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Stage 18: Voiron – Orcières-Merlette, 185.2k
The final mountain block starts with a stage designed to avoid GC action.Map and profile
The route
Zero transfer for the riders this time, so we can jump straight into the action. The first 24 kilometres are flat, then the first KOM of the day, the clearly overcategorised Côte d’Engins, starts. They ride the profile below in full, with the KOM after 11.3k (i.e. where it turns into a false flat). The true summit is in Saint-Nizier-de-Moucherotte, which hosted the ski jumping during the 1968 Winter Olympics. It is also the site of a necropolis containing the remains of some of the resistance fighters killed during the Battle of Vercors, the biggest strike the Nazis launched against any Western European resistance group.
The descent takes the peloton into the suburbs of Grenoble, but the city itself is avoided on this particular stage. Just before reaching the valley, there is the uncategorised climb to Col de la Comboire, the final 1.3k of the profile below.
The actual valley section is quite short, at just over 12 kilometres. The next climb is Col de la Festinière, with the KOM 10.8k into the profile below at Côte de Monteynard (which is really located in the hamlet of La Ville).
After Festinière, we soon join the Route Napoléon, the route taken by Napoleon to Paris after his escape from Elba on his way to Waterloo. This stage follows it in the opposite direction until 24k from the finish. This is the main road, and while it certainly isn’t flat, it also only has the one fairly straightforward KOM. Côte des Terrasses is the first 4.6k of the profile below, with the KOM after the first 3.4k.
The next point of note is the intermediate sprint in Corps.
The route continues to be rolling until shortly after leaving the Route Napoléon. Immediately after this, the route passes through Forest-Saint-Julien. This is the village where Sebastien Ogier (born in Gap, tomorrow’s start location), winner of a joint record nine rally world titles, grew up. One village over, we reach the penultimate climb of the day, the easy Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes. It is the first 2.9k of the profile below, albeit with the KOM after 2.6k.
And then, it’s on to the MTF. Just like in 2020, ASO have declined to put any climbs of note in the second half of the stage, and just like in 2020, that greatly limits its usefulness for the GC riders. The climb is the profile below, except that they don’t do the final 150 metres.
Finish
Orcières-Merlette is a mid-sized ski resort that first opened in 1962. While it has never hosted international professional events in snowsports, its sporting legacy was immediately secured when it first saw a Tour finish in 1971. This was the famous stage where Luis Ocaña destroyed everybody and took the yellow jersey from Merckx. It has appeared a further four times since then, including in the famous 1989 Tour, when it was the finish of a MTT from Gap, won by Rooks with LeMond overtaking Fignon on GC to lead the race. After that, it lay dormant until the 2020 stage that saw Primož Roglič win a sprint of the elites.
(picture by Nirv75 at Wikimedia Commons)
What to expect?
Obvious breakaway stage with minor skirmishes at most in the GC group.
