Tour de France | Stage 18 live recap – the trio gets a lot of space from the sprinter teams

This isn’t a live blog, but we’ll keep you updated during each stage of the 2023 Tour de France. Think of this article as a live recap of smoothly scrolling through the highlights. Commentators Jan Hirsen and Bobby Traxell recap the day regularly thus far. We do the same here, including the videos. You really don’t miss anything!

The exchange rate situation remains unchanged for the time being. Asgreen, Abrahamsen and Campenaerts are a minute ahead of the peloton, but have no illusions that they will win here today.

The answer to the question below appears quickly. Three runners soon get the space, but the chance of Kasper Asgren, Viktor Campinaerts and Jonas Abrahamsen hitting the line looks almost impossible.

Will Alpecin-Deceuninck finish fifth with Jasper Philipsen, or will Van der Poel – not quite as fit, but preparing for the World Cup – get a chance to tackle some more? Vatika fare to do?

The peloton will be back in Bourg-en-Bresse when it comes to the stage finish. So the winner? Tom Bonin. Since then, four stages have begun: in 2007, Linus Gerdemann won the stage in Le Grand-Bornand, and seven years later Alexandre Christophe in Saint-Etienne. In 2016, Jarlinsson Pantano was the best on a stunning mountain stage towards Coluz and three years ago Søren Krag-Andersen triumphed after a long solo to Champagnole.

Bourg-en-Bresse was also part of the intermezzo after the Alps on the way to the Vosges, for a day later he followed the legendary – a little less than on Tuesday – towards La Planche des Belles Filles. We suspect Pogacar won’t be able to turn out the Vosges wonder again this Saturday…