Now the second block of the Tour is over after significant changes in the overall - even though only Porte is out of the top-10 and Landa has entered it, time gaps in the top-10 has changed. There is almost 3 minutes between 6th place occupied by Buchmann (Bora) and 7th, while inside this split is somewhat smaller. Gap between 1st and 6th is just above 2 minutes, while gaps between 7th and 10th is 40 seconds. Now, tomorrow is a restday. The GC riders can perhaps take 2 days of rest, because the first stage after the rest day tomorrow is a mostly flat stage, which starts and finishes in the city of Nîmes.
After 65 kms an intermediate sprint will be contested by Sagan and his competitors.
Nîmes is a city inhabited by approx. 150.000 people. It was a colony of the Roman Empire back in the day, known as Nemausus. It grew important enough to be declared capital of Narbonne by the Empire. The Roman influence in Nîmes is so significant, that the city is called the French Rome. Just look at Maison de Carrée, which embodies that notion:
The city's most recognizable landmark though is the Roman era amphitheatre Arena of Nîmes:
The very same Arena of Nîmes became a part of the city's defenses as the Empire weakened and grew more unstable, and was left mostly destroyed along with the city by a Frankish raid party, when the Nîmes was under brief Muslim rule from 725-752. Either way, at that time the city was a shadow of its former self, and it was after the French Wars of Religion, which ended in 1598, that the city began to prosper again. The Arena was a residential quarter until it was restored just before the French Revolution.
Nîmes has hosted the Tour 13 times, most frequent just after World War II and in this century. It has also hosted another Grand Tour, la Vuelta a España, when it laid ground to a TTT and the first road stage in 2017. Latest visit was in 2014, when Alexander Kristoff won in front of Heinrich Haussler, Peter Sagan and André Greipel.
Profile
General classification on the eve of the second rest-day:
1. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (DQS)
2. Geraint THOMAS (INEOS) + 1'35''
3. Steven KRUIJSWIJK (Jumbo) + 1'47''
4. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) + 1'50''
5. Egan BERNAL (INEOS) + 2'02''
6. Emanuel BUCHMANN (Bora) + 2'14''
7. Mikel LANDA (Movistar) + 4'54''
8. Alejandro VALVERDE (Movistar) + 5'00''
9. Jakob FUGLSANG (Astana) + 5'27''
10. Rigoberto URAN (EF1) + 5'33''
Green jersey competition:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 284
2. Sonny COLBRELLI (Merida) 191
3. Michael MATTHEWS (Sunweb) 187
4. Elia VIVIANI (DQS) 184
5. Caleb EWAN (Lotto) 148
Polka-dot jersey competition:
1. Tim WELLENS (Lotto) 64
2. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) 50
3. Thomas DE GENDT (Lotto) 37
4. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (DQS) 33
5. Giulio CICCONE (Trek) 30
Youth classification:
1. Egan BERNAL (INEOS)
2. David GAUDU (FDJ) + 12'29''
3. Enric MAS (DQS) + 33'16''
Weather at the finish line
After 65 kms an intermediate sprint will be contested by Sagan and his competitors.
Nîmes is a city inhabited by approx. 150.000 people. It was a colony of the Roman Empire back in the day, known as Nemausus. It grew important enough to be declared capital of Narbonne by the Empire. The Roman influence in Nîmes is so significant, that the city is called the French Rome. Just look at Maison de Carrée, which embodies that notion:
The city's most recognizable landmark though is the Roman era amphitheatre Arena of Nîmes:
The very same Arena of Nîmes became a part of the city's defenses as the Empire weakened and grew more unstable, and was left mostly destroyed along with the city by a Frankish raid party, when the Nîmes was under brief Muslim rule from 725-752. Either way, at that time the city was a shadow of its former self, and it was after the French Wars of Religion, which ended in 1598, that the city began to prosper again. The Arena was a residential quarter until it was restored just before the French Revolution.
Nîmes has hosted the Tour 13 times, most frequent just after World War II and in this century. It has also hosted another Grand Tour, la Vuelta a España, when it laid ground to a TTT and the first road stage in 2017. Latest visit was in 2014, when Alexander Kristoff won in front of Heinrich Haussler, Peter Sagan and André Greipel.
Profile
General classification on the eve of the second rest-day:
1. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (DQS)
2. Geraint THOMAS (INEOS) + 1'35''
3. Steven KRUIJSWIJK (Jumbo) + 1'47''
4. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) + 1'50''
5. Egan BERNAL (INEOS) + 2'02''
6. Emanuel BUCHMANN (Bora) + 2'14''
7. Mikel LANDA (Movistar) + 4'54''
8. Alejandro VALVERDE (Movistar) + 5'00''
9. Jakob FUGLSANG (Astana) + 5'27''
10. Rigoberto URAN (EF1) + 5'33''
Green jersey competition:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 284
2. Sonny COLBRELLI (Merida) 191
3. Michael MATTHEWS (Sunweb) 187
4. Elia VIVIANI (DQS) 184
5. Caleb EWAN (Lotto) 148
Polka-dot jersey competition:
1. Tim WELLENS (Lotto) 64
2. Thibaut PINOT (FDJ) 50
3. Thomas DE GENDT (Lotto) 37
4. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (DQS) 33
5. Giulio CICCONE (Trek) 30
Youth classification:
1. Egan BERNAL (INEOS)
2. David GAUDU (FDJ) + 12'29''
3. Enric MAS (DQS) + 33'16''
Weather at the finish line
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