2024 Tour de France Stage 18 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 18 of the 2024 Tour de France! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
Stage 18 of the Tour de France takes place between Gap and Barcelonnette. The riders are bombarded with a series of moderate climbs, and they are to conquer an elevation gain of some 3,000 metres along the way.
A start at breakneck speeds is to be expected as the first 17 kilometres run false flat downhill. The riders then enter the first and longest climb of the day, Col du Festre, which starts out at moderate gradients and gradually gets steeper. The Festre totals 13.8 kilometres, and the average gradient is 4.3%. A long downhill then leads to the foot of the CĂ´te de Corps (3.3 kilometres at 4.5%), and on it goes to the CĂ´te de Costes (2.6 kilometres at 6%).
The riders are 75 kilometres into the race after the Costes. In fact, from the Festre onwards, they are on the parcours of 2020’s 4th stage, which went to ski station Orcières-Merlette and was won by Primoz Roglic in a group sprint ahead of Tadej Pogacar.
The route goes its own way after moving through Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur and then enters the Col de Manse (6.3 kilometres at 3.7%). A long descent brings the riders back into the valley before they climb to Chorges and continue onto the Côte de Saint-Apollinaire (7.9 kilometres at 5.2%). Right after the descent, they cross a reservoir, Lac du Serre-Ponçon, before the Côte de Demoiselles Coiffées (6.4 kilometres at 3.8%) presents the umpteenth obstacle.
A rolling section of 5 kilometres precedes a short descent and flat section along the Ubaye. After crossing the river, the route climbs for 2.7 kilometres at 4.5% before the rest of the route follows the river further upstream at very shallow gradients. This final section is almost 25 kilometres long—most of it is false flat, although the last 5 kilometres are effectively flat.
Barcelonnette has never hosted a Tour de France stage finish before.
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