Arnaud Demare sprints to stage 18 victory – Tour de France
Tour de France 2018
Stage 18
After two days of pain battling the time cut in the high mountains, Groupama-FDJ sprinter Demare finally finished at the right end of the race after repaying his team-mates for a near flawless lead-out at the conclusion of the 171km transitional stage from Trie-sur-Baise.
With quadruple stage winner Peter Sagan clearly feeling the after-effects of his nasty crash on Wednesday, Demare darted from the wheel of his pilot Jacopo Guarnieri on the home straight before upsetting Cofidis rival Laporte with a slight deviation as the line beckoned.
The second Tour stage win of Demare’s career was a belated first for a French team in this year’s race – with Demare and runner-up Laporte finishing well ahead of Norwegian duo Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data).
Italy’s Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) completed the top five while the world champion Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) could only manage eighth place behind Max Richeze (Quick-Step Floors) and Stage 9 winner John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo).
With a demanding final day in the Pyrenees and the all-important penultimate day time trial on the horizon, it was a day of putative rest for the GC favourites as Welshman Thomas came home safely in the pack to retain his 1’59” lead over Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb).
Defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) stays in third at 2’31” – 16 seconds ahead of Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) and 59 seconds clear of bruised Colombian Nairo Quintana, who had to be paced back into the fold by his Movistar favourites after hitting the deck in a crash mid-way through the stage.
On a quiet day in sweltering south-west France, a break of five riders nipped away in the opening kilometre but never managed to increase their lead above the two-minute mark as the teams of the sprinters kept the move on a tight leash as the race passed through the picturesque Madiran vineyards of Gascony.
Mitchelton-Scott’s Australian duo Mat Hayman and Luke Durbridge combined with Dutchman Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors), Frenchman Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) and Belgian Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) in a break that had horsepower in buckets.
Despite the calibre of the escapees, their position never looked anything less than precarious – with the gap constantly yo-yoing on terrain that was hillier than the profile may have suggested.
Terpstra led the quintet over an early fourth-category climb before Van Kiersbulck swung the escapees through the intermediate sprint – when the gap had come down to just 30 seconds thanks to a short-lived attempt from Belgian classics men Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First) to bridge over.
A small pile-up in the peloton with 105km remaining counted Stage 17 winner Quintana among its victims and briefly took the wind out of the peloton’s collective sails. But there was never any serious doubt that the five leaders would be swept up – and the inevitable came after the second fourth-category climb, with the break swallowed up 15km from the finish.
While Groupama-FDJ and UAE Team Emirates carried out the lion’s share of the chase for their fast men Demare and Kristoff, it was the Bora-Hansgrohe team of the green jersey Sagan who strung out the peloton on the entry into Pau.
In hindsight it was perhaps a sign that Sagan was somewhat hampered by his fall on the descent of the Col de Val Louron-Azet – for such cotton-wool tactics are something we have rarely seen for the Slovakian sensation.
Another sign that all was not right for the world champion came when Kristoff, the European champion, ditched his rival’s wheel in favour of Demare’s as the peloton zipped under the flamme rouge.
Laporte darted from the wheel of Trek-Segafredo’s Jasper Stuyven with 250 metres remaining but it was the Italian Guarnieri who powered through with Demare in tow.
The 2016 Milan-Sanremo champion launched his final sprint close to the barriers and with Laporte in his slipstream – and although he clearly changed his line to the detriment of his opponent, Demare was always going to beat Laporte on speed.
Victory for the 26-year-old came after he finished the opening stage in the Pyrenees in last position more than 40 minutes in arrears. It also came after sprint rival Andre Greipel – who withdrew on that opening day of the Pyrenees – accused Demare on social media of benefitting from pulls from his team car after the Frenchman finished 29 minutes down on the Col du Portet in Stage 17.
“I’ve been through some difficult moments but I really wanted to make it to the final sprints and play my cards. I always believed in myself and my chances of winning in this Tour,” a relieved Demare said.
“Winning today, before the final chance on the Champs Elysees, is great for my motivation. This is for my wife, my family and my friends. It was a fast sprint after a fast stage. I was well-placed thanks to Jacopo Guarnieri and believed I could win. The team was perfect in the way they set me up. People who know me, know how hard I trained for the Tour de France and this goal. That’s why I’m so happy today.”
For the race leader Thomas, it was one further step towards a career-defining Tour victory in Paris – although the 32-year-old was mindful that far bigger challenges await him when the race returns for a final day in the mountains on Friday.
“I just try to take it day by day,” said Sky’s Thomas after successfully negotiating his seventh day in yellow.
“Obviously there is one more big day and we are expecting a lot of attacks. There is a lot of climbing, it’s going to be a hard day, but we’ve ridden really well as a team so far so hopefully we can keep that going. ”
“We’re expecting the worst, really – guys trying to go in the early break, attacks on the Tourmalet, and obviously attacks on the final climb and descent. We’re just going to be really ultra-vigilant and stay on our toes and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Tomorrow’s stage 19 takes the riders 200km from Lourdes to Laruns.
The final day in the Pyrenees includes the legendary trident of the Col d’Aspin, Col du Tourmalet and Col d’Aubisque after a start in Lourdes (where many riders will be hoping for a miracle and/or divine intervention). A fast downhill
