Almost 100 riders have now made it to the finish line of this year’s TCR, and from 7pm tonight, almost all of them will be in one place: the finishers’ party at Restaurant La Paillote.

For the duration of the party, the official finish line will move to the steps of the restaurant – meaning all the riders still making their way towards Brest will enjoy a considerably bigger welcome on their arrival.

Congratulations to everyone who made it, and to all those still out there battling on towards the end.

Xavier Massart’s finish last night takes our total up to 51 riders who’ve made it over the line. There’s seven more caps closing in on Brest at the time of writing – including pair Michal Durec (Cap 249a) and Zlatima Petrova (Cap 249b) – and a whole load more making their way west.

For many, realisation of their continent-crossing accomplishment will be slowly sinking in ahead of the finishers' party on Sunday. Here’s Lloyd Williams’ emotional insight into what it takes to complete the TCR (plus some tips on doing it inside two weeks):

Our finisher total is now at 30, following the arrival of Gail Brown this morning. There’s plenty more riders lined up outside Brest and the final parcours so expect that number to grow by at least another ten throughout the day.

Back in Italy and CP3, Helen Proudfoot has scratched – succumbing to the saddle sores and stresses of the race that slowed her progress earlier in the week. Congratulations on a strong ride, Helen. We’re sure we’ll be seeing your dot again.

And finally, Sergiu Buciuc shared an emotional update on his previous day’s riding – featuring chance encounters, control point battles, and a customary ultra racing dinner:

Congratulations, Matthew Falconer. His arrival now marks the completion of our top 20 leaderboard for this year’s TCR. It's also his fourth appearance in the race, which is surely worth another congratulations.

Behind him and currently on the final parcours is cap 222, Tanja Hacker. She's roughly two hours’ riding from the finish line and securing her spot as second place female in the women’s category.

Overnight, Theo Daniel and Stephane Ouaja rounded out our top ten, finishing four hours apart at around 9pm and midnight respectively. Daniel Nash rode into the early part of the morning to finish at around 3am, while Sam Thomas is our latest finisher, crossing the line just 30 minutes ago.

Finishers will come thick and fast today, with three riders already riding the parcours, and a group of three more just 40km away.

Back in Switzerland, Niel Copeland makes his way towards CP3 having completed the mandatory parcours. The riding may be tough, but he’s being treated to some spectacular views of the surrounding mountains:

Later tonight, CP4 will close, leaving remaining racers less than three days’ riding to cover the 1,100km across France to Brest in time for the official end of the competition and finishers’ party on Sunday. Best of luck to all those still riding – we’re wishing you tailwinds, sunshine, and warm bivvies.

Despite having ridden more than 4,000km across Europe, the difference between seventh and eighth place came down to mere minutes for Alex Jacobson and Danny Green, with the pair finishing just 44 minutes apart.

Alex told race organisers at the finish in Brest:

“I’ve never been so wrecked… for the last 20km I’ve been sprinting to stay ahead of cap #9. We have been racing each other for the last 2 days.”⁠

Congratulations on a top ten TCR, Alex and Danny. And kudos for maintaining your racing spirit to the bitter end.