PARIS — Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark set his sights on further domination after securing his second successive Tour de France crown while Belgian Jordi Meeus won the final stage in a photo finish on the Champs-Elysees.
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar was second with Briton Adam Yates taking third place.
Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the green jersey for the points classification with Italian Giulio Ciccone taking the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification.
Pogacar, the 2020 and 2021 Tour champion, won the white jersey for the best under-25 rider for the fourth year in a row.
Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma won the teams’ classification, a logical end to a race mastered by the Dutch outfit in the third week.
“It’s been an amazing year, what a Tour de France for us,” Vingegaard, who took the yellow jersey after the sixth stage and held it until Paris, said.
“We started the plans early and once again I could not have done it without my team. It’s been an amazing Tour for us and I’m so proud of every one of us.
“We will celebrate, have a good dinner, it will be a nice evening. Thanks to my opponents who have been amazing, it’s been an amazing three weeks fighting with you guys,” Vingegaard added according to Reuters.
The 26-year-old built his success with a crushing victory in Tuesday’s individual time trial, beating Pogacar by one minute and 38 seconds, a day before his rival cracked in the last Alpine stage.
Pogacar, however, recovered to win the last mountain stage in the Vosges but it as too late for the 24-year-old to turn the tables.
He finished a massive 7:29 behind Vingegaard with Yates 10:56 off the pace.
The action began when the bunch started the first of eight loops of the Champs Elysees, with Pogacar jumping away from the peloton in yet another spectacular move by the Slovenian entertainer.
He was sandbagged by Vingegaard’s team mate Nathan van Hooydonck and was then reined in before a trio of riders also tried their luck.
All Tour final stages have been decided in a bunch sprint since 2006, a year after Alexandre Vinokourov won solo on the world’s most famous avenue, and this edition was no exception.
Belgian Jasper Philipsen was the hot favourite but he did not time his effort perfectly and was pipped to the line by his compatriot Meeus, who was taking part in his first Tour de France.
Only eight men have won three or more Tour titles, but the 26-year-old Dane is already looking towards the opportunity to join them next summer.
“I’m proud and happy of course,” Vingegaard said. “We’re winning it for a second time and it’s really amazing…I have to say thank you not only to my team but my family and all of Denmark, they supported me and I’m really grateful for this.
“It’s been a long journey but it went by so fast. We raced every day. It’s been a super good fight between me and Tadej and I really enjoyed it all the way. Of course I hope to come back next year to see if I can take a third win or at least try. That will be the plan.”
Vingegaard also revealed he plans no more than a week off before turning his attention to the Vuelta a Espana, where Jumbo-Visma will pair him with Giro d’Italia winner and three-time Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic as the team seeks a first-ever clean sweep of the Grand Tours.
Britain’s Adam Yates joined Vingegaard and Pogacar on the podium in Paris after securing third place, his career-best result in a Grand Tour.
Meeus, making his Tour debut, could not immediately celebrate his stage win, looking around at his rivals as he asked if any of them could say for sure who finished first.
