Tour de France Stage 21 LIVE - Can Van Aert make it four in a row in Paris for Jumbo-Visma ahead of Vingegaard coronation?

Schachmann, Rutsch, Duchesne, Le Gac and Doull now have 18 seconds and this is looking much more promising. Behind it's Lotto Soudal, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Quick-Step and BikeExchange combining to pave the way for their men Ewan, Philipsen, Jakobsen and Groenewegen. Jumbo-Visma keeping their powder dry - it looks like Wout van Aert is going to do this alone if he contests for the final sprint.

Antoine Duchesne and Olivier Le Gac zip clear of the pack to join the leaders so we now have five clear with a larger-than-before gap of around 10 seconds.

It comes back together around the Arc de Triomphe after just one too many riders bridged over to the break. Max Schachmann then goes clear for Bora and he's joined by two riders from EF - Owain Doull and Jonas Rutsch. The boys in pink have been very active today and they clearly have a gameplan out there - attack and disrupt.

The American Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) has managed to join the leaders so we now have six out ahead - but the gap is still only seven seconds and it looks like other riders are going to soon bridge over.

That's a blow for the Italian, who will need to fight back if he wants to be part of the Quick-Step leadout for Fabio Jakobsen. The Dutch sprinter won the opening road stage back in Denmark but it's been slim pickings ever since. He came within 17 seconds of being eliminated on the stage to Peyragudes but lived to fight another day.

They really want a stage win today for Caleb Ewan. I thought that perhaps Philippe Gilbert was going to go on the attack on the last day of his Tour career - but the soon-to-be-retiring Belgian is keeping his powder dry. Ewan has had a rotten race - but he won here in 2020 and so cannot be discounted turning things round at the eleventh hour.

Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) has joined the leaders as they complete the second of eight laps. With the gap up to 10 seconds, Bisseger - who had that nightmare yesterday in the TT - led the quintet through the intermediate sprint to take some extra prize money for his EF team. Interestingly, the man in green, Wout van Aert, is right on the back of the peloton when it comes through the sprint - which is ironic given his huge green jersey points tally.

Stefan Bisseger (EF Education-EasyPost) soloed off the front before the Arc de Triomphe and was joined by Stan Dewulf (Ag2R-Citroen). The duo then became a quartet when Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) bridged over. Ineos Grenadiers are leading the chase with the gap just eight seconds.

France's answer to the red arrows - the Patrouille de France (PAF) - fly over and emit a tricolor of red, white and blue behind them. It's just as those escapees were pegged back at the conclusion of the first lap.

Here's was that moment that Tadej Pogacar counter-attacked after Wout van Aert put in a dig at kilometre zero. A few minutes of worry for the man in yellow, I imagine...

Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2R-Citroen), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) and Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) are joined by Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies). They have a small gap but the peloton is all strung out behind with numerous splits already - and Colombia's Rigo Uran off the back with a mechanical issue.

Once the peloton has gone through the finish line for the first of nine times - to start the first of eight full laps - the first attack comes in. If Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost) does the honours, it's Slovenia's Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) who opens up a small gap on the ride up towards the Arc de Triomphe.

It's always such a treat to see these sumptuous aerial views on a sunny day - enough to being a tingle to the spine and a shiver of wistful reflection. Under the arches and pass the glass pyramid go the riders before they're hit by a wave of cheers on the Rue de Rivoli. They sweep through the Place de la Concorde and then hit the finishing straight on the Champs-Elysees... Beautiful.

Jumbo-Visma are now on the front of the peloton ahead of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl as the pace quickens a bit on the approach to the centre of Paris. They have just passed the Eurosport head office in Issy-les-Moulineaux, bringing back some nice memories (I used to work there for over a year back in 2004/05, plus another stint for the Tour in 2013). The fans are out in their droves on the side of the roads - and it's still very hot, around 30 degrees.

That's a nice touch as the peloton allow Simon Geschke of Cofidis ride clear to take the single point over the top of the last climb of the Tour. The Cat.4 Cote du Pave des Gardes (1.3km at 6.5%) is lined with fans as the riders continue making their way through the outskirts of Paris. With that point, Geschke cuts his KOM deficit on Jonas Vingegaard to seven points. The German is still wearing the polka dot jersey he lost at Hautacam because the Dane is in yellow. He was tearfully disappointed after Stage 18 but he's probably now accepted that the best climber won the KOM classification, after all.

Well, fear not - you can watch Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) sprint to a fine win over Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) earlier on the Champs-Elyeees. The first of seven stages for the women in this rebooted stage race, which concludes next Sunday on La Super Planche des Belles Filles - where Tadej Pogacar won over two weeks ago...

We've mentioned Wout van Aert a lot - and quite rightly, given he won last year on the Champs-Elysees the day after his TT triump - but there are other sprinters who will be very motivated today. For starters there's Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) - all of whom have won once but will be hungry for more. Then there's all those sprinters still without a win - Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Alberto Dainese (Team DSM), Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies). Then there's always the chance that a breakaway will go the distance - something you can't discount in this of all Tours...

It's all very coffee ride right now but the pace will get up once they're back in Paris. After a leisurely loop south they're heading back towards the outskirts of the city now. Here's a little taster of what's to come from previous final day showdowns in the City of Lights.

Jonas Vingegaard is a fitting winner of a Tour that started over three weeks ago in Copenhagen. And now the yellow jersey is riding in a line with the other Danish riders left in the race: Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Andreas Kron (Lotto Soudal), Chris Juul-Jensen (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Mikkel Honore (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl). It will be interesting to see where Danish cycling goes from here - in the years after Bradley Wiggins' Tour triumph in 2012 there was something of a boom for Britain with the likes of Froome, Thomas, Yates and Geoghegan Hart all winning Grand Tours...