The Tour de France, the world's most famous cycling race, completed its 3,400-kilometer route on Sunday despite being delayed for two months due to the pandemic.

The 21st and final stage is usually a processional pedal into Paris and a chance for the man wearing the yellow jersey to lead the peloton as it parades through the French capital.

As tradition dictates that nobody challenges for the yellow jersey on the final day, 21-year-old Slovenian Tadej Pogacar duly became the youngest post-war winner of the Tour – but there was also excitement with a sprint finish to keep the watching millions at home on the edge of their sofas.

The Tour was delayed by two months from its regular start date due to the pandemic and spectators, who usually crowd to the roadside along much of the course, were urged to stay away as officials called on fans to "watch the race on television this year."

Any people who did come to watch were forced to wear a face mask, bring hand sanitizer and maintain a social distance from other fans. But while Tour organizers were putting restrictions on spectators, the race director himself, Christian Prudhomme, tested positive for the coronavirus on 8 September.

It was news that not only affected him – the French prime minister Jean Castex had shared a car with Prudhomme on a visit to the race. That meant that Castex had to get a test and he was forced into self-isolation for seven days.

Despite that, the president also paid his traditional visit to at least one stage of the race. Emmanuel Macron hailed "the professionalism of the organizers and all the public services involved."

"By relying on a strict health protocol," Macron said, "they illustrate the ability of the French to live with the virus, and have thus been able to maintain this major event in our sporting and cultural heritage."

Pogacar had only been sitting on top of the general classification for a matter of hours after taking the overall lead in Saturday's final time-trial stage. His compatriot Primoz Roglic had led the race for the last 13 days and had the title all but won.

Yet he faded badly on the penultimate stage and suffered a disastrous changeover between bikes, leaving Pogacar to pull on the yellow jersey for the first time this year on the final competitive day.

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Pogacar's superb ride means he will also scoop up two of the other titles: the polka-dot 'King of the Mountains' jersey for the best climber and the white jersey for the best young rider.

Ireland's Sam Bennett took the green jersey that is awarded to the best sprinter.

While the rest of the pack took a leisurely cycle round Paris, there were still points on offer for the sprinters but Bennett held off his rivals to win the famous sprint finish on the cobbles of the Champs-Elysees.