The final transition day of the 2018 Tour de France is upon us, with it appearing almost certain a breakaway will succeed on Stage 18. Join The Roar for live coverage of the 171-kilometre trek to Pau from 10pm (AEST).
After yesterday’s explosive 65-kilometre trek through the mountains, this is the final day for the general classification hopefuls to have a bit of a breather.
Tomorrow, it’s back into the mountains for over 200 kilometres, before Saturday brings us the all-important individual time trial to decide who will wear the final yellow jersey into Paris on Sunday.
Today kicks off in Trie-sur-Baïse and will be flat most of the way to the Tour’s famous town of Pau, which has been home to a rest day and stage finish on more occasions than you could count on two hands.
The only climbs come at the Cote de Madiran after 53.5 kilometres and the Cote d’Anos after 152.5 kilometres, meaning it’s inside the last 20.
Still, they’re only Category 4 climbs, and the pace is unlikely to be on at that point providing a breakaway have a huge lead – which seems likely given the state of the race.
While there are no other categorised climbs, it’s a little lumpy, which will make it a tough chase for the peloton in between two mountain stages.
The only other thing worth talking about on the route is the intermediate sprint, in Aurensan, after 73 kilometres.
Making the chase even tougher is the fact Sky won’t let anyone close on GC go, and the fact there are now only three sprinters left in the race – Peter Sagan, Alexander Kristoff and Arnaud Demare.
The race has been carnage for the sprinters, with most pulling the pin, so the trio left will have their eye set on clearing tomorrow’s mountains within the time cut and racing for glory in Paris, rather than winning today.
The finish itself is slightly downhill, setting up what should be an extremely quick sprint to the line.
Prediction
After a fast start to form the breakaway, expect this to turn into a rolling rest day for the peloton. Even the intermediate sprint may not be contested, with Peter Sagan holding an unassailable 280-point lead on the green jersey.
As for the breakaway, I’ll take a wild stab in the dark and say one of Taylor Phinney, Maxime Bouet, Daryl Impey, Romain Sicard or Julien Sicard will take victory.
Join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 18 at the Tour de France from 10pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thanks for joining me this evening for Stage 18. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage. We will be back again for Stage 19 as the Tour has it's final mountain stage. I'll be with you on Saturday for the ITT. Before then, you can catch me at 6:15am (AEST) for the Matildas and Brazil in the Tournament of Nations football event. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION 1. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 74:24:01 2. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) + 1:59 3. Chris Froome (Sky) + 2:31 4. Primoz Roglic (Lotto NL-Jumbo) + 2:47 5. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) + 3:30 6. Steven Kruiswijk (Lotto NL-Jumbo) + 4:19 7. Mikel Landa (Movistar) + 4:34 8. Romain Bardet (AG2R) + 5:13 9. Daniel Martin (UAE) + 6:33 10. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) + 9:31
Scott Pryde
Expert
TOP 10 1. Arnaud Demare (FDJ) @ 3:46:50 2. Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) + 0:00 3. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) + 0:00 4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) + 0:00 5. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) + 0:00 6. Maximiliano Ariel (Quick-Step) + 0:00 7. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) + 0:00 8. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 0:00 9. Taylor Phinney (Drapac Cannondale) + 0:00 10. Tim Dupont (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) + 0:00
Scott Pryde
Expert
Tell you what, Laporte was less than impressed about that final sprint. Demare came away from the fence on the right-hand side of the road... Wouldn't have made a difference, but Laporte felt Demare rode off his line, and he definitely has a point.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Kristoff came through in third, with Boasson Hagen fourth. Results to come.
Scott Pryde
Expert
ARNAUD DEMARE WINS STAGE 18 Edvald Boasson Hagen has come to the front of the race as well, but Demare is in a great position. He has a teammate hit the front with just 400 metres to go and this is going to be a cakewalk for Demare if he times it right. And indeed it is Demare who takes Stage 18 of the Tour ahead of Laporte for Cofidis. Huge win for Demare and FDJ, who have rode on the front all day and dominated the race.
Scott Pryde
Expert
The sprint is on! Tom Scully has come to the front, but Degenkolb and Demare look to be well positioned onto the final straight.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Stuyven has hit the front of the race for Trek with a kilometre to go. Degenkolb in a good position now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
FDJ have recovered and Demare has two teammates with 1700 mwetres to go by the looks of it. Bora still in control, but Sagan not in their wheels.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cofidis are now in a good spot on the inside for Laporte. Degenkolb has dropped back to about 30th wheel with just two kilometres to go, while Demare is virtually nowhere to be seen as the peloton strings right out at the front.
Scott Pryde
Expert
FDJ are going to need to put in some serious work to get Demare back into a decent spot here. Sagan down in about 20th wheel with Cannondale charging through
Scott Pryde
Expert
Bora might have three on the front of the bunch, but Sagan has dropped a little far back down the bunch and is completely boxed in for the moment.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Bora appear to have three riders in front of Sagan with four kilometres to go. Drapac-Cannondale are also coming to the front now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
5km to go and here come Trek Segafredo! They are working for John Degenkolb and will have just about a full complement of riders one would think. Bora still controlling for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Burghardt doing all the work for Bora here with 7 kilometres to go. Sagan's team look to be in a great spot here with FDJ well and truly losing their way.
Scott Pryde
Expert
FDJ starting to lose man power now at the front of the bunch. They may well have done far too much work throughout the stage keeping the breakaway close today. They have quite literally led the bunch for 170 kilometres.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Bora are timing their run well here, starting to come through and challenge FDJ for the lead of the bunch with right on 10 kilometres to go. Burghardt the man on the front.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Peloton storming to the finish line at over 50 km/h now. We have a few kilometres of downhill action on the run into Pau now, so it's about to get faster.
Scott Pryde
Expert
This is going to be a chaotic finish. Some of the GC riders are starting to get a little bit nervy as well now with the pace picking up and the battle for positioning at the front of the bunch and out of trouble intensifying.
Scott Pryde
Expert
So. looks like Sagan is definitely going to have a crack at this sprint. Bora have just appeared on the front of the peloton to start organising themselves for a lead-out to the finish line in Pau. FDJ still have control though with four riders in front of Demare 13km out.