Plain Stage
Sun, July 25 —starts at 14:30 local time

About Stage 20
By Chris Brewer
Part parade, part circuit race, and all celebration.  The Tour finishes with a club ride into the streets of Paris followed by multiple circuits around the Champs Elysees.  Winning this stage is a tremendous honor, and then the real party begins as the 2010 Tour de France champion is crowned on the final podium!




About Longjumeau
While in 1903 the first Tour departed from a town nearby, this is the first year Longjumeau has been a stage town for the Tour. Longjumeau is located less than 20 kilometers from Paris, thus making this last stage the shortest of the race, as well as the shortest flat stage of the Tour since 1989.

Longjumeau was developed because of its placement along an ancient road built by the Romans to connect  modern-day Paris to Orleans. Unlike in nearby Paris, Longjumeau’s fields and crops give it a country feel. It is situated near the Yvette and Rouillon Rivers, and the town has worked to preserve its environment through communal ecology. Part of this environmental heritage comes from its orchards, and in particular, its bees: Longjumeau honey is a special gift, meant to be given to newlywed couples and newborn babies.

About Paris
As per tradition, the final stage of the Tour closes in Paris, on the “most beautiful avenue in the world” the Champs-Élysées. This famous promenade began to take shape into its present-day luxury entertainment and shopping center in 1616, when Marie de Medici extended the Tuileries Garden with a street lined with trees. Today, the avenue runs two kilometers from the Place de la Concorde (where visitors can view the Luxor Obelisk), to the Place Charles de Gaulle (home of the Arc de Triomphe).

The Champs-Élysées is the location of celebrations of all kind, such as New Year’s Eve parties and Bastille Day parades. The liberation of Paris during World War Two and the French World Cup victory were both honored here. It only makes sense that the Tour de France—a beloved French tradition that has unified the nation for more than 100 years—would conclude at this equally respected location.

-- City descriptions written by Rachel Horn