Marcel Kittel warns of Montmartre chaos as Tour finale gives sprinters fresh hope

Following the joint announcement by race organisers ASO and the French Prefect of Police that Sunday’s final stage would be shortened by 44km, redeploying security forces to combat severe wildfires in southwestern France, the nature of the grand finale has fundamentally shifted. 

With no time gaps to be recorded at the finish line per the revised protocols, the general classification battle is already officially sealed.

Following its introduction in 2025, the peloton will again climb the Côte de la Butte Montmartre three times on stage 21. For 2026, however, the Tour has revised the approach to the climb and increased the distance between the final summit and the finish.

“They have actually changed quite a lot,” Kittel said after studying the new route. “What immediately stands out is that after passing the finish and the Arc de Triomphe, they take a major road towards the Montmartre circuit. I think that is a good change.”

Kittel won the final Tour stage on the Champs Élysées in both 2013 and 2014. He believes the new approach should make life slightly easier for the sprint teams.

“The road towards the Montmartre loop is wider, has far fewer corners and is easier to control,” he said. “It will also be much faster.”

“You still have the fight for position, of course, but there is much more flow there, also for a sprint team,” Kittel said.

That should not be confused with a calm approach. Kittel expects the final kilometres before Montmartre to be among the most intense moments of the stage.

“Especially on the final lap, it will be a real fight for those positions at the front,” he said. “You want to start that final Montmartre climb right at the front.”

That applies not only to the riders planning to attack. Pure sprinters will also need their teams to guide them into the climb in a position where they can limit any losses.

“The pure sprinters will try to use their teams to fight for those positions as well,” Kittel said. “It is going to be one big chaos.”

He is certain that riders will try to use Montmartre as a launchpad.

“They will undoubtedly attack again to try to gain enough of an advantage over the sprinter teams,” he said. “But how many sprint teams will still be organised at the top after a hard Tour?”

That is where Kittel expects the decisive tactical battle. A sprinter may survive the climb, but that alone will not be enough. His teammates must also remain close enough and strong enough to close the gap.

“I think that is the crucial moment,” Kittel said. “We will see how much energy and strength the teams still have to control the race after Montmartre and bring the attacking riders back.”

The wider roads and reduced number of corners should help teams establish an organised chase. Yet the final still asks much more of sprinters than the familiar Paris stage Kittel won twice in 2013 and 2014.

“The route changes mean there are fewer corners, so it is a little easier to control,” he said. “But it remains a challenging finale for sprint teams.”

Kittel is therefore cautious about describing the redesign as a decisive shift in favour of the fast men.

“Does it increase the chances for the sprinters? Maybe a little, simply because there is more control possible, at least in theory,” he said.

He also points to the Tour’s classification of the stage. Rather than receiving the coefficient normally associated with the most straightforward sprint stages, it has been placed in coefficient two.

“That indirectly says something about what the organisers expect,” Kittel said. “Perhaps they are also still unsure whether it is really a stage for the pure sprinters.”

Rather than restoring the old Paris finish, Kittel sees the new route as the latest attempt to give different types of riders a realistic chance of victory.

“I think this is a new attempt to find more balance between the sprinters and the attacking riders,” he said. “For the sprinters, it is moving slightly in the right direction.”

Much will still depend on circumstances that cannot be designed into a route. Rain, like last year, would make the cobbled roads and fast approach more dangerous. Fatigue will also play a major role after the Tour’s difficult final mountain stages.

“I hope it stays dry,” Kittel said. “We have seen the influence the weather can have. What ultimately happens will also depend on how the riders have come through the hard final week or ten days.”

His conclusion is measured. The changes improve the possibility of a chase, but they do not bring back the stage on which sprinters could count on settling the Tour’s final victory among themselves.

“It is not the Champs Élysées as we knew it and had in the past,” Kittel said. “I do not think that will come back.”

That does not mean he dismisses the new finale. Montmartre should again create an aggressive race, while the longer and less technical run to the line leaves open the possibility of a sprint.

“I think it can be interesting,” Kittel said. “And for the spectators, it should be a fun finale.”