(Bourg-en-Bresse) The 18th stage of the Tour de France, which finds the plain for a course of 184.9 km between Moûtiers and Bourg-en-Bresse, left Thursday at 1:40 p.m. without Wout van Aert who joined his companion about to give birth.
“As everyone knows, Sarah is pregnant and things are starting to pick up at home. In consultation with the team, we have decided that my place is there, ”explained the star of Jumbo-Visma in a video released by his team.
The organizers wanted “as flat as possible” for this 18th stage, after several trying days in the Alps.
“We go to Chambery. We pass at the end of Lac du Bourget. And we cut the Montagne du Chat through the tunnel to avoid going up it,” explains Thierry Gouvenou, technical director of the Grande Boucle.
The possibilities of adding small or large passes were endless in the area, after explosive days which even cracked the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, and consecrated the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard. But, apart from two easy fourth category climbs, the route carefully avoids all the bumps.
Because it is also a question, three days before the arrival in Paris, of rewarding the sprinters who have succeeded in crossing the Alps.
This was not the case for the German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain), three times on the podium since the start of the Tour, and forced to abandon Wednesday during the 17th stage.
“Will that be enough for the sprinters to come in for the win? It will depend on their teammates if they are strong enough to control the breakaways. If so, we have a good finish in Bourg-en-Bresse to do the sprint “with a last kilometer in a straight line, adds Thierry Gouvenou.
Despite the absence of Wout van Aert, Jumbo-Visma almost won the Tour with the 7 minutes and 35 seconds lead of its leader and yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard over Tadej Pogacar after his monumental failure in the Col de la Loze the day before.
The arrival in Bourg-en-Bresse is scheduled for 5:42 p.m. (timetable calculated on an average of 45 km/h).
