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Stage 18 is a long 222.5 km stage that brings the riders out of the high mountains of the Pyrenees to some comparatively shorter climbs than what they have been facing the past few days.
Starting in the town of Blagnac, it is a flat 65 km ride for the peloton, before a short sharp climb up the Category 3 Cote de Saint-Georges, which has its summit at 155 km to go in the stage.
Intermediate sprint points are available at 107.5 km to go for anyone who wishes to contest the dominant lead that Peter Sagan (Liquigas) has in the green-jersey competition.
The rest of the stage is all rolling hills including three Category 4 climbs which are the Cote de Cahors, Cote de Souillac, and Cote de Lissac. These climbs have their summits at 105 km to go, 42 km to go, and 10 km to go.
The finish is in the town of Brive-la-Gaillarde, and the final straightaway is slightly downhill section to the finish line.
A breakaway group will likely form at the very beginning of the stage, but don't expect any battles for the King of the Mountain jersey on this day. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), won the polka dot jersey for the 2012 Tour by out-sprinting Fredrick Kessiakoff (Astana) on the early mountains of yesterday's stage to build an insurmountable 11 points lead.
Instead, look for teams without much to celebrate in the Tour thus far, to try to get their man in the break. Possible candidates include Denis Menchov (Katusha), Egoi Martinez (Euskatel), Jerome Coppel (Saur), Michele Scarponi (Lampre), Peter Velits (Omega), or Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil).
Another team that is looking for its first Tour stage win is Orica-GreenEdge with their sprinter Matthew Goss. Orica will look to make this a bunch sprint finish for Goss with competition from Mark Cavendish (Sky), Andre Greipel (Lotto), and Peter Sagan (Liquigas).
The big sprinters should all be able to overcome the short final Category 4 Cote de Lissac which has its summit at 10 km to go. However, if the sprint teams falter, look for either the break to succeed or a late attack out of the peloton to win the day.
The stage is not tough enough for any major GC changes on this day. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) wrapped up the competition for the yellow-jersey on yesterday's stage with his teammate Christopher Froome (Sky) who sits in second place.
The next positions in the top 5 of the GC are Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas), Jurgen Van Den Broek (Lotto), and Tejay Van Garderen (BMC). Their time gaps in the GC are far enough apart that they will just wait until the final individual time trial the next day to see any possible changes.
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*** Stage 18 has ended, please click here for the latest live coverage of the Tour de France: /world-others/
