Where is stage 18: Lourdes to Hautacam,
Date: July 21, 2022
How long is stage 18: 143.2km
Stage 18 start and finish time: 13:30 – 17:25 CEST
Stage type: Mountain
After a week of trying to recoup ground on Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, all Tadej Pogačar has to show for his efforts are the four bonus seconds he clawed back with stage victory atop Peyragudes on Wednesday. But the defending champion will undoubtedly go again on the road to Hautacam on stage 18. He has no choice. This is the last dance.
Pogačar, like most of the general classification contenders, couched the Tour’s foray into the Pyrenees less as three individual stages than as one trilogy of racing, suggesting that the final part was the one most likely to create sizeable gaps. He will hope that cumulative fatigue and the weight of the yellow jersey finally begin to exact a toll from Vingegaard, though the Dane has shown no signs of vulnerability thus far and his 2:18 advantage is an imposing one.
Both Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates have endured setbacks this week, but then exceeded themselves shortly afterwards. On stage 16 to Foix, Vingegaard’s teammates Wout van Aert and Sepp Kuss were dominant figures, compensating for the loss of Primoz Roglič and Steven Kruijswijk. A day later, Mikkel Bjerg and Brandon McNulty conjured up supersonic displays on the Col du Val Louron Azet and Peyragudes, just when it seemed UAE Team Emirates had been depleted beyond recognition.
All the while, however, nothing could separate Vingegaard and Pogačar. The Slovenian’s attacks, whether they came uphill or downhill, early or late, have all been met with an immediate response from Vingegaard. The task of chasing Pogačar is one he has steadfastly declined to delegate to his teammates, and that is likely to be the case once more on this final leg in the Pyrenees, over the Col d’Aubisque, Col de Spandelles and Hautacam.
Vingegaard and Pogačar have been in a race of their own for most of this Tour, as the general classification picture suggests, and there is little prospect of that scenario changing on the final day in the mountains. Geraint Thomas (Ineos) will look to manage his resources safely to defend his podium place while David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Romain Bardet (DSM) do battle behind, but those skirmishes seem unlikely to impact on the day’s key duel.
The stage – and the outcome of the entire Tour – will instead essentially be defined by…
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