In recent years, when there have been just four days of racing left to go at the Tour de France, there's been excessive certainty about who will be handed a microphone for the victory speech in Paris on the final Sunday. But this year, just the opposite is true.
As things stand, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) has the upper hand, time-wise, with a 95-second 'cushion' between him and second-placed Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos). And there are plenty of prior Tours that have been won or lost by less, with the 1989 Tour – currently being cited with increasing regularity as the only modern-day Tour comparable in terms of last-minute tension – being a case in point.
But quite apart from Alaphilippe's inexperience as a Grand Tour contender, and the doubts over whether he can remain in contention in the approaching high mountains, there's also no lack of rivals within shouting distance of yellow who are itching to oust him from the top spot overall.
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Aside from Alaphilippe's advantage, a further 39 seconds are all that divide Thomas from the other four main GC rivals: Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe). Rarely have the words 'everything to play for' been so applicable to so many different riders so late in the game.
The Tour has three stages in the Alps to resolve this particular conundrum of who wears yellow in Paris. But will it have to wait until the final stage? As the only full-length day in the mountains, stage 18's 208 kilometres across two Hors-Catégorie ascents of the calibre and renown of the Col d'Izoard and the Col du Galibier is undoubtedly the hardest on paper – and it could decide the race.
The Galibier is officially 23 kilometres long at 5.1 per cent, combining with the much gentler ascent of the Col du Lautaret to the point where the race veers right and onto the climb proper. Double Tour de France winner Bernard Thévenet, who lives in nearby Grenoble, recognises that the southern ascent of the monster Alpine climb is not the harder of the two. But as Thévenet also points out, there's more than enough climbing terrain to do real damage.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/no-more-second-chances-as-tour-de-france-hits-the-alps-preview
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