Tour de France finale brings excitement to Montmartre with a climb to Sacré-Coeur

A cycling frenzy swept through Montmartre on Sunday as tens of thousands of fans greeted Tour de France riders during the final stage of the sport's biggest race.

Hours before the peloton was due to arrive, spectators had already packed the Parisian neighborhood — once bohemian, now bustling with tourists — eager to secure a prime spot to watch riders climb the iconic hill during the final stage of the race.

When the peloton finally neared the steep and cobbled Rue Lepic, the area erupted into a deafening roar.

The Tour broke with tradition this year as organizers looked to build on the popular success of the Paris Olympic road race. During last year’s Olympics, massive crowds lined the streets of Montmartre — the area in northern Paris famous for its artistic heritage and sweeping city views — to cheer on riders.

Inspired by the frenetic atmosphere, Tour organizers decided to include the Montmartre climb in this summer’s route.

And it paid off.

Spectators began arriving early Sunday on the Rue Lepic, well before Tadej Pogačar — who won his fourth Tour title on Sunday — and his rivals were expected to tackle the steep ascent. Fans also filled the stairs beneath the Sacré-Coeur to ensure they didn’t miss a moment of the action.

The festive atmosphere echoed with clapping and songs from enthusiastic fans.

“La, la, la, la, la, la, la Kevin Vauquelin!” chanted some spectators in polka-dot T-shirts winding up Rue Lepic, cheering the French rider best placed in the general classification. Meanwhile, others took to the street on their alpine skis for a moment of fun, having put their winter sports equipment out.

Riders ascended the hill three times and passed beneath the Sacré-Coeur basilica before heading to the finish on the Champs-Élysées. Despite the rain making the roads slippery and dangerous, Pogačar attacked on all three ascents but he couldn’t respond when stage winner Wout van Aert countered him.

The peloton passed the Moulin Rouge before climbing to the Butte Montmartre. To mark the occasion, dancers in tricolor costumes performed a French Cancan outside the cabaret.

Traditionally, the final stage is largely processional until a sprint decides the day's winner on the Champs-Elysées. But on Sunday, the final climb came about 7 kilometers from the finish and sprinters could not contend for the stage win. Only five riders were left with Pogačar on the third ascension of the 1.1-kilomete hill.

During the Olympics, the road races drew more than 500,000 spectators in Paris.

Last year’s Tour concluded outside Paris for the first time since 1905 because of a scheduling conflict with the Olympics, with the final stage held in Nice. The Champs-Élysées returned this year for the conclusion of the 3,320-kilometer (2,060-mile) race.

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Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides in the pack during the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 132.3 kilometers (82.1 miles) with start in Mantes-la-Ville and finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The pack with Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, passes the Arc de Triomphe during the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 132.3 kilometers (82.1 miles) with start in Mantes-la-Ville and finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Dancers perform the Cancan dance outside the Moulin Rouge cabaret during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Fan wait for the riders in the street of the Montmartre district before the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

A man distributes publicity items to cycling fans in a packed street of the Montmartre district during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Cycling fans run on the street in the Montmartre district before the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Cycling fans have fun on the street in the Montmartre district before the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

A smiling Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, crosses the finish line of the twentieth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 184.2 kilometers (114.5 miles) with start in Nantua and finish in Pontarlier, France, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

The pack rides to at the Place de Tertre in the Montmartre district, during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard , wearing the best climber's dotted jersey, pedals at the Place de Tertre in the Montmartre district, during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

The stage leaders, including race winner Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, race through the cobbled streets of Montmartre during the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 132.3 kilometers (82.1 miles) with start in Mantes-la-Ville and finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, July 27, 2025. (Bernard Papon, Pool Photo via AP)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides in the pack during the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 132.3 kilometers (82.1 miles) with start in Mantes-la-Ville and finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The pack with Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, passes the Arc de Triomphe during the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 132.3 kilometers (82.1 miles) with start in Mantes-la-Ville and finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Dancers perform the Cancan dance outside the Moulin Rouge cabaret during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Fan wait for the riders in the street of the Montmartre district before the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

A man distributes publicity items to cycling fans in a packed street of the Montmartre district during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Cycling fans run on the street in the Montmartre district before the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Cycling fans have fun on the street in the Montmartre district before the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris, Sunday, July 27, 2025 in Paris (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

A smiling Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, crosses the finish line of the twentieth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 184.2 kilometers (114.5 miles) with start in Nantua and finish in Pontarlier, France, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.

“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”

Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.

Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.

Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”

He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.

Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”

A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.

“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”

Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.

China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.

China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.

Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.

Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)