The crowd on the Champs-Elysées for Sunday's final stage of the Tour de France will be limited to just 5,000 people, as Paris is the center of the red zone in the COVID-19 case.

The final stage of the Tour de France traditionally has a party atmosphere, with crowds along the famous central boulevard often numbering as few as five people for fans to watch the riders on the final stage circuit.

However, with more than 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in France on Thursday and many more clusters in the capital, spectator numbers will be tightly controlled, as in Nice on the Grande Palais and other red zones in France.

"Once the number reaches 5,000, access to the Champs-Elysées will be suspended," officials said, according to Reuters.

"Red zone rules will apply," AFP quoted an ASO official as saying.

In addition, the team bus paddock area near the Place de la Concorde will be closed to the public, along the Rue de Rivoli near the Louvre and the Tuileries Park, and the last kilometer of the final Paris circuit will be closed to the public.

The Tour de France has finished on the Champs-Elysées since 1975.

The 21st and final stage of the 2020 Tour de France will start in Mantes-la-Jolie and finish in Paris after 122 km of racing. The riders will complete eight laps of the Champs-Elysées Boulevard, with a sprint finish at 19:00 local time.

The 2020 Tour began on August 29 in Nice, which was also classified as a red zone due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in the region. Large numbers of fans were prohibited from watching the team presentations and the start/finish of stages. Face masks were mandatory along the roadside, but spectators often packed the main climbs of the race.

Athletes and team staff in the protected "race bubble" were tested for COVID-19 before and during the race. Four staff members from Lot Soudal were sent home before the start in Nice, and four staff members from Cofidis, AG2R La Mondiale, and Ineos Grenadier also tested positive and were removed from the race on the first rest day.

Race director Christian Prudhomme also tested positive, but tested negative in the final week and was allowed to return to racing. On the second rest day last Monday, neither the racers nor staff tested positive.

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) has gradually extended his overall lead and is expected to win the time trial stage to La Planche des Belles Filles on Saturday before heading to Paris on Sunday for a celebratory ride.