Stage 20 was the final chance for Zoetemelk to attack Van Impe, and attack Van Impe he did. Throughout the Tour the excessive pace set by Zoetemelk and Van Impe as they attacked one another would have caused as many as half the riders to be thrown out of the Tour for finishing outside the cut-off time limit, had the rules not been changed by officials to allow most of them to remain in the race, and this stage would be more of the same. Zoetemelk put the pressure on Van Impe and very much like during the first major mountain stage on Alp d'Huez it was Zoetemelk and Van Impe leaving everyone else behind as Francisco Galdos was once again the last rider to lose contact with them. For the third time in the Tour Zoetemelk was able to ride away from Van Impe and claim his 3rd high mountain stage win of the Tour, but he was not able to crack Van Impe as he only won the day by 0:12 seconds, essentially meaning that Van Impe had won the Tour. Stage 21 was a return to the flatlands and was decided in a bunch finish in which Maertens continued his dominance by claiming his 7th stage win. Stage 22 was a split stage, and the final day of the race. First up in stage 22A was a brief 6 km time trial around the Champs Elysees, and then for the 2nd year in a row the Tour would end with a circuit finish around the Champs Elysees, beginning to build a tradition which would endure up to the present day. The only thing to be decided during the time trial was the 3rd and final podium position as Poulidor and Delisle had been tied for 3rd place since Puy de Dome with both of them 12:15 behind Van Impe, and the Italian rider Riccomi just a few seconds behind the two of them. Delisle finished in 6th place while Poulidor tied for 2nd place with Zoetemelk meaning Poulidor would make the podium for the 8th time in his brilliant career, an impressive feat considering he was 40 years old. Winning the stage was Freddy Maertens, tying him with Charles Pelissier and Eddy Merckx, who did so twice, as the only riders in Tour history to win eight stages in a single tour. This was also the 3rd time in this Tour that Maertens had won back to back stages.