I’m not crying, you’re crying!

A big sporting event gives rise to big emotions, and they don’t come much bigger than the Tour de France. Year in year out, we see grown men reduced to tears of joy and despair as they battle for victory, struggle to make time cuts, or lament missed opportunities.

I’m an emotional person and cry at all kinds of things, happy and sad, but this year, I wasn’t alone. Almost daily there seemed to be a collective outpouring of emotion on social media as we shared the joy and despair of the riders as they celebrated and commiserated successes and disappointments at the race, and I honestly feel as though there were more moments of emotion this year than ever before.

So instead of a race review, I’m compiled my top 15 totally emotional moments, guaranteed to have you chopping onions as you reminisce. Of course it’s totally subjective; some of the moments belong to the tears of the riders, and moments that had me bawling might have left you cold, but I guarantee you there will be plenty on this list that demand you grab the Kleenex (other tissue brands are available). Are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s begin.

1. Bardet in yellow

Yes, we were bawling right out of the starting gates on stage 1, as the last of the French romantic heroes set the bar high for the whole of the Tour in terms of emotions, by winning in dramatic fashion on a brutal opening stage in Italy.

The elation on the faces of Bardet and his heroic young teammate Frank van den Broek as they crossed the line remains one of the stand-out images of this Tour de France, and the realisation that we would see Bardet in yellow for the first time in his career, at his final Tour de France, just about battered down the floodgates, as the tears of joy flowed at this most poetic of opening days at Le Tour.

2. Biniam elation

Sometimes things happen that transcend sport, and when Biniam Girmay stormed to victory at the first possible opportunity on stage 3, this was one of those moments. The first black African – and the first black rider – to win a stage at the Tour de France, the outpouring of emotion was one of joy for the man himself, but also of hope and possibility for the future of the sport. It was impossible not to be swept away by the moment, and to feel the poignancy of being present at a deeply significant moment in time.

The joy of his team, the bubbling enthusiasm of organisations like Africa Rising, and the scenes from his cycling-mad home nation of Eritrea were enough to move even the hardest of hearts. If we'd known at that point what was to come over the next three weeks, we'd probably not have believed it - truly a fairy tale Tour for the Intermarché-Wanty man.

The emotion and enormity of the achievement truly hit me the next day following this simple yet poignant post on social media...

3. Cav 35

Speaking of history, in terms of the Tour there was an all-time record just begging to be broken at this year’s edition, and after all the hype, following last year’s heartbreak, there was only one possible outcome for Mark Cavendish and his Astana team at the 2024 Tour. When he freelanced his way to the front of the race in the final, there was a gathering sense of inevitability, on a day in which Astana had played everything absolutely perfectly.

When Cav crossed the line, his arms aloft, the cycling world collectively left the ground. Euphoria was the first reaction, but it was later followed by pure relief and unbridled joy, as he hugged everyone, high fived everyone, celebrated with his beautiful family and generally made us all weep repeatedly. Just pure elation, and a moment that in years to come you'll be able to say 'I was there'. And probably cry a bit more.

4. One for the Bernard family album

If we forget about the ridiculous UCI sanctions that followed, then we can remember the beauty of the moment on the stage 7 time trial, when Lidl-Trek’s Julien Bernard was mobbed by his fans, friends and family, and shared a special moment with his wife and child.

A spontaneous and uplifting moment of joy and celebration, as he took the chance to savour the sweet, fleeting episodes of fun in the toughest race of the year, enjoying the fruits of his labour, and recognising the sacrifice of loved ones. Audiences relished the beauty of the best race in the world, as moments like this don't come along every day, and as a collective we agreed it was one of the highlights of the race thus far. A shame the UCI disagreed...

5.Virage Bardet

Following the incredible scenes on Virage Pinot at the 2023 Tour de France, the French fans had a lot to live up to as they prepared to say goodbye to one of their most loved characters on his home roads on stage 11.

And they delivered. Of course they did. Yet another moment of emotion for Bardet and his fans, in the final Tour of his career.

6. Victory and vindication for Vingegaard

While the most surprising thing about stage 11 was undoubtedly the two-up sprint victory of Jonas Vingegaard over his rival Tadej Pogačarn– an outcome that nobody would have predicted given past history between the two – it was his emotional post-race interview that will stay with me perhaps even longer than the victory itself.

Usually reserved, Vingegaard wore his heart on his sleeve as he released all the emotion that he had clearly borne throughout his journey back to fitness. A poignant reminder of the trauma he must have suffered on that horrendous day at Itzulia, where riders were stretchered away with no idea when or even if they would return to the sport, and the contrast with the elation of crossing the line and raising his arms in victory, bore testament to the sheer will and perseverance of the man, the unwavering love and support of his family, team staff and teammates, and the top notch care from his medical team. These guys are tough as nails, but also have real heart, and aren't afraid to be vulnerable even when they are trying to prove they are the best in the world.

7. Rogla's bad luck continues

Some of the tears we shed at this year’s Tour were of joy, but others were of frustration and sadness. When it comes to Primoz Roglič, and the Tour de France, life just isn’t fair. How many mishaps can one man suffer in a race that should once have been his, and almost was, but has since evaded him?

A great many cycling fans would have loved to see the senior Slovenian finally do the job this year, and with his new team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe completely behind his bid for glory, it was simply down to form, and fate, to decide the outcome. If we’re brutally honest, his form didn’t seem to be there, by comparison with his three main rivals, but he never had the chance to ride his way into the Tour with not one but two crashes blighting his campaign. The second, on stage 12, took place off camera, but the results were clear. A resigned Rogla, shepherded to the line by crestfallen teammates, his dreams of Tour glory over for another year.

8. Only blue skies

We are a lucky lot, us cycling fans. Sure, plenty of sports have great characters, but cycling really seems to have hit the jackpot when it comes to interesting, honest and eloquent individuals, who also happen to be athletes. Post-race interviews at the Tour de France are always full of emotions but it seems that every year, we get one that captures the reality of the challenges these guys face so beautifully, that it lives long in the memory. MVDP’s tearful remembrance of his grandfather Raymond Poulidor in 2021, Yves Lampaert’s choked ‘I’m just a a farmer’s son from Belgium’ in 2022. Last year, Matej Mohorič summing up what every single one of the riders goes through, and how hard it is when they all can’t win, proved to be one of the speeches of a sporting generation.

This year’s winner is surely Victor Campanaerts. After throwing everything into stage 18 in order to clinch his first ever stage victory at the race, the Belgian’s tears flowed as he paid tribute to his partner, admitting how hard the past few months had been and how uncertain his future in the sport. When his wife gave birth to their son at the foot of the climb where they were stationed for Victor’s solo altitude camp he saw hope and ‘blue skies, only blue skies.’ Is it me or is it getting a bit misty in here all over again?

9.  Two sides to every story

If we thought we were done crying after Victor’s post-race interview on stage 18, we thought wrong. Images of the second-placed finisher on the day, TotalEnergies' Mattéo Vercher, portrayed a stark reminder of Matej Mohorič's sentiments in the aforementioned interview in 2023: not everyone can win. And the toughest break is for the rider who comes closest. The 23-year-old Frenchman was going for the pro continental team’s second stage victory, and to put in such a strong performance, on debut, speak to Vercher’s potential – his time will come. But in the moment, it was heart-wrenching to witness his devastation.

10. Lutsenko (and the rest) steps off

This entry stands for all the riders forced to climb off the bike mid-race. Because, with the odd exception of a rider who starts the day with a specific job (Fernando Gaviria tasked with trying to launch a teammate up the road before heading on to new goals in stage 17), every one of these riders probably in all honestly, shouldn’t have started the day, but were determined to give it one last shot (or perhaps told to).

Some of them were more pragmatic about their fate than others – Fabio Jakobsen offering a wave and a rueful smile before climbing into his team car – but others displayed the agony of the decision in their reluctance to get in the team car. Pello Bilbao stood at the door of the Bahrain-Victorious team car with a resigned expression on stage 12, and on stage 17, Alexey Lutsenko was forced to retire, so close to the finish, and yet so far. His tears as he stood by the car, Mark Renshaw encouraging him to get in, sums up all of these journeys that ended prematurely.

11. Visma heart-break

Stage 19 was a killer of a stage. Hearts and bodies were broken, and none more so than those of Visma-Lease A Bike teammates Matteo Jorgenson and Jonas Vingegaard. The former, after his dreams of stage victory were extinguished in the closing kilometres by the eventual stage winner, Tadej Pogacar. And the latter, as he faced up to the reality of his own broken GC campaign; a day when the legs weren’t there and he found himself unable to flourish on the terrain that suits him best.

Following a monumental battle to make it to the Tour in the first place, Vingegaard’s outpouring of emotion as he hung sobbing over his handlebars was an admission of defeat, despite his best efforts. And if the circumstances weren’t already enough to bring you to tears, the heartfelt reassurance offered from Jorgenson to his leader, despite his own disappointment, just amplified the tugging of the heartstrings.

12. Démare drops

While it’s always a disappointment and a worry to see riders have to withdraw from races due to illness or injury, there’s something uniquely heart-rending about seeing a rider forced to leave a race due to missing the time cut. Of course, the time cut is there for a reason, and its mere existence is enough to strike fear into the heart of sprinters, but they must endure its strictures in order to have their chances later in the race, and indeed, to complete the Tour.

This year’s race saw a total of six riders miss the cut, and while each one deserved their own moment of commiseration for the battle fought and lost, none tugged on the heartstrings quite so much as the veteran French sprinter, who laboured alone all day on stage 19, only to fall short with just one stage to go until the final day in Nice.

It’s been a tough couple of seasons for Démare, and with nothing to show for his Tour, having missed the previous one, and no more sprints left to stay for, still he battled on, respecting the race with a quiet nobility, despite the sprint stages all being over and done with, and his interview after it was a sombre recognition of having done what he could, a shadow of a man who stands just two victories away from a career 100. He will be back.

13. Brave Bardet bids farewell to the mountains

We lived so many ups and downs with Romain Bardet through this Tour de France, it was like experiencing his whole career in miniature, from the highs of victory on stage 1, the beauty of the esteem in which he is held by the home fans on stage 11, right through to his final valiant efforts to find a way to win from the breakaway in stage 20, one which, like so many other times, fell short.

His place is in the high mountains though, so while the Frenchman’s career will continue into 2025, his tearful interview after stage 20 marked the final time he would complete a Tour de France stage on his territory. Did we all cry along with him as he lamented: "It's the story of my career: fighting without ever being the best, but never giving up". You’re darn right we did.

14. One last time cut

The other end of the race saw a second goodbye to the mountains on stage 20, as Mark Cavendish’s 'it's complicated' relationship with the French ranges concluded with another battle to make the time cut, to ensure he would make it all the way to Nice to commemorate his final Tour de France in style.

Years of battling the daunting peaks of the Alps and the Pyrenees were finally behind him, and though there was still one stage to go, this was the moment the emotion truly came for Cav, as he was ushered to the finish line by his bubble of domestiques once again, a sight so familiar to cycling fans around the world, it's almost as much a part of Cav’s legend as the 35 wins are.

15. This is the end

OK this one might just be me. I struggle with endings at the best of times, and I’m always overwrought at the end of the three-week life-stealing full immersion whirlwind that is a Grand Tour.

Stage 21 wasn’t a full on sob-fest, granted, but there was something about the quiet dignity of watching the riders do battle with the course, one by one, that brought a lump to the throat of the sentimental among us. It summed up everything the Tour is about, in miniature. No, it was no Champs-Elysée, but it was a chance to tip the metaphorical hat to each one of the 141 who had made it all the way; to watch them fight against a challenging gradient one last time, and though most of them weren’t riding with a view to winning the stage, they all gave the course the respect it deserved, and as they finished their efforts, and we all bid farewell to the Tour for another year.

The days since have felt somewhat empty by comparison, but despite my emotional tendencies I’m also a positive person on the whole so I’m happy to be able to say: thank goodness for the Olympics!