The final stage started easy enough, with the riders cruising casually up to the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The first attack came just minutes after the riders rolled into the loop around the Champs-Élysées, with FDJ riders coming up the right side with one rider from Skil-Shimano, Caisse d’Epagne, Cofidis, Milram, Quick Step and BBox each.
Columbia-HTC got to the front of the pack quickly, though, to keep Cavendish in position for the final stage win of the 2009 Tour de France. Right on his wheel was Thor Hushovd, but there were still 7-1/2 laps and 48km to go. There would be no rest for the weary here on the final stretch.
At 46km to go, the break had already put 30 seconds on the peloton, putthing the pressure on Columbia to reel them in eventually…but not too soon. If they captured them early, more attacks would launch and wear them down. Better to let the seven-rider break wear themselves out and reel them in closer to the finish while keeping the pace high enough to prevent anyone else from bridging up.
At 26km to go, the break had a 36 second gap, and Lampre’s Sapa took a stab at catching the break, hovering 7″ in front of the peloton for a bit, but was sucked back up in short order.
Two laps to go (14.5km), the gap was 19 seconds and Columbia upped the effort, dropping it to 14″ by 13km to go, then holding at 13″ up until about the last 4km.
In the peloton, Armstrong pushed toward the front and Columbia’s Michael Rogers fell off with a flat rear tire. At 7.7km to go, just before the start of the bell lap, Japanese rider Beppu (one of two in this year’s tour, the first two Japanese riders to ever finish the Tour) was in the lead pack, now down to three riders, had just a 9″ gap, wanting desperately to survive off the front.
5.8km to go, and Garmin Slipstream tried a break off the right side, which didn’t work, but then they swept up the left side and got all their riders to the front, essentially stealing a play from Columbia’s book, controlling the front at 2.1km to go, positioning Tyler Farrar or David Millar for a win.
But at 1km to go, Hincapie took his team to the inside, with Renshaw on his wheel and Cavendish behind him. Hincapie came into the last “S” bend, pulled off, Renshaw pulled Cavendish around the final turn and the two of them simply left the rest of the field in their dust. Cavendish absolutely destroyed the sprint, crossing the line first for his 6th stage win this year!
Alberto Contador rode comfortably in the middle or rear of the peloton, keeping himself safe and securing his second overall win at the Tour de France.
Thor Hushovd finished the day just a few places back, keeping the Green Jersey by 10 points.  Pellizotti won the KOM jersey, and Andy Schleck won the White Jersey for best young rider and took second overall for this year’s Tour.
2009 TOUR de FRANCE STAGE 21 TOP 20:
1, CAVENDISH Mark, TEAM COLUMBIA – HTC, 4h 02′ 18″
2, RENSHAW Mark, TEAM COLUMBIA – HTC, + 00′ 00″
3, FARRAR Tyler, GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM, + 00′ 00″
4, CIOLEK Gerald, TEAM MILRAM, + 00′ 00″
5, HUTAROVICH Yauheni, FRANCAISE DES JEUX, + 00′ 00″
6, HUSHOVD Thor, CERVELO TEST TEAM, + 00′ 00″
7, ROJAS Jose Joaquin, CAISSE D’EPARGNE, + 00′ 00″
8, BANDIERA Marco, LAMPRE – N.G.C, + 00′ 00″
9, BENNATI Daniele, LIQUIGAS, + 00′ 00″
10, BONNET William, BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM, + 00′ 00″
11, MONDORY Lloyd, AG2R LA MONDIALE, + 00′ 00″
12, LEQUATRE Geoffroy, AGRITUBEL, + 00′ 00″
13, TRUSSOV Nicolaï, TEAM KATUSHA, + 00′ 00″
14, LEMOINE Cyril, SKIL-SHIMANO, + 00′ 00″
15, DUQUE Leonardo, COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE, + 00′ 00″
16, LANG Sebastian, SILENCE – LOTTO, + 00′ 00″
17, TOSATTO Matteo, QUICK STEP, + 00′ 00″
18, DE JONGH Steven, QUICK STEP, + 00′ 00″
19, CANCELLARA Fabian, TEAM SAXO BANK, + 00′ 00″
20, ARASHIRO Yukiya, BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM, + 00′ 00″
2009 TOUR de FRANCE GENERAL CLASSIFICATION TOP 20 FINAL:
1, CONTADOR Alberto, ASTANA, 85h 48′ 35″
2, SCHLECK Andy, TEAM SAXO BANK, + 04′ 11″
3, ARMSTRONG Lance, ASTANA, + 05′ 24″
4, WIGGINS Bradley, GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM, + 06′ 01″
5, SCHLECK Frank, TEAM SAXO BANK, + 06′ 04″
6, KLÖDEN Andréas, ASTANA, + 06′ 42″
7, NIBALI Vincenzo, LIQUIGAS, + 07′ 35″
8, VANDE VELDE Christian, GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM, + 12′ 04″
9, KREUZIGER Roman, LIQUIGAS, + 14′ 16″
10, LE MEVEL Christophe, FRANCAISE DES JEUX, + 14′ 25″
11, ASTARLOZA Mikel, EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI, + 14′ 44″
12, CASAR Sandy, FRANCAISE DES JEUX, + 17′ 19″
13, KARPETS Vladimir, TEAM KATUSHA, + 18′ 34″
14, NOCENTINI Rinaldo, AG2R LA MONDIALE, + 20′ 45″
15, VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen, SILENCE – LOTTO, + 20′ 50″
16, GOUBERT Stephane, AG2R LA MONDIALE, + 22′ 29″
17, SASTRE Carlos, CERVELO TEST TEAM, + 26′ 21″
18, BOTCHAROV Alexandre, TEAM KATUSHA, + 29′ 33″
19, HINCAPIE George, TEAM COLUMBIA – HTC, + 33′ 27″
20, CHAVANEL Sylvain, QUICK STEP, + 34′ 09″
