classification. As had happened on the previous stage, more than half the field had to rely on a reprieve from the commissionaires having missed the cut-off time, but the penalty points made little difference to the green jersey competition as the two leaders in that classification both received the same sanction. Stage 20 23 July 2011 — Grenoble, individual time trial (ITT) In the final competitive stage of the race, riders left in reverse order of their standings in the general classification. Fabian Cancellara, the world champion at the time trial, was widely considered favourite to win the stage, and his time was the fastest for some time, but it was surpassed by Richie Porte and, shortly after, by Thomas De Gendt, before Tony Martin set the best time at every intermediate checkpoint, and at the stage finish, times which remained unbeaten. Pierre Rolland, although he lost his place in the top ten to Jean-Christophe Péraud, was able to retain his lead in the young riders' category ahead of Rein Taaramäe. Defending champion Alberto Contador, in posting the time which was second at the time, moved up one place in the overall rankings, before the final three riders, whose compared times were to be decisive in the final positions for the tour. It was widely expected that the 57 second advantage that Andy Schleck had over Cadel Evans at the beginning of the stage would leave the pair very closely matched, but even by the first checkpoint in seemed evident that Evans would more than make up the deficit. Evans beat Contador's time, to take second on the stage, and to pass both Andy and Fränk Schleck and assume the lead in the overall classification. Stage 21 24 July 2011 — Créteil to Paris (Champs-Élysées), After a silent tribute to Laurent Fignon and the victims of the attacks in Oslo and Utøya Island, and in keeping with tradition, the final stage began at a slow pace, and was a largely ceremonial procession through the suburbs of Paris. Shortly after the riders reached the circuit in the centre of the city, racing began in earnest, and after various unsuccessful attempts, the main break was initiated by Ben Swift () with 40 km to go, and he was joined by Kristjan Koren (), Sergio Paulinho (), Christophe Riblon () and Lars Bak (). At the intermediate sprint, with 35 km remaining, Mark