Key events
161km to go: Interestingly, the gap has fallen to a minute. You would have thought these three riders would be given a bit more rope given the length of the stage. Mind you, at the back of the peloton, it’s all looking very relaxed. There is little or no motivation to do anything other than let those three brave lads up front do most of the work.
Richard Plugge, one of the Jumbo-Visma team managers, talks to Eurosport about Wout van Aert’s departure: “We said when the moment is there, when the doctors says now is the moment, we have to make the decision [for Van Aert] to leave.
“For us it’s normal. It’s really important to be with your family, with your wife, with your kid … he’s a family man, we are a family, I have kids myself … you want to be in the most important moments in life with your family. We agreed on it without any discussion.
“He tried for a stage victory [earlier in the race]. Unfortunately it didn’t work out. He’s a great team player. Yesterday was the biggest goal for us in this Tour de France, and he waited for that moment … that shows what a big guy he is, what a guy for the team, how strong he is.”
Can he, Plugge, taste overall victory in this Tour? “I’ll be really happy in Paris on Sunday. Yesterday was a good step. Today is another day … we have to be sharp from the start.”
165km to go: On commentary, Carlton Kirby has been reduced to remembering a pizzeria that he once ate at with Sean Kelly.
167km to go: The gap has fallen slightly to 1min 16sec.
What or where is Malopolska, where Abrahamsen won that stage? Let Wiki explain:
“Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska (pronounced [mawɔˈpɔlska] (listen); Latin: Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate culture featuring diverse architecture, folk costumes, dances, cuisine, traditions and a rare Lesser Polish dialect. The region is rich in historical landmarks, monuments, castles, natural scenery and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.”
168km to go: The top result showing on Jonas Abrahamsen’s page on ProCyclingStats is a stage win at the Tour of Malopolska in 2020. But hey, a win is a win, yeah?
172km to go: The gap between break and peloton is hovering, pretty steadily, at around 1min 30sec.
174km to go: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck) is pictured riding along having a bite to eat. Couldn’t he have had something on the bus?
Meanwhile, breakaway rider Victor Campanaerts has also scored some big wins in his time. He won a Giro stage in 2021:
He also broke the Hour Record in 2019:
175km to go: I won the Tour of Flanders in 2019, at least in the sense that I completed the full-length sportive, which was about 215km. Anyone else out there done it?
177km to go: Asgreen, as you know, is a powerhouse of a rider and has won some big one-day races. Namely the Tour of Flanders (2021), E3 Harelbeke (2021) and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (2020)
178km to go: All three riders in this break are over three hours behind the race leader, Jonas Vingegaard, in the general classification. So there is no question of them being a threat …
180km to go: Carlton Kirby, on Eurosport commentary, suggests that some riders who were told to get in the break have missed it accidentally-on-purpose. No doubt there is some truth in that.
181km to go: The three-man breakaway has 43sec. That appears to be that. It’s hardly surprising that after one of the hardest climbing stages in years, much of the peloton would like an easy day. There was definitely some road-blocking going on a couple of minutes ago when these three got away …
183km to go: Kasper Asgreen (Soudal–Quick-Step), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and Victor Campanaerts (Lotto–Dstny) are up front. They have a lead of 18sec and the peloton behind looks happy to let them go.
Most of them, anyway … as Sean Kelly says on commentary, a three-man break is perfect for the sprinters’ teams, as it’s so much easier to control than a larger group. Asgreen and Campanaerts are very powerful though, having said that.
And they’re off! We’re racing on stage 18
Boom. Attacks from the start, as expected.
“With the yellow jersey practically sealed for Vingegaard, Pog’s only hope to win it back would be if Vingegaard had to withdraw,” emails Ben. “Has a team ever gone full Dick Dastardly and tried to force a rider to crash out? Not quite the same, but a few years back I seem to remember Movistar putting the hammer down after a crash in the peloton which was met with justifiable condemnation.”
Just 1km to go now in the neutralised start. The peloton is massed behind the race director’s car. Van de Poel is visible up front, plus Ciccone in his polka-dot outfit.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck), of course, is another rider who may put his hand up for a sprint win today.
“I’ll be keeping my eye out,” Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) tells Eurosport of a possible breakaway. “You never know … I’m hoping there will be lots of people who don’t want it to be a sprint. You kind of know in the “neutral” what the situation is. On stage 12, that was one of the most tense “neutrals” I’ve ever been in.”
Jeremy Whittle reports from France on the scepticism swirling around Jonas Vingegaard’s dominance, both in the time trial and yesterday’s Queen stage:
“The knives are out, or at least unsheathed, for Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, but then it doesn’t take much to trigger scepticism towards the wearer of the yellow jersey.
It is always there, simmering away, even though 25 years have passed since the crippling Festina affair of 1998, and it is more than a decade since Lance Armstrong confessed his doping sins to Oprah Winfrey.
Now Vingegaard, like so many before him, is having to recite the same mantra: trust me, I work hard, I sacrifice so much; believe me, I am not taking anything.”
I’m not sure how long this neutralised section is in total, but the graphic on screen just said they still have 7km to ride before the official start.
Jasper Philipsen is well ahead in the points classification: He leads with 323 points, Mads Pedersen is second with 186 points. There are 20 points on offer for winning the intermediate sprint, at Saint-Rambert-en-Bugey, and 50 for the stage winner.
“We’ve seen the final, so we know what to expect,” Jasper Philipsen tells Eurosport. He’s aiming for a fifth stage win this afternoon.
Does he have any weaknesses in a sprint? “We’ll see. Everything can happen in a bunch sprint.”
Bryan Coquard, Danny van Poppel, Alexander Kristoff, Luka Mezgec and Mads Pedersen are among the fast men remaining – along with Jasper Philipsen, of course – following yesterday’s insanely hard stage that featured over 5,000m of climbing.
A bit of politics now, from Antony on email:
“Bonjour. Labour is imminent, Let’s hope so Wout, let’s hope so. Get a good indication later tonight.”
The official page for abandonments, stage-by-stage, can be found here.
Phil Bauhaus packed it in yesterday, Caleb Ewan is gone, so is Fabio Jakobsen, and of course Mark Cavendish.
Top five in GC before stage 18:
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 68hr 05min 26sec
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +7min 35sec
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +10min 45sec
Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos) +12min 01sec
Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) +12min 19sec
This is cool. Ben O’Connor congratulating his teammate, Felix Gall, on his victory in the ‘Queen’ stage of the Tour de France yesterday.
“You’re a champion!”
Can’t beat a bit of true team spirit, can you? The full interview is well worth a watch, wherever you usually get your Tour de France interviews.
Don’t forget: You can email me with your thoughts on the race, or tweet me here
There are two category-four climbs on today’s route. The question is, will it be a textbook day for a game but ultimately doomed breakaway to be reeled in by the sprinters’ teams, or will we see something far more chaotic and exciting? There are plenty of tired legs in the peloton and no doubt many riders will fancy a “day off”. But this is the Tour de France, right?
“Labour is imminent,” Van Aert explains in this video on social media released by Jumbo-Visma. Van Aert’s wife, Sarah, is due to give birth to their second child.
Reflecting on the race, Van Aert said: “I started the Tour hoping to make it to Paris. I often had the legs to win the stage, but it didn’t happen.”
Jumbo-Visma’s Van Aert leaves race
The Jumbo-Visma rider Wout van Aert has left the Tour de France to be with his wife Sarah, who is set to give birth to their second child, the team said on Thursday.
The Belgian’s absence is not expected to impact teammate and race leader Jonas Vingegaard, who is on course for a second consecutive title after his rival Tadej Pogacar lost time following a crash in Wednesday’s stage 17.
“In consultation with the team, we have decided that my place is now at home,” he said, adding that the family’s doctor had informed him his wife was expected to go into labour soon. I always thought that I would go home when my wife indicated that she needed me. That time has come.” (Reuters)
Preamble
“I’m gone. I’m dead.”
Four words already committed to Tour de France legend. Speaking on the team radio yesterday, Tadej Pogacar conceded defeat in his battle with Jonas Vingegaard, cracking on the Col de la Loze on Stage 17 a day after his rival’s spectacular victory in the race’s solitary time trial.
The Slovenian’s GC hopes do indeed look buried: just 48 hours ago the expectation had been for one of the closest-ever Tours de France but after two devastating days in the Alps, the Dane now leads the overall race by a mammoth 7min 35sec. Thankfully it is not, of course, as final as death for Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates: he can always come back next year and have another go, and indeed try for a stage win before the end of this race.
Today’s long trip from Moûtiers to Bourg-en-Bresse, meanwhile, brings to mind the ghost of Mark Cavendish: long since departed from this race with a broken collarbone having come tantalisingly close to breaking Eddy Merckx’s 34 career stage victories in the Tour. All things being equal Jasper Philipsen will make it five wins at this race later today: perhaps Cavendish will be watching and wondering whether to take the option of another year with Astana-Qazaqstan, and another crack at that record. For the sprinters remaining yet to record a win – that is, all of them bar Mads Pedersen – it is a precious chance to justify their selection for the world’s biggest bike race.
Neutralised start time: 12.05 UK / 13.05 CET
