Tour de France: Unchained (2023) s02e08 Episode Script
Season 2, Episode 8
[indistinct announcement over PA]
The Tour is coming to an end.
I'm fucked.
[Chainel] Ahead of
the final mountain stage,
Jonas has guaranteed his yellow jersey.
He's taken blood and urine tests.
He's clean.
But he is still plagued by doping rumours.
And Jasper is the odds-on favourite
for the final stage in Paris.
[tense music playing]
[Chainel] But the name
Groupama-FDJ is on everyone's lips.
[commentator] Thibaut Pinot is fighting
to reach the top of the Puy de Dôme.
He's in all sorts of trouble.
We weren't very good.
[crowd clamouring]
[commentator] Groupama-FDJ have struggled
since the start of this Tour de France.
Hey, stop. That's enough. No. Turn it off.
[Chainel] No stage win,
no podium,
and now there's a storm coming.
[TV host] So, news just in
that Richard Plugge,
the manager of Jumbo Visma
gave an interview.
It says that he was quoted in L'Équipe.
He said that on their rest day
he saw riders in team Groupama-FDJ,
uh, downing some beer.
And that's not the best way
to improve their performance.
That was very smart of Plugge.
Instead of wondering if Jonas is doping,
everyone's talking about
Groupama's lack of professionalism.
[Pinot] For me, what Mr. Plugge said
is way off the mark.
This is my last Tour de France.
I don't need someone telling me
whether I should have a beer or not.
Don't attack my riders.
I get nasty if you attack my riders.
[dramatic theme music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[intense music playing]
[music fades]
[man 1] Thirds? You're an animal.
- [man 2] Surely not.
- [man 3] Oh! I'm stuffed.
I read stuff online
in the media and on Twitter and all that
that displeased me no end.
It's deplorable.
Pathetic.
Pitiful.
I don't like anyone
questioning your honour
and your integrity.
For me, our motivation is crystal clear.
You show them who you are.
- Agreed?
- [man 3] Yeah!
And show them on the bike.
[team members] Let's do it. Totally.
So when your legs start to hurt
they'll hurt even more
when you think of those assholes,
what they said about you,
what he said about you.
- [Madiot] Here's to Richard. Huh?
- [man 3] You said it.
[clapping]
- [laughs]
- Nice one.
[Pinot] Fuck's sake! My balls hurt!
Yeah. Not a pretty sight in my shorts.
Really not. I can tell you.
Yup.
Mr. Plugge said
that all us Groupama riders
were getting drunk on beer.
Uh, on rest days.
Um, and that's why
they're stronger than us.
Hysterical.
It's just provocation.
I think he was taking
a pop at Marc, you know.
A cheap shot.
We have to put up with it for a bit.
But it's just to get
tongue's wagging, that's all.
[camera shutters clicking]
[reporter] Isn't it annoying to fall out
with one of the biggest teams
on a day like today?
They can take it out on me if they want.
But questioning my riders' honour,
it's that that really hurts.
They're taking the piss.
[Plugge] I would not take it
too personally if I was Marc Madiot.
And the funny thing, I thought,
was that it was denied
that they drank beer.
[Madiot] So, I want to reassure him,
the management drinks beer
but the riders don't.
I'm not happy.
I'm not happy.
Because it makes us look stupid.
And our work is sloppy.
That we're clowns.
If it touches a nerve,
then maybe that's something
to think about, uh, for yourself.
I'm upset for my boys.
Because I know they are working
very hard and they make sacrifices.
And I know they're committed.
That's enough.
[Plugge] Why are you
making a fuss about this?
It's okay. Because you can drink beer.
We also drink beer in Paris.
After the race.
[reporter] Year after year,
the big foreign teams
always use the same tactics.
It's pretty clear that the French
don't take it too seriously, right?
Yeah, maybe.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Come on! Let's go.
Climb aboard, ladies and gents.
[Madiot] We're not at
the same level as last year, that's true.
But when you have teams that
have two or three times your budget
I do the best I can with what I've got.
And it's difficult for the French teams
to compete at
a top level without resources
because we don't have the capacity
to have too too many top-tier riders.
We're in a place where
we have good riders,
very good riders.
But, at the same time,
if you wanted to compare it to football,
our reserves aren't
as strong as other teams.
- How are you doing?
- Hi.
[Plugge] I have
a lot of respect for Marc Madiot
because of what he did in the many years
that he is running this team.
That was more coincidence
that it was a French team.
Friends again?
What I did from the beginning when we had
the smallest budget of the world tour,
we put a lot of energy, time and money
into the trainers, nutritionists,
um, science, to become faster.
[Madiot] It's up to the others
to take an example of that
and look towards the future.
Ha!
They're meticulous at Jumbo.
Very Germanic.
Thought-out, analysed, dissected,
engineered, whatever you want to call it.
Organised. That's Jumbo.
[suspenseful synth music playing]
[Chennaoui] When you look at Groupama-FDJ
and Marc Madiot, and how he runs the team,
they rely on that
French Republic fighting spirit.
THIBAU
CAN YOU AUTOGRAPH MY BIKE?
It's a complete contrast
to the likes of Jumbo-Visma,
which is run on data,
which is run on science,
on cold hard fact.
And I'm so grateful
that both teams are there,
because that is what makes
the Tour de France the Tour de France.
GO PINO
WE LOVE YOU
[Madiot] I do the best with what I've got.
Right now, I'm the team manager.
I want my team to perform well.
I want to show Richard Plugge
that real cycling is about the men,
the effort, the goosebumps,
and connecting with your team.
A rider like Pinot, say.
There.
[cows mooing]
There she goes!
[laughs]
- [Julien Pinot] There are so many.
- It's my treasure.
They're beautiful. Tug. Go on.
No gently.
[chuckling]
Oh, shit. It broke.
Beautiful.
Good job.
World record for biggest carrot.
- [laughs]
- Yeah, right.
Since I announced in January
to the public I was retiring,
I feel so much freer.
This will be my life from now on.
My animals, my garden.
It'll be a great way
to keep myself occupied.
I enjoy it. I love it.
The atmosphere in cycling has,
um, it's changed.
It's stricter now.
More rigorous, more meticulous.
Our careers are short
and they're over before you know it.
I've had a lot of highs, a lot of lows.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] Thibaut Pinot.
- You gotta give it more! Go!
- [commentator] Pinot is flying.
Pinot is down.
[Pinot] I'm not the world's best cyclist
but I'm pretty popular in France.
[crowd cheering, chanting]
[Pinot] I think I've touched
people's hearts during my career.
I'm someone that they can identify with.
- [cheering]
- [horns blowing]
Thibaut Pinot's a hero to the French.
He races with guts.
He attacks when he wants,
and even if it doesn't work,
we still applaud him.
[fans] Thibaut! Thibaut! Thibaut!
[Pinot] This is my last Tour de France.
And I want to finish my career at the top.
[tense music playing]
[commentator]We're looking forward
to this final mountain stage.
133 kilometres today.
A very short stage.
It's going to be explosive,
nerve-wracking, and hard to control.
PINOT'S CORNER
[man] Guys, yeah, just eight minutes.
Eight minutes.
[man 2] Do you have time to go?
- I'm thinking about myself.
- [teammate] Fuck, that's for sure.
It's my last race in my last Tour, so
I'll ride the best race I can.
I'm under the most
pressure of my whole career.
I know this stage by heart,
I'm at home on my training routes.
I don't want to let people down.
[crowd chanting] Pinot! Pinot!
GO THIBAU
YOU CAN REST AFTER
[tense music playing]
[commentator] Today, Thibaut Pinot
says goodbye to the Tour de France.
Can he win this last mountain stage?
He's got his very own corner today.
Thibaut Pinot!
[commentator]
There's been a social media appeal
to get all
Thibaut Pinot's fans to gather here.
PINOT CORNER
NO TIBO NO PARTY
PINO ROCKS
Thibaut Pinot!
[chanting] And a pint of beer for Jumbo!
We've been here two and a half hours now.
It's incredible.
We came all this way to enjoy it.
[crew member] Yeah. Nice one. You do that.
We have a collective responsibility here.
We can't hinder the race.
[fan] Thibaut! You're the man, Thibaut!
Here you go, my friends.
[tense music builds, fades]
So, the plan for today.
The absolute main goal is,
of course, to keep the yellow jersey.
But, yeah, it would be nice that we are
able to go for the stage as well. Huh?
And really have the confidence
that we are still the strongest team,
we have by far the strongest leader.
There's nobody stronger after
20 days of Tour de France than you are.
Also, yeah, it's possible
that UAE takes over
to go for the stage with Pogačar.
I don't know if Pogačar
is strong enough anymore to do it,
but, yeah, they will have that idea maybe.
[Chennaoui] The battle for
General Classification's pretty much over.
We know that Jonas Vingegaard
is going to win this Tour de France.
Tadej Pogačar is going to be hurting,
but can he come back fighting?
And relax. Pain here on the right side?
Well, a little bit, yes.
Okay.
[Pogačar] I wanted
to win the yellow jersey,
but, uh, it was ruined
by my failure on Stage 17.
Such Such a bad day on the on the bike.
You try to restore yourself.
- Getting better every day.
- Mm-hmm.
[masseur] Breathe in.
[Pogačar] Because I want
to fight to finish strong.
For us, the big goal is to win the stage.
It's better to stay in front
so you can control.
Then we say, "Go, go, go, you close."
Before these final kilometres,
for sure it will not be a big group.
And if Jumbo go, we need to be there.
Of course, the goal was to win the Tour.
There's no self-reproach.
We know that if Tadej has the opportunity
out there, he's the strongest rider.
[Pogačar] If I have
a really good day I can win.
I am planning to go all-in.
It's a big chance
to to go for the stage victory.
In front of me, I don't want nobody.
[laughter]
[crowd cheering]
[Chennaoui] Both Tadej Pogačar
and Thibaut Pinot have an enemy to fight,
and that is Jumbo-Visma.
For Tadej Pogačar,
this is a matter of pride.
He wants to show to himself,
as much as anyone else,
that he can still win
against Jonas Vingegaard.
And for Thibaut Pinot,
it's his final Tour de France.
It's the final mountain stage,
and these are his home roads.
He's got to show these big guns
that we mean business.
This is our race, we're the French team
at the Tour de France,
we're going to show them how we do it.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Stage 20
of the Tour de France is underway.
- [interviewer] Is this the end of an era?
- Most certainly is, mate. Yeah, yeah.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] Already some attacks
at the front of the peloton.
Riders are asking themselves
how they can hold onto a good position.
[cheering]
A group of five has
just made its way out front.
[Pinot] I could feel
the stage getting away from me.
I was feeling a lot of pressure.
That's it! That's it. Go, go, go!
[commentator] The gap
to the peloton is now 27 seconds.
[Pinot] As the kilometres went by,
I had to get back in the swing of things,
back in the race.
My goal was to get into the breakaway.
So I had to stay calm, stay focused.
[scattered cheers]
[commentator] Pinot, pushing hard
to get back to the front.
[Pinot] To get in the breakaway,
you gotta have strong legs
and a feel for the race.
Uh, good knowledge of the terrain
really helped me out there.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Pinot accelerates
to get to the front of the race.
He's made up a 30-second gap
at incredible speed.
That's it, well done.
Pinot now joins
the group there at the front.
[crowd cheering]
[on radio] Thibaut Pinot
has caught the lead group.
Perfect.
[fans chanting in French]
Jump if you're for Thibaut!
Jump if you're for Thibaut!
[in English] No.
No one's got signal up here.
No idea at all.
so it's gonna be a surprise.
[chanting continues]
He's fourth.
[shushing]
Hey, yo!
[all cheering]
[fans] Go, Thibaut!
[Pinot] The kilometres fell away
and I wanted to go it alone.
My goal was to win this stage.
[commentator] And here goes Thibaut Pinot.
Attack of the Frenchman
on his home territory.
This is great for Thibaut.
[Pinot] I've always been
an old-school, as they say.
I ride on instinct.
And I think that
it's reasonable to suggest
that today that instinct
to take risks has gone.
Alone at the front,
Thibaut Pinot, Groupama-FDJ.
[cheering intensifies]
[commentator] Here we are.
Thibaut Pinot reaches his corner.
Welcome home, Thibaut!
[fans chanting] If you're not jumping,
you're not for Thibaut!
[Pinot] It was just a wall of sound.
Such an incredible noise.
I'll remember it for the rest of my life.
[crowd roaring]
[horns honking]
[Pinot] I could just make out my brother,
and I knew
my whole family was there too.
[commentator 1] Thibaut Pinot
flies high, carried by the crowd.
[Pinot] I think people came
to celebrate the rider that I used to be,
the rider that they grew up with.
They wanted to say thank you and goodbye.
[cheering continues]
[commentator 2] It's giving me goosebumps.
[commentator 1] It's a great
sporting moment. Quite exceptional.
[triumphant music playing]
[crowd cheering loudly]
[Madiot] Suddenly, 14 years of cycling
with Pinot have culminated here.
[Chennaoui] Thibaut Pinot is
a throwback to the days of old.
When everyone is riding to numbers,
Pinot is riding to his heart, to his soul.
He gives us a reason to dare to dream.
[Pinot] The energy
at that corner was intense.
It gave me a surge of strength.
Then I got to the summit.
And on the descent, there was no one else.
It was just me and my bike.
My ears were
still ringing from all the noise,
and I didn't really know where I was.
[commentator] Pinot keeps pushing
with a stage victory in his sights.
There's a one-minute, 27-second gap
to the peloton. It's going well.
[fans booing]
[booing echoes]
- [booing]
- [car banging]
[in Dutch] Thanks for that, Richard.
Yeah. That's okay.
As long as they
leave Jonas alone, that's all I want.
[crowd booing]
[in English] Of course, it's not nice that
there's this fight between two teams.
They were not very nice
towards me or my teammates.
[booing, jeering]
[in Dutch] Lots of fun
in the Thibaut Pinot corner in a moment.
Oh! [exhales]
[crowd booing]
[in English] He has
like these very intense fans.
They get very
How do you say it? Emotional.
[chanting] A beer for Team Jumbo!
A beer for Team Jumbo!
[in Dutch] We still haven't dared
wind down the window
to straighten that mirror.
No, let's wait for a bit.
YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL PINO
[Plugge in English] Some people
were taking it a bit too seriously
and were maybe angry even,
which I understand.
YOU'RE HANDSOME
YOU'RE GREA
But it was not against the French, at all.
[crowd booing]
I love the French because they gave us
the most beautiful race in the world.
[dramatic music playing]
[horns honking]
[commentator]This is the final mountain
of this year's Tour de France.
These are the eight most important
kilometres of Thibaut Pinot's career.
The yellow jersey peloton
led by UAE, one minute.
[Pogačar] I had to win.
We tried to bring him back
as much as possible.
Just keep fighting. Just keep fighting.
[commentator] Here comes the attack.
Pogačar accelerates. He wants this stage.
[tense music playing]
Thirty seconds, Thibaut. Thirty seconds.
Out front it's Pinot.
Four kilometres from the summit.
Vingegaard and Pogačar,
ten seconds behind you.
[Pinot] I know that
I was ahead of the others.
He's not stopping.
[Pogačar] We were in a good place.
But I would not say we were overconfident
that we got this, you know?
You almost already catch Pinot, eh?
You're going for the stage victory, yeah?
[commentator]
They've caught up with Thibaut Pinot.
Six riders now in the lead group.
Come on, Thibaut. Come on, concentrate.
[commentator] Felix Gall goes for it.
Vingegaard follows right behind.
As does Pogačar.
[whimpers]
[tense music intensifies, fades]
Fuck's sake. Crank it up.
[commentator] Thibaut Pinot has dropped.
[melancholy music playing]
After an incredible solo performance,
he kisses victory goodbye.
Well, it's over.
It's over.
[Pinot] Cycling's pretty straightforward.
It's just a battle
between your legs and the slope.
You can't always come out on top.
We're only human
and that's all there is to it.
[music builds]
Come on, Jonas. It's also still
possible to win this stage. Come on.
I said, "Okay, I'll prove
to everybody that I can win again."
It's full gas to the finish line.
Almost there, come on.
Come on now! Go, go, go.
[commentator] 300 metres to go.
Come on, Jonas.
Show them again who's the strongest.
I'm not going to sit back thinking,
"What can I do to to win this race?"
I want to give everything
and take the win away from him.
[commentator]
And Vingegaard attacks on the right.
Pogačar is in his wheel.
Come on, come on!
[commentator] This inseparable duo
are neck-and-neck right to the finish.
[loud cheering]
[dramatic percussive tone]
Tadej Pogačar wins!
[Pogačar] I was relieved
that I have still good legs.
[gentle joyful music playing]
[Gianetti] Bravo!
Hey!
[indistinct chatter]
- Whoo! It's good, no?
- Good job. Yeah.
I was satisfied also
with the small sprint finish.
It was one of the nicest stages I won.
[announcer] The white jersey
for Tadej Pogačar!
To win Stage 20 gives me a lot of
confidence that I can do Grand Tour
and finish it good,
even if I have bad days in between.
[whistle blowing]
[reporter] Is there a part of you
that thought you'd win?
A little bit, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Thibaut can always [chuckles]
He's always capable.
UAE wanting the stage win,
well, that, eh, was what screwed us up.
[Pinot] There were no excuses that day.
We were outclassed.
But my fear for many years
was ending up as a nobody
or out of shape.
[commentator]
What a day for Thibaut Pinot,
voted the most
combative rider of Stage 20.
[crowd cheering]
[Pinot] Today, the people
on the side of the road
saw something special.
It's a beautiful ending for me.
That's something to be proud of.
- [woman] Good evening.
- [Pinot] Good evening.
- Is this for your room?
- Yeah.
- [man 1] Oh, shit!
- [man 2] Oh, wow!
[indistinct chatter]
- Top man.
- Well done.
- Yeah. You should be proud.
- Proud of you.
[Madiot] You were a pain
in the ass right to the end.
It wasn't just me.
You were a pain in the ass
and made me cry.
This stage says it all.
He was in position to win, but he didn't.
And I think that
it's poetic that he didn't win.
It fits with everything else.
So let's drink to
Richard.
- To Richard.
- Go, Richard!
[Madiot] Victory is important, yes.
We want to go for the win,
but at the same time, we also need
the passion.
- Good night. Sleep well then, guys.
- Well done, dude.
[Pinot] I never thought
that I'd end my career like this.
On my old training routes
with all those people.
It was beautiful really.
And of course I wanted to win but
that's the sport
and I had a really good send off.
[intense music playing]
[jet engines roaring]
Twenty days of racing
and more than three thousand kilometres,
we've reached the last
stage of the Tour now.
The battle
for general classification is over,
and Jonas just has to get over the line.
Today, it's the sprinters
charging down the Champs-Élysées.
I'm excited to go to bed early.
Uh, it's been a long three weeks.
For sure, it will be super cool
to win on the Champs-Élysées.
I won last year there.
And I'll have a good beer tonight,
and we will celebrate
together with the team.
I think I have proved
that I am the best sprinter in the world.
So, I can only be happy with a with a win.
[fan] Hey, Philipsen!
Winning in Paris is always special.
It's the last one.
Yeah.
[Roodhooft] Of course,
it's important for Jasper to win.
He takes it all.
What is there to say?
Jasper Philipsen is the out-and-out
favourite for the Champs-Élysées.
Mark Cavendish has gone home,
Fabio Jakobsen has gone home,
Wout van Aert has gone home.
But this is the last chance for all
the other teams to be able to win a stage.
They're not going to go down
without a fight.
The last day. The last dance.
So, boys, last meeting, then we go home.
I think it's not a secret,
we don't want to have a bunch sprint.
It's not a secret also
we have the manpower on board
to make it tough for the guys
who want to go for the sprint.
So if you get in the breakaway,
just floor it.
[Asgreen] Our leader's out,
Fabio is out of the race.
But I managed to win a stage.
So I'll try to get out there
to give it everything for another one.
[interviewer] So you think
you have a shot today?
Eh, when you're at the start
and you have the numbers pinned,
there's always a shot.
[Aldag] Now we have
a spectacular Paris stage here.
Don't pee in the crowds.
Don't send flying kisses
to your wife, girlfriends while racing.
You know, it's one of
the most prestigious stages to grab.
And I think we all want to show
what we have done in three weeks.
We would like to win that stage.
We started with a so-called
two-way strategy in the Tour,
you could say.
Because we wanted
to reach the podium with Jai Hindley
and wanted to win at least one stage
with our sprinter, Jordi Meeus.
And now the podium is not possible.
So Jordi is the last chance.
If you see the crowds, Jordi,
of course, it's massive.
It's really like one of
the biggest events you can do.
Sprinters will certainly put their elbows
out and say, "I'm willing to kill."
[Meeus] It's my first Tour.
I cannot say
I'm overjoyed with the results I had.
So far sixth was the best.
The team expected,
uh, at least one victory.
And, uh, I know I'm not the top favourite
for the Champs-Élysées. That's for sure.
But I will give it, uh,
100% to win the stage.
No matter how it looks on paper,
as a mission impossible,
you still have to keep on trying.
[Roodhooft] Quick-Step want
to be in the break, but we want to sprint.
That's our goal.
Bora, I don't think, but there are teams
with different objectives for sure.
Hey, but I'm stressed.
I can't handle this.
[Roodhooft] You have
no idea what the word means.
Jasper is making jokes about it.
But he forgets one thing.
That it changed his attitude and
his cycling career, this day last year.
Changed?
Yes. As a person
he became a bit more arrogant. Yes.
[all laughing]
That's correct.
- But for us
- [indistinct response]
Performance-wise,
it was better since then.
- [man] It was better.
- Thank you.
But we buy us a good rope
to bring him back down.
[Philipsen] I'm arrogant?
Don't give a shit.
[in Dutch] See what I mean!
[Philipsen in English]
The difference with last year?
Uh, it was the yellow jersey, mainly.
Well, I got four this time.
But, of course,
today we could put the cherry on top.
That really would be
an incredible way for me to end the Tour.
[chanting]
Bam, bam, bam! The flame from Ham!
Bam, bam, bam! The flame from Ham!
- I'm getting a gut.
- Can you sprint like that?
Look at this.
[riders laughing]
Not going like this.
[laughing]
- The zip is broken!
- Looking good, Jasper.
Ah
Panic.
We aim for the victory today with Jasper,
and in the end maybe it's
the perfect picture on the Champs-Élysées.
Five stage wins at the Tour de France.
I think for every team, would be enormous.
- [interviewer] Good luck.
- Thank you.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] Will today be the day
that Jasper Philipsen takes his fifth win
in this Tour de France?
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] As is traditional
on the final stage of the Tour,
the first few kilometres are taken slow.
[Roodhooft] Boys,
we're already on our way,
but Richard Plugge is
still performing a show here.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Once the riders
reach the Champs-Élysées,
the race really begins.
If you see an opportunity,
if you feel your legs, just take it.
Neils, Marco, Dani and Jordi,
you get together.
Try to find each other slowly now guys.
[Roodhooft] Everybody knows
where he has to be.
You don't lose concentration
and then you are there
when you have to be.
Yeah, try to attack, try to go. Try to go.
[commentator]
Soudal Quick-Step at the front.
Go, go, he's gone. He's outta there.
Go, Remi! Go! Go! Go!
[commentator] Soudal Quick-Step
at over 64 kilometres an hour.
We show no stress.
[commentator] The Alpecin-Deceuninck team
will try to control the attacks
right to the finish line.
Fuck. What's going on?
Fuck, that was a drop.
[commentator] And they're on the last lap.
Wait at the back of the bunch.
Wait at the back of the bunch.
[Philipsen] We don't need to talk
to understand what we have to do.
I know what my job is.
Good situation for us, eh? Good situation.
[commentator] And now
all the sprinters are in front.
The pace is very high.
Come on, guys. Five to go!
We bring this one home, eh?
The Bora-Hansgrohe riders
are at the front of the peloton.
Bob, Konnie just pick him up
and move him to the middle.
We're one kilometre from the finish line.
The last kilometre of the Tour de France.
When you have the position,
just try to jump again
to hurt the guys you have to control.
[commentator] The sprinters are
getting ready and can see the finish line.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck riders
are at the front.
It's Mathieu van der Poel
with Jasper Philipsen in his wheel.
Jasper Philipsen pushes Dylan Groenewegen.
[Philipsen] You hesitate
until the other goes.
You want to wait as long as possible.
[commentator]
And Jordi Meeus sprints on the left.
Whoa! Four of them on the same line.
Who will win?
Philipsen was there. So was Jordi Meeus.
[in German] I think he lost by this much.
[sighing]
[in Dutch] Have you seen it?
Is it Groenewegen or Philipsen?
Jordi Meeus?
[commentator in English]
Photo finish. Meeus or Philipsen?
Photo finish. Photo finish.
Jordi, was it? Or was it your man?
Yes. But
We haven't seen anything.
[man on radio] Yes!
No.
Sure?
[indistinct yelling on radio]
Jordi Meeus wins.
[all screaming] Yeah!
[crowd cheering]
[yelling happily]
- We did it!
- Yeah! Yeah!
[laughing]
Yeah!
You did it, mate.
What a day. I'm so proud of you.
Made my day, huh? Yeah!
[Aldag] It's super special.
Um, it was the only sprinter who beat
Philipsen in the whole Tour de France.
And, uh, and then in Paris, of course,
that's something that nobody
can ever take away from him.
That's, uh, a lifetime thing.
It's nice to win a stage, but it's even
nicer if you can beat the unbeatable.
[Philipsen] There are no gifts for nobody.
You can win by a small margin,
but that makes a huge difference.
[crowd cheering]
[Roodhooft] We could have
won that one easily.
It was important for us to win,
and it would have been nice for Jasper
to finish it off
in Paris, but yeah, it didn't happen.
[cheering, applauding]
Jordi! Jordi!
Yeah!
[Denk] The 2023 Tour de France
for Bora-Hansgrohe,
two stage wins,
one day in the yellow jersey,
and when you win the unofficial
world championship for sprinters,
then that's really something special.
[indistinct chatter]
It could be worse, no?
[Philipsen] Winning the green jersey
is a great accomplishment.
But definitely, as a sprinter,
you're only as good as your last race.
If you won a few races, uh, in a row,
then you're you're the hero.
And if you then, uh, lose,
you're nothing any more.
[sighs] I'm a happy, man. It's finished.
For me, the Tour is is special.
Though honestly,
this year I was so shit. I'm telling you.
It was hard. Three weeks.
Yes, it was.
Yeah, but there's a fourth one for you.
Emotional.
[O'Connor] My dream still
is to finish on the podium,
but I still raced
with the best every single day.
I got beaten up
by the best as well every single day.
[laughs]
[Mohorič] Being able to compete
with the best cyclists on the planet,
you are very close to their success
and you're very close to witnessing when
their dreams are shattered up in pieces.
And it brings compassion out in you.
[Cavendish] If you wrote it,
you wouldn't want it to end like that.
Yeah, ultimately,
I don't want to share the record.
So I spent a long time thinking,
"Fuck, can I do another year?"
And, uh, yeah, let's just do it.
Fuck it.
[laughing]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter]
[announcer] And there he is,
ladies and gentlemen,
walking away with the yellow jersey
for the second year in a row,
the one and only Jonas Vingegaard.
[commentator] Yes, that's right,
he's congratulated by the mayor of Paris
[Vingegaard] It's something special.
The Tour de France is
the biggest race in in the world.
And yeah, now I have it two times.
[crowd chanting] Eh, eh, eh!
[Vingegaard] Cycling is very simple.
It is always the best one who wins.
I hope I can do it again.
Hey!
It's sports. You want to be the best.
I don't want to have the popularity prize.
I don't care what people think.
Because there's only one thing
that counts for me.
Winning the yellow jersey.
[crowd cheering]
In the end, we took second and third GC.
Yeah, we missed
the cherry on the top of the cake.
And we go for that next year.
[singing in French] Thanks, Thibaut
For all the joy you gave us ♪
[interviewer in English] You happy now?
Yeah, well, I'm content.
And it's a relief that it's all over
and that it ended well.
- Thank you.
- No, thank you.
[Pinot] I had dreams as a kid
about doing the Tour de France.
And they all came true.
[camera shutters clicking]
[commentator] And the winner
of the Tour, Jonas Vingegaard,
holding up his yellow bike.
[Madiot] Richard Plugge and I
are cut from different cloths.
I'm part of the older generation.
We don't necessarily agree,
but I can have a beer with with people
that I don't agree with, can't I?
Yeah, having a drink
with them is no problem.
Hey, why are you late getting here?
Now we've switched to champagne.
We won it.
[Madiot] Yes, he won.
But winning isn't necessarily
the most important part.
And Pinot, unintentionally,
achieved something different.
[fans] Thibaut! Thibaut! Thibaut! Thibaut!
He won the love of the whole public.
Pinot always brought his truth to cycling.
And he connected with everyone that way.
Come on!
[cheering]
Thibaut Pinot!
[cheering]
[fan] Thank you, Thibaut!
[cheering fades]
[intense classical music playing]
The Tour is coming to an end.
I'm fucked.
[Chainel] Ahead of
the final mountain stage,
Jonas has guaranteed his yellow jersey.
He's taken blood and urine tests.
He's clean.
But he is still plagued by doping rumours.
And Jasper is the odds-on favourite
for the final stage in Paris.
[tense music playing]
[Chainel] But the name
Groupama-FDJ is on everyone's lips.
[commentator] Thibaut Pinot is fighting
to reach the top of the Puy de Dôme.
He's in all sorts of trouble.
We weren't very good.
[crowd clamouring]
[commentator] Groupama-FDJ have struggled
since the start of this Tour de France.
Hey, stop. That's enough. No. Turn it off.
[Chainel] No stage win,
no podium,
and now there's a storm coming.
[TV host] So, news just in
that Richard Plugge,
the manager of Jumbo Visma
gave an interview.
It says that he was quoted in L'Équipe.
He said that on their rest day
he saw riders in team Groupama-FDJ,
uh, downing some beer.
And that's not the best way
to improve their performance.
That was very smart of Plugge.
Instead of wondering if Jonas is doping,
everyone's talking about
Groupama's lack of professionalism.
[Pinot] For me, what Mr. Plugge said
is way off the mark.
This is my last Tour de France.
I don't need someone telling me
whether I should have a beer or not.
Don't attack my riders.
I get nasty if you attack my riders.
[dramatic theme music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[intense music playing]
[music fades]
[man 1] Thirds? You're an animal.
- [man 2] Surely not.
- [man 3] Oh! I'm stuffed.
I read stuff online
in the media and on Twitter and all that
that displeased me no end.
It's deplorable.
Pathetic.
Pitiful.
I don't like anyone
questioning your honour
and your integrity.
For me, our motivation is crystal clear.
You show them who you are.
- Agreed?
- [man 3] Yeah!
And show them on the bike.
[team members] Let's do it. Totally.
So when your legs start to hurt
they'll hurt even more
when you think of those assholes,
what they said about you,
what he said about you.
- [Madiot] Here's to Richard. Huh?
- [man 3] You said it.
[clapping]
- [laughs]
- Nice one.
[Pinot] Fuck's sake! My balls hurt!
Yeah. Not a pretty sight in my shorts.
Really not. I can tell you.
Yup.
Mr. Plugge said
that all us Groupama riders
were getting drunk on beer.
Uh, on rest days.
Um, and that's why
they're stronger than us.
Hysterical.
It's just provocation.
I think he was taking
a pop at Marc, you know.
A cheap shot.
We have to put up with it for a bit.
But it's just to get
tongue's wagging, that's all.
[camera shutters clicking]
[reporter] Isn't it annoying to fall out
with one of the biggest teams
on a day like today?
They can take it out on me if they want.
But questioning my riders' honour,
it's that that really hurts.
They're taking the piss.
[Plugge] I would not take it
too personally if I was Marc Madiot.
And the funny thing, I thought,
was that it was denied
that they drank beer.
[Madiot] So, I want to reassure him,
the management drinks beer
but the riders don't.
I'm not happy.
I'm not happy.
Because it makes us look stupid.
And our work is sloppy.
That we're clowns.
If it touches a nerve,
then maybe that's something
to think about, uh, for yourself.
I'm upset for my boys.
Because I know they are working
very hard and they make sacrifices.
And I know they're committed.
That's enough.
[Plugge] Why are you
making a fuss about this?
It's okay. Because you can drink beer.
We also drink beer in Paris.
After the race.
[reporter] Year after year,
the big foreign teams
always use the same tactics.
It's pretty clear that the French
don't take it too seriously, right?
Yeah, maybe.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Come on! Let's go.
Climb aboard, ladies and gents.
[Madiot] We're not at
the same level as last year, that's true.
But when you have teams that
have two or three times your budget
I do the best I can with what I've got.
And it's difficult for the French teams
to compete at
a top level without resources
because we don't have the capacity
to have too too many top-tier riders.
We're in a place where
we have good riders,
very good riders.
But, at the same time,
if you wanted to compare it to football,
our reserves aren't
as strong as other teams.
- How are you doing?
- Hi.
[Plugge] I have
a lot of respect for Marc Madiot
because of what he did in the many years
that he is running this team.
That was more coincidence
that it was a French team.
Friends again?
What I did from the beginning when we had
the smallest budget of the world tour,
we put a lot of energy, time and money
into the trainers, nutritionists,
um, science, to become faster.
[Madiot] It's up to the others
to take an example of that
and look towards the future.
Ha!
They're meticulous at Jumbo.
Very Germanic.
Thought-out, analysed, dissected,
engineered, whatever you want to call it.
Organised. That's Jumbo.
[suspenseful synth music playing]
[Chennaoui] When you look at Groupama-FDJ
and Marc Madiot, and how he runs the team,
they rely on that
French Republic fighting spirit.
THIBAU
CAN YOU AUTOGRAPH MY BIKE?
It's a complete contrast
to the likes of Jumbo-Visma,
which is run on data,
which is run on science,
on cold hard fact.
And I'm so grateful
that both teams are there,
because that is what makes
the Tour de France the Tour de France.
GO PINO
WE LOVE YOU
[Madiot] I do the best with what I've got.
Right now, I'm the team manager.
I want my team to perform well.
I want to show Richard Plugge
that real cycling is about the men,
the effort, the goosebumps,
and connecting with your team.
A rider like Pinot, say.
There.
[cows mooing]
There she goes!
[laughs]
- [Julien Pinot] There are so many.
- It's my treasure.
They're beautiful. Tug. Go on.
No gently.
[chuckling]
Oh, shit. It broke.
Beautiful.
Good job.
World record for biggest carrot.
- [laughs]
- Yeah, right.
Since I announced in January
to the public I was retiring,
I feel so much freer.
This will be my life from now on.
My animals, my garden.
It'll be a great way
to keep myself occupied.
I enjoy it. I love it.
The atmosphere in cycling has,
um, it's changed.
It's stricter now.
More rigorous, more meticulous.
Our careers are short
and they're over before you know it.
I've had a lot of highs, a lot of lows.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] Thibaut Pinot.
- You gotta give it more! Go!
- [commentator] Pinot is flying.
Pinot is down.
[Pinot] I'm not the world's best cyclist
but I'm pretty popular in France.
[crowd cheering, chanting]
[Pinot] I think I've touched
people's hearts during my career.
I'm someone that they can identify with.
- [cheering]
- [horns blowing]
Thibaut Pinot's a hero to the French.
He races with guts.
He attacks when he wants,
and even if it doesn't work,
we still applaud him.
[fans] Thibaut! Thibaut! Thibaut!
[Pinot] This is my last Tour de France.
And I want to finish my career at the top.
[tense music playing]
[commentator]We're looking forward
to this final mountain stage.
133 kilometres today.
A very short stage.
It's going to be explosive,
nerve-wracking, and hard to control.
PINOT'S CORNER
[man] Guys, yeah, just eight minutes.
Eight minutes.
[man 2] Do you have time to go?
- I'm thinking about myself.
- [teammate] Fuck, that's for sure.
It's my last race in my last Tour, so
I'll ride the best race I can.
I'm under the most
pressure of my whole career.
I know this stage by heart,
I'm at home on my training routes.
I don't want to let people down.
[crowd chanting] Pinot! Pinot!
GO THIBAU
YOU CAN REST AFTER
[tense music playing]
[commentator] Today, Thibaut Pinot
says goodbye to the Tour de France.
Can he win this last mountain stage?
He's got his very own corner today.
Thibaut Pinot!
[commentator]
There's been a social media appeal
to get all
Thibaut Pinot's fans to gather here.
PINOT CORNER
NO TIBO NO PARTY
PINO ROCKS
Thibaut Pinot!
[chanting] And a pint of beer for Jumbo!
We've been here two and a half hours now.
It's incredible.
We came all this way to enjoy it.
[crew member] Yeah. Nice one. You do that.
We have a collective responsibility here.
We can't hinder the race.
[fan] Thibaut! You're the man, Thibaut!
Here you go, my friends.
[tense music builds, fades]
So, the plan for today.
The absolute main goal is,
of course, to keep the yellow jersey.
But, yeah, it would be nice that we are
able to go for the stage as well. Huh?
And really have the confidence
that we are still the strongest team,
we have by far the strongest leader.
There's nobody stronger after
20 days of Tour de France than you are.
Also, yeah, it's possible
that UAE takes over
to go for the stage with Pogačar.
I don't know if Pogačar
is strong enough anymore to do it,
but, yeah, they will have that idea maybe.
[Chennaoui] The battle for
General Classification's pretty much over.
We know that Jonas Vingegaard
is going to win this Tour de France.
Tadej Pogačar is going to be hurting,
but can he come back fighting?
And relax. Pain here on the right side?
Well, a little bit, yes.
Okay.
[Pogačar] I wanted
to win the yellow jersey,
but, uh, it was ruined
by my failure on Stage 17.
Such Such a bad day on the on the bike.
You try to restore yourself.
- Getting better every day.
- Mm-hmm.
[masseur] Breathe in.
[Pogačar] Because I want
to fight to finish strong.
For us, the big goal is to win the stage.
It's better to stay in front
so you can control.
Then we say, "Go, go, go, you close."
Before these final kilometres,
for sure it will not be a big group.
And if Jumbo go, we need to be there.
Of course, the goal was to win the Tour.
There's no self-reproach.
We know that if Tadej has the opportunity
out there, he's the strongest rider.
[Pogačar] If I have
a really good day I can win.
I am planning to go all-in.
It's a big chance
to to go for the stage victory.
In front of me, I don't want nobody.
[laughter]
[crowd cheering]
[Chennaoui] Both Tadej Pogačar
and Thibaut Pinot have an enemy to fight,
and that is Jumbo-Visma.
For Tadej Pogačar,
this is a matter of pride.
He wants to show to himself,
as much as anyone else,
that he can still win
against Jonas Vingegaard.
And for Thibaut Pinot,
it's his final Tour de France.
It's the final mountain stage,
and these are his home roads.
He's got to show these big guns
that we mean business.
This is our race, we're the French team
at the Tour de France,
we're going to show them how we do it.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Stage 20
of the Tour de France is underway.
- [interviewer] Is this the end of an era?
- Most certainly is, mate. Yeah, yeah.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] Already some attacks
at the front of the peloton.
Riders are asking themselves
how they can hold onto a good position.
[cheering]
A group of five has
just made its way out front.
[Pinot] I could feel
the stage getting away from me.
I was feeling a lot of pressure.
That's it! That's it. Go, go, go!
[commentator] The gap
to the peloton is now 27 seconds.
[Pinot] As the kilometres went by,
I had to get back in the swing of things,
back in the race.
My goal was to get into the breakaway.
So I had to stay calm, stay focused.
[scattered cheers]
[commentator] Pinot, pushing hard
to get back to the front.
[Pinot] To get in the breakaway,
you gotta have strong legs
and a feel for the race.
Uh, good knowledge of the terrain
really helped me out there.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Pinot accelerates
to get to the front of the race.
He's made up a 30-second gap
at incredible speed.
That's it, well done.
Pinot now joins
the group there at the front.
[crowd cheering]
[on radio] Thibaut Pinot
has caught the lead group.
Perfect.
[fans chanting in French]
Jump if you're for Thibaut!
Jump if you're for Thibaut!
[in English] No.
No one's got signal up here.
No idea at all.
so it's gonna be a surprise.
[chanting continues]
He's fourth.
[shushing]
Hey, yo!
[all cheering]
[fans] Go, Thibaut!
[Pinot] The kilometres fell away
and I wanted to go it alone.
My goal was to win this stage.
[commentator] And here goes Thibaut Pinot.
Attack of the Frenchman
on his home territory.
This is great for Thibaut.
[Pinot] I've always been
an old-school, as they say.
I ride on instinct.
And I think that
it's reasonable to suggest
that today that instinct
to take risks has gone.
Alone at the front,
Thibaut Pinot, Groupama-FDJ.
[cheering intensifies]
[commentator] Here we are.
Thibaut Pinot reaches his corner.
Welcome home, Thibaut!
[fans chanting] If you're not jumping,
you're not for Thibaut!
[Pinot] It was just a wall of sound.
Such an incredible noise.
I'll remember it for the rest of my life.
[crowd roaring]
[horns honking]
[Pinot] I could just make out my brother,
and I knew
my whole family was there too.
[commentator 1] Thibaut Pinot
flies high, carried by the crowd.
[Pinot] I think people came
to celebrate the rider that I used to be,
the rider that they grew up with.
They wanted to say thank you and goodbye.
[cheering continues]
[commentator 2] It's giving me goosebumps.
[commentator 1] It's a great
sporting moment. Quite exceptional.
[triumphant music playing]
[crowd cheering loudly]
[Madiot] Suddenly, 14 years of cycling
with Pinot have culminated here.
[Chennaoui] Thibaut Pinot is
a throwback to the days of old.
When everyone is riding to numbers,
Pinot is riding to his heart, to his soul.
He gives us a reason to dare to dream.
[Pinot] The energy
at that corner was intense.
It gave me a surge of strength.
Then I got to the summit.
And on the descent, there was no one else.
It was just me and my bike.
My ears were
still ringing from all the noise,
and I didn't really know where I was.
[commentator] Pinot keeps pushing
with a stage victory in his sights.
There's a one-minute, 27-second gap
to the peloton. It's going well.
[fans booing]
[booing echoes]
- [booing]
- [car banging]
[in Dutch] Thanks for that, Richard.
Yeah. That's okay.
As long as they
leave Jonas alone, that's all I want.
[crowd booing]
[in English] Of course, it's not nice that
there's this fight between two teams.
They were not very nice
towards me or my teammates.
[booing, jeering]
[in Dutch] Lots of fun
in the Thibaut Pinot corner in a moment.
Oh! [exhales]
[crowd booing]
[in English] He has
like these very intense fans.
They get very
How do you say it? Emotional.
[chanting] A beer for Team Jumbo!
A beer for Team Jumbo!
[in Dutch] We still haven't dared
wind down the window
to straighten that mirror.
No, let's wait for a bit.
YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL PINO
[Plugge in English] Some people
were taking it a bit too seriously
and were maybe angry even,
which I understand.
YOU'RE HANDSOME
YOU'RE GREA
But it was not against the French, at all.
[crowd booing]
I love the French because they gave us
the most beautiful race in the world.
[dramatic music playing]
[horns honking]
[commentator]This is the final mountain
of this year's Tour de France.
These are the eight most important
kilometres of Thibaut Pinot's career.
The yellow jersey peloton
led by UAE, one minute.
[Pogačar] I had to win.
We tried to bring him back
as much as possible.
Just keep fighting. Just keep fighting.
[commentator] Here comes the attack.
Pogačar accelerates. He wants this stage.
[tense music playing]
Thirty seconds, Thibaut. Thirty seconds.
Out front it's Pinot.
Four kilometres from the summit.
Vingegaard and Pogačar,
ten seconds behind you.
[Pinot] I know that
I was ahead of the others.
He's not stopping.
[Pogačar] We were in a good place.
But I would not say we were overconfident
that we got this, you know?
You almost already catch Pinot, eh?
You're going for the stage victory, yeah?
[commentator]
They've caught up with Thibaut Pinot.
Six riders now in the lead group.
Come on, Thibaut. Come on, concentrate.
[commentator] Felix Gall goes for it.
Vingegaard follows right behind.
As does Pogačar.
[whimpers]
[tense music intensifies, fades]
Fuck's sake. Crank it up.
[commentator] Thibaut Pinot has dropped.
[melancholy music playing]
After an incredible solo performance,
he kisses victory goodbye.
Well, it's over.
It's over.
[Pinot] Cycling's pretty straightforward.
It's just a battle
between your legs and the slope.
You can't always come out on top.
We're only human
and that's all there is to it.
[music builds]
Come on, Jonas. It's also still
possible to win this stage. Come on.
I said, "Okay, I'll prove
to everybody that I can win again."
It's full gas to the finish line.
Almost there, come on.
Come on now! Go, go, go.
[commentator] 300 metres to go.
Come on, Jonas.
Show them again who's the strongest.
I'm not going to sit back thinking,
"What can I do to to win this race?"
I want to give everything
and take the win away from him.
[commentator]
And Vingegaard attacks on the right.
Pogačar is in his wheel.
Come on, come on!
[commentator] This inseparable duo
are neck-and-neck right to the finish.
[loud cheering]
[dramatic percussive tone]
Tadej Pogačar wins!
[Pogačar] I was relieved
that I have still good legs.
[gentle joyful music playing]
[Gianetti] Bravo!
Hey!
[indistinct chatter]
- Whoo! It's good, no?
- Good job. Yeah.
I was satisfied also
with the small sprint finish.
It was one of the nicest stages I won.
[announcer] The white jersey
for Tadej Pogačar!
To win Stage 20 gives me a lot of
confidence that I can do Grand Tour
and finish it good,
even if I have bad days in between.
[whistle blowing]
[reporter] Is there a part of you
that thought you'd win?
A little bit, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Thibaut can always [chuckles]
He's always capable.
UAE wanting the stage win,
well, that, eh, was what screwed us up.
[Pinot] There were no excuses that day.
We were outclassed.
But my fear for many years
was ending up as a nobody
or out of shape.
[commentator]
What a day for Thibaut Pinot,
voted the most
combative rider of Stage 20.
[crowd cheering]
[Pinot] Today, the people
on the side of the road
saw something special.
It's a beautiful ending for me.
That's something to be proud of.
- [woman] Good evening.
- [Pinot] Good evening.
- Is this for your room?
- Yeah.
- [man 1] Oh, shit!
- [man 2] Oh, wow!
[indistinct chatter]
- Top man.
- Well done.
- Yeah. You should be proud.
- Proud of you.
[Madiot] You were a pain
in the ass right to the end.
It wasn't just me.
You were a pain in the ass
and made me cry.
This stage says it all.
He was in position to win, but he didn't.
And I think that
it's poetic that he didn't win.
It fits with everything else.
So let's drink to
Richard.
- To Richard.
- Go, Richard!
[Madiot] Victory is important, yes.
We want to go for the win,
but at the same time, we also need
the passion.
- Good night. Sleep well then, guys.
- Well done, dude.
[Pinot] I never thought
that I'd end my career like this.
On my old training routes
with all those people.
It was beautiful really.
And of course I wanted to win but
that's the sport
and I had a really good send off.
[intense music playing]
[jet engines roaring]
Twenty days of racing
and more than three thousand kilometres,
we've reached the last
stage of the Tour now.
The battle
for general classification is over,
and Jonas just has to get over the line.
Today, it's the sprinters
charging down the Champs-Élysées.
I'm excited to go to bed early.
Uh, it's been a long three weeks.
For sure, it will be super cool
to win on the Champs-Élysées.
I won last year there.
And I'll have a good beer tonight,
and we will celebrate
together with the team.
I think I have proved
that I am the best sprinter in the world.
So, I can only be happy with a with a win.
[fan] Hey, Philipsen!
Winning in Paris is always special.
It's the last one.
Yeah.
[Roodhooft] Of course,
it's important for Jasper to win.
He takes it all.
What is there to say?
Jasper Philipsen is the out-and-out
favourite for the Champs-Élysées.
Mark Cavendish has gone home,
Fabio Jakobsen has gone home,
Wout van Aert has gone home.
But this is the last chance for all
the other teams to be able to win a stage.
They're not going to go down
without a fight.
The last day. The last dance.
So, boys, last meeting, then we go home.
I think it's not a secret,
we don't want to have a bunch sprint.
It's not a secret also
we have the manpower on board
to make it tough for the guys
who want to go for the sprint.
So if you get in the breakaway,
just floor it.
[Asgreen] Our leader's out,
Fabio is out of the race.
But I managed to win a stage.
So I'll try to get out there
to give it everything for another one.
[interviewer] So you think
you have a shot today?
Eh, when you're at the start
and you have the numbers pinned,
there's always a shot.
[Aldag] Now we have
a spectacular Paris stage here.
Don't pee in the crowds.
Don't send flying kisses
to your wife, girlfriends while racing.
You know, it's one of
the most prestigious stages to grab.
And I think we all want to show
what we have done in three weeks.
We would like to win that stage.
We started with a so-called
two-way strategy in the Tour,
you could say.
Because we wanted
to reach the podium with Jai Hindley
and wanted to win at least one stage
with our sprinter, Jordi Meeus.
And now the podium is not possible.
So Jordi is the last chance.
If you see the crowds, Jordi,
of course, it's massive.
It's really like one of
the biggest events you can do.
Sprinters will certainly put their elbows
out and say, "I'm willing to kill."
[Meeus] It's my first Tour.
I cannot say
I'm overjoyed with the results I had.
So far sixth was the best.
The team expected,
uh, at least one victory.
And, uh, I know I'm not the top favourite
for the Champs-Élysées. That's for sure.
But I will give it, uh,
100% to win the stage.
No matter how it looks on paper,
as a mission impossible,
you still have to keep on trying.
[Roodhooft] Quick-Step want
to be in the break, but we want to sprint.
That's our goal.
Bora, I don't think, but there are teams
with different objectives for sure.
Hey, but I'm stressed.
I can't handle this.
[Roodhooft] You have
no idea what the word means.
Jasper is making jokes about it.
But he forgets one thing.
That it changed his attitude and
his cycling career, this day last year.
Changed?
Yes. As a person
he became a bit more arrogant. Yes.
[all laughing]
That's correct.
- But for us
- [indistinct response]
Performance-wise,
it was better since then.
- [man] It was better.
- Thank you.
But we buy us a good rope
to bring him back down.
[Philipsen] I'm arrogant?
Don't give a shit.
[in Dutch] See what I mean!
[Philipsen in English]
The difference with last year?
Uh, it was the yellow jersey, mainly.
Well, I got four this time.
But, of course,
today we could put the cherry on top.
That really would be
an incredible way for me to end the Tour.
[chanting]
Bam, bam, bam! The flame from Ham!
Bam, bam, bam! The flame from Ham!
- I'm getting a gut.
- Can you sprint like that?
Look at this.
[riders laughing]
Not going like this.
[laughing]
- The zip is broken!
- Looking good, Jasper.
Ah
Panic.
We aim for the victory today with Jasper,
and in the end maybe it's
the perfect picture on the Champs-Élysées.
Five stage wins at the Tour de France.
I think for every team, would be enormous.
- [interviewer] Good luck.
- Thank you.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] Will today be the day
that Jasper Philipsen takes his fifth win
in this Tour de France?
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] As is traditional
on the final stage of the Tour,
the first few kilometres are taken slow.
[Roodhooft] Boys,
we're already on our way,
but Richard Plugge is
still performing a show here.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Once the riders
reach the Champs-Élysées,
the race really begins.
If you see an opportunity,
if you feel your legs, just take it.
Neils, Marco, Dani and Jordi,
you get together.
Try to find each other slowly now guys.
[Roodhooft] Everybody knows
where he has to be.
You don't lose concentration
and then you are there
when you have to be.
Yeah, try to attack, try to go. Try to go.
[commentator]
Soudal Quick-Step at the front.
Go, go, he's gone. He's outta there.
Go, Remi! Go! Go! Go!
[commentator] Soudal Quick-Step
at over 64 kilometres an hour.
We show no stress.
[commentator] The Alpecin-Deceuninck team
will try to control the attacks
right to the finish line.
Fuck. What's going on?
Fuck, that was a drop.
[commentator] And they're on the last lap.
Wait at the back of the bunch.
Wait at the back of the bunch.
[Philipsen] We don't need to talk
to understand what we have to do.
I know what my job is.
Good situation for us, eh? Good situation.
[commentator] And now
all the sprinters are in front.
The pace is very high.
Come on, guys. Five to go!
We bring this one home, eh?
The Bora-Hansgrohe riders
are at the front of the peloton.
Bob, Konnie just pick him up
and move him to the middle.
We're one kilometre from the finish line.
The last kilometre of the Tour de France.
When you have the position,
just try to jump again
to hurt the guys you have to control.
[commentator] The sprinters are
getting ready and can see the finish line.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck riders
are at the front.
It's Mathieu van der Poel
with Jasper Philipsen in his wheel.
Jasper Philipsen pushes Dylan Groenewegen.
[Philipsen] You hesitate
until the other goes.
You want to wait as long as possible.
[commentator]
And Jordi Meeus sprints on the left.
Whoa! Four of them on the same line.
Who will win?
Philipsen was there. So was Jordi Meeus.
[in German] I think he lost by this much.
[sighing]
[in Dutch] Have you seen it?
Is it Groenewegen or Philipsen?
Jordi Meeus?
[commentator in English]
Photo finish. Meeus or Philipsen?
Photo finish. Photo finish.
Jordi, was it? Or was it your man?
Yes. But
We haven't seen anything.
[man on radio] Yes!
No.
Sure?
[indistinct yelling on radio]
Jordi Meeus wins.
[all screaming] Yeah!
[crowd cheering]
[yelling happily]
- We did it!
- Yeah! Yeah!
[laughing]
Yeah!
You did it, mate.
What a day. I'm so proud of you.
Made my day, huh? Yeah!
[Aldag] It's super special.
Um, it was the only sprinter who beat
Philipsen in the whole Tour de France.
And, uh, and then in Paris, of course,
that's something that nobody
can ever take away from him.
That's, uh, a lifetime thing.
It's nice to win a stage, but it's even
nicer if you can beat the unbeatable.
[Philipsen] There are no gifts for nobody.
You can win by a small margin,
but that makes a huge difference.
[crowd cheering]
[Roodhooft] We could have
won that one easily.
It was important for us to win,
and it would have been nice for Jasper
to finish it off
in Paris, but yeah, it didn't happen.
[cheering, applauding]
Jordi! Jordi!
Yeah!
[Denk] The 2023 Tour de France
for Bora-Hansgrohe,
two stage wins,
one day in the yellow jersey,
and when you win the unofficial
world championship for sprinters,
then that's really something special.
[indistinct chatter]
It could be worse, no?
[Philipsen] Winning the green jersey
is a great accomplishment.
But definitely, as a sprinter,
you're only as good as your last race.
If you won a few races, uh, in a row,
then you're you're the hero.
And if you then, uh, lose,
you're nothing any more.
[sighs] I'm a happy, man. It's finished.
For me, the Tour is is special.
Though honestly,
this year I was so shit. I'm telling you.
It was hard. Three weeks.
Yes, it was.
Yeah, but there's a fourth one for you.
Emotional.
[O'Connor] My dream still
is to finish on the podium,
but I still raced
with the best every single day.
I got beaten up
by the best as well every single day.
[laughs]
[Mohorič] Being able to compete
with the best cyclists on the planet,
you are very close to their success
and you're very close to witnessing when
their dreams are shattered up in pieces.
And it brings compassion out in you.
[Cavendish] If you wrote it,
you wouldn't want it to end like that.
Yeah, ultimately,
I don't want to share the record.
So I spent a long time thinking,
"Fuck, can I do another year?"
And, uh, yeah, let's just do it.
Fuck it.
[laughing]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter]
[announcer] And there he is,
ladies and gentlemen,
walking away with the yellow jersey
for the second year in a row,
the one and only Jonas Vingegaard.
[commentator] Yes, that's right,
he's congratulated by the mayor of Paris
[Vingegaard] It's something special.
The Tour de France is
the biggest race in in the world.
And yeah, now I have it two times.
[crowd chanting] Eh, eh, eh!
[Vingegaard] Cycling is very simple.
It is always the best one who wins.
I hope I can do it again.
Hey!
It's sports. You want to be the best.
I don't want to have the popularity prize.
I don't care what people think.
Because there's only one thing
that counts for me.
Winning the yellow jersey.
[crowd cheering]
In the end, we took second and third GC.
Yeah, we missed
the cherry on the top of the cake.
And we go for that next year.
[singing in French] Thanks, Thibaut
For all the joy you gave us ♪
[interviewer in English] You happy now?
Yeah, well, I'm content.
And it's a relief that it's all over
and that it ended well.
- Thank you.
- No, thank you.
[Pinot] I had dreams as a kid
about doing the Tour de France.
And they all came true.
[camera shutters clicking]
[commentator] And the winner
of the Tour, Jonas Vingegaard,
holding up his yellow bike.
[Madiot] Richard Plugge and I
are cut from different cloths.
I'm part of the older generation.
We don't necessarily agree,
but I can have a beer with with people
that I don't agree with, can't I?
Yeah, having a drink
with them is no problem.
Hey, why are you late getting here?
Now we've switched to champagne.
We won it.
[Madiot] Yes, he won.
But winning isn't necessarily
the most important part.
And Pinot, unintentionally,
achieved something different.
[fans] Thibaut! Thibaut! Thibaut! Thibaut!
He won the love of the whole public.
Pinot always brought his truth to cycling.
And he connected with everyone that way.
Come on!
[cheering]
Thibaut Pinot!
[cheering]
[fan] Thank you, Thibaut!
[cheering fades]
[intense classical music playing]