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EsCiclismo.com · Road Competition · 09/17/2020
The Tour de France 2020 will say goodbye to the high mountains on Thursday with a last alpine day in which the general will be at the expense of the final judgment that dictates the time trial ending at La Planche des Belles Filles.
The 175 kilometers between Mribiel and La Roche su Foron offer climbers the last opportunity to unveil their cards on the Tour, with five passes, although the finish line is 30 kilometers from the top of the last of them.
It is a classic route in the Alps, with well-known peaks that are linked together to total a difference of 4,000 meters, without resting until the finish line.
The peloton will cross mountains that have its name inscribed in the history of the Tour, Roselend, who was left out last year by the storms that cut the last stages, or Aravis, which entered the history of the race in 1911, at the same time. than the Galibier.
But the spice of the day will come with the ascent to Les Glires, a place that combines sporting difficulties and the historical memory of the resistance against the Nazi invader during World War II.
Hundreds of those resisters took refuge in this massif, many of them Spanish, until they were massacred in 1944 by the much more numerous and armed German army.
Re-armed from the air, they managed to remake themselves to the point that in the imaginary of the resistance they signed the first only French victory against the Nazis.
Its roads will now serve as the stage for a last battle for the general classification, with a final surprise: The 6 kilometers of ascent at 11.2% of average slope culminate in the last two in a stony road, not paved, where the sporting difficulty add the pica.
“It adds an aesthetic, historical and sporty dimension,” notes Tour Director Christian Prudhomme, eager to rebuild in the 21st century the racing conditions of the 1950s, when most roads were unpaved.
Although the Glires are not unknown to cyclists, since they were last climbed in 2018, their terrain offers options for attacks, in addition to the surprise factor that a mechanical failure on its uneven surface can suppose, with difficulties to receive assistance in the middle the dust that lift the pace of cyclists.
After the changes in the general classification that led to this Wednesday’s stage, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) continued with his defense of the yellow jersey. The Slovenian now has 57 seconds left over his compatriot Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), 1 minute and 26 seconds over the Colombian Miguel ngel Lpez (Astana) and more than three minutes over the Australian Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) and the British Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).
The squad will leave Mribel on time at 12:30 p.m. (CEST) and its arrival in La Roche sur Foron is scheduled for 5:28 p.m.
Stage 18 data
– Departure: Mribel / 12:30 pm (CEST)
– Arrival: La Roche-sur-Foron / 5:28 pm.
– Distance: 175 kilometers
– Scorable mountain elevations:
. Cormet de Roselend / 1 Cat. With 18.5 km at 6.1% at 129 km finish
. Cota de la route des Villes / 3 Cat. Has 107.5 goal
. Col de Saisies / 2 Cat. 84 goal
. Col des Aravis / 1 Cat. With 6.7 km at 7% at 57.5 km to finish
. Plateau December Glires / Cat. Special with 6 km at 11.2% at 31.5 km from the finish line.
Tour of stage 18
Stage 18 profile
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