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 12.44
10 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 16.04
11 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 16.26
12 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 19.02
13 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 21.06
14 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 23.40
15 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 23.43
16 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Würth 24.07
17 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 24.08
18 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile Team 27.45
19 Andrei Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 28.04
20 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile Team 33.02