A bullet-ridden car had been discovered as part of a manhunt for four people who tried to crash through a security barricade at the final stage of the Tour de France.

Police opened fire at the black Renault Twingo car as it drove at speed into barriers just yards from the American Embaasy in Champs Elysees at 8am this morning.

A major investigation is under way to trace its registered owner - a man living in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris -along with his three passengers - two women and a man.

Police have recovered a bullet-ridden car in the hunt for four people that tried to crash through a barrier at the Champs Elysees ahead of the Tour de France today (pictured, Chris Froome passing the Arc de Triomphe)

Police opened fire at the black Renault Twingo car as it drove at speed into barriers just yards from the American Embaasy in Champs Elysees (pictured during today's race) at 8am this morning

Chris Froome today became the first Briton to win the Tour de France twice as his team crossed the finish line

Cyclists including Chris Froome, who today became the first Briton to win the Tour de France twice, were due to pass through the area just before the incident.

The official said the car was first spotted on a street that feeds into the nearby Champs Elysees, the famed avenue where thousands gather to watch the final laps of the Tour de France, and where crowd control barriers were being put in place.

The car skirted the area and struck a taxi at the Place de la Concorde near the start of the Tuileries Gardens, before officers opened fire, the official said.

The driver raced off and he and his three passengers - another man and two women - abandoned the car.

Locked down: Shots were fired at Place de la Concorde this morning before the final leg of the Tour de France

Road block: A French police officer stands guard on the perimeter of the Place de la Concorde this morning. An eye-witness described how they heard shots being fired at 8am as the car tried to get through a barrier

Incident: British Yellow Jersey champion Chris Froome is among those due in Paris for the final stage of the bike race (pictured yesterday), as shots have been fired in central London near where the race is held

On guard: Police are now searcing for the car driver after he sped away from the scene in central Paris

Theory: Police outside the American embassy, where the shooting happened. Police say they do not think it was terrorism, but that the driver had been under the influence and didn't want to be checked by police

Police believe the man may have suffered an injury in the incident ‘but not because of a bullet’, said an investigating source.

An eye-witness described how they heard shots being fired at 8am at the scene of the crash.

‘A car seemed to be involved in some kind of accident, and then tried to get through a security barrier', they said.

Police tried to stop it but when the driver refused he drove in their direction and then the shots were fired.'

Extra armed police flooded the area as they tried to find the people responsible, while officials confirmed no officers have been injured in the incident.

The final stage of the Tour de France started at 4.35pm local time (2.35pm GMT), leaving from Sevres, a town southwest of Paris.

Race: A team car passes a police officer on guard after the incident. Tour de France director said he did not think the shooting would have any impact on the race, which will start at 2.35pm GMT from Sevres

Attack: Paris has been on a maximum security alert since the Charlie Hebdo shootings in January this year

The riders arrived in the French capital at around 5:30pm (3.30pm GMT) and completed 10 laps around the Champs-Elysees before finishing at Place de la Concorde at about 7pm.

Chris Froome took the title for a second time after a ceremonial final stage in Paris by one minute and 12 seconds.

Andre Greipel won the 21st and final stage on the Champs-Elysees - his fourth stage success of the race - as Mark Cavendish was squeezed out of contention.

A crash in the final kilometre fractured the peloton and Froome's Team Sky squad rolled over the line together to celebrate a third Tour title for the British squad in four years.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees for the race's final leg.

Paris has been on maximum security alert since the shootings in Paris in January at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's offices.

Islamist gunmen and brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi forced their way into the offices of the newspaper, shooting dead 11 people. While on the run they killed another six people.

The men identified themselves as being part of Al Qaeda's Yemen branch. They were shot dead by police following a gunfight.

In the wake of the attack millions of people joined demonstrations across France and the world to show solidarity with the newspaper, using the slogan 'Je Suis Charlie'.

Shots fired: Police shot at the driver of car as he drove at speed towards them in the Place de la Concorde. Chris Froome - pictured in the yellow jersey racing in 2013 - is in Paris today for the final stage of the bike race

In June police arrested ISIS supporter Yassin Salhi on suspicion of beheading factory boss Herve Cornara and putting his severed head on a spike in Grenoble, as a sick selfie of him holding the head appeared online.

The official said police saw little chance of links between Sunday's incident and the Tour de France, or terrorism, but cautioned that prudence was necessary as long as the car's occupants were on the loose.

The official said the running hypothesis was that the car's occupants had left one of the nightclubs in the ritzy neighborhood, were intoxicated or had taken illegal substances and didn't want to submit to a police check.