2018 Tour de France stage analysis: the days which will make or break this year’s contenders
THE first half of this year’s Tour de France is such a booby-trapped minefield it’s left leading riders in a state of panic. SAM EDMUND runs the rule over the key stages that will decide Le Tour.
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IT IS cycling’s version of a minefield.
The high possibility of crosswinds, a team time-trial and 21.7km of cobblestones await this year’s Tour de France combatants in a booby-trapped opening nine stages.
So tricky is the first half of this year’s race that it is considered a certainty that some title contenders will lose time before a climb has even been done.
Richie Porte is more aware than most of the potential for slip-ups given his run of misfortune at the world’s biggest bike race.
“You look at the first nine days of the Tour and not one of them is straight forward,” Porte told the Herald Sun.
“You’ve got team time-trial on Stage 3, Stage 5 (to Quimper), we did that that race (Tour du Finistere) to look at the finish and it’s going to be absolute carnage. Then Stage 6 is the Mur de Bretagne, another tricky one, and then for me the biggest cloud really is Stage 9, the cobbled stage.
“We looked at that and it’s not easy, cobbles, it’s proper Paris-Roubaix. It’s one of those stages where you go and do the reconnaissance and you instantly have more respect for these classics guys who just get off on doing cobbled races because it’s so tough.
“I mean, it feels like the last few kilometres of a big mountain stage. It’s that hard.”
Defending champion has Chris Froome predicted the Tour could be “torn to pieces” in the opening nine-day block, adding to a constant stress that Irishman Dan Martin said buckled some riders.
PUT THE KETTLE ON
Crosswinds, gravel, team time-trials, iconic climbs and a 65km mountain stage — here’s the pick of the stages in what 17-times Tour de France rider Stuart O’Grady describes as “the craziest TDF ever”.
STAGE 3, Monday July 9 — 35.5km
THE first team time-trial at the Tour de France in three years takes place on 35.5km of undulating roads outside Cholet in the country’s west.
A nervous day for the overall contenders, who could potentially lose significant time here given the reliance on seven teammates.
Richie Porte’s BMC, Team Sky and Team Sunweb should be among the contenders. This year, BMC outmuscled its rivals in the TTT’s of Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour de Suisse, while Sky got the chocolates at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Starts 11.10pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.35am.
STAGE 6, Thursday July 12 — 181km
IT’S not the Alps or the Pyrenees; it’s a small hill in Bretagne, but it will offer the first hint of how the general classification aspirants are feeling.
The sight of a famous Cadel Evans win en route to the 2011 title, the peloton faces two ascents of the Mûr de Bretagne in the final 16km, including a 2km climb to the finish at an average gradient of 6.9 per cent.
Don’t expect the time gaps to be huge, but a few seconds here and there could determine a new race leader and a handy morale boost.
Starts 9.40pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.30am.
STAGE 9, Sunday July 15 — 156.5km
THE day of the FIFA World Cup final and Wimbledon men’s singles final is also a red letter day in the Tour.
Indeed, for many, this will be THE day. The stage to Roubaix includes 15 cobbled sectors totalling 21.7km — a stressful recipe for the title contenders, particularly if the weather turns nasty.
As the well-worn saying goes, you may not win the Tour here, but you could lose it.
Starts 8.50pm (AEST). Expected finish 12.18am.
STAGE 10, Tuesday July 17 — 158.5km
THE first rest day is followed by a day in which the riders will get none.
Five intermediate climbs are on the menu on the first of three huge days in the French Alps, with the Col de la Colombiere the final leg-sapping test on Stage 10.
But it’s the Montée du Plateau des Glières, a torturous 6km climb at 11.2 per cent about 62km in that offers the real sadistic twist — a 2km stretch of gravel to — and beyond — the summit.
Starts 7.35pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.57am.
STAGE 11, Wednesday July 18 — 108.5km
THE first legitimate summit finish of the Tour.
Three huge climbs shape the day. The Montée de Bisanne and the brutal Col du Pré — with a Cormet de Roselend encore — will sap the legs, before the uphill slog to the ski resort of La Rosiere.
What La Rosiere lacks in steepness — averaging 5.8 per cent — it makes up for in length, topping out at 17.6km.
Starts 10.05pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.23am.
STAGE 12, Thursday July 19 — 175.5km
ONE for the romantics as the Tour returns to the iconic Alpe d’Huez.
Decisive on any occasion, there may be some extra sting in the 21 hairpins given they come at the end of a taxing three-day stretch in the Alps.
On a postcard afternoon, the Col de la Madeleine, beautiful Lacets de Montvernier and the Col de la Croix de Fer will all combine to form a legendary precursor to cycling’s most famous climb.
Don’t miss this.
Starts 8.25pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.54am.
STAGE 17, Wednesday July 25 — 65km
FOR all the brutality of this year’s Tour, it’s probably this little 65km Pyrenean jaunt from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulan that is most feared by the contenders.
The shortest Tour stage in 30 years has been designed with one thing in mind — chaos.
So explosive could it be that the top 20 riders will be staggered in an F1-style starting grid, making it impossible to rely on teammate support if a rival launches an immediate attack.
Three huge climbs await, in the form of the Col de Peyresourde, Col de Val Louron-Azet and the “roof” of the race — the 2215m Col de Portet — included for the first time and featuring six gravel sections near the top.
Anything could happen here.
Starts 11.15pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.23am.
STAGE 19, Friday July 27 — 200.5km
THE final mountain stage is a brute as the GC men get their final chance to flex the muscles.
More than 4800m of climbing is packed into 200.5km, with the Col d’Aspin, Col du Tourmalet and the Col d’Aubisque — the latter appearing for the first time in six years — all lying in wait.
There’s no summit finish, but the fast 20km decent into Laruns might be just as confronting as our lead men chase every second.
Starts 8.05pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.32am.
STAGE 20, Saturday July 28 — 31km
THE only individual time-trial — the aptly-named “Race of Truth” — comes on the penultimate day in the far southwest corner of France.
It may be held on the corresponding stage as the 2017 Tour, but it is longer (31km) and hillier than last year’s circuit around Marseille.
The fact the toughest climb comes inside the last 5km, with an 800m section at an average of 10.5 per cent and a steepest ramp of 21 per cent, means there could still be a GC shake-up at the 11th hour.
Starts 8pm (AEST). Expected finish 1.13am.
Originally published as 2018 Tour de France stage analysis: the days which will make or break this year’s contenders
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