There are real chances for Dan Martin in the Tour de France route. But he will not be looking forward to what are potential banana skin stages for a rider of his characteristics.
Dan Martin and the 2018 Tour de France route
The route for the 2018 Tour de France has been revealed, with mixed results for Ireland’s most likely general classification contender Dan Martin.
He will need to face the cobbles of northern France early in the race.
And there is also a 35km TTT on stage 3; a discipline Martin's new UAE Team Emirates squad looked sketchy in this year.
However, the fact the only individual TT is a hilly 31km on the penultimate day will suit him.
Overall, the route looks like a very hard one. And the fact all the climbing is packed into the second half of the race will be a massive test for all.
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The first nine stages will see no significant climbing; the race starting on July 7th with a 189km stage from Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile to Fontenay-le-Comte.
That first half of the race comes to a close with stage 9 on July 15th from Arras Citadelle to Roubaix.
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The 154km stage features the infamous pave and should prove dangerous for Martin.
After the first rest day, stage 10 then takes the riders 159km from Annecy to Le Grand Bornand. And this effectively begins the kind of racing that will suit Martin most.
His goal will be to mind himself to the first rest day and then take a more forceful role from stage 10 onwards.
There are three stages in a row in the Alps immediately after the rest day. They take the riders to Le Grand Bornand, La Rosière-Montvalezan and Alpe d’Huez.
Another uphill finish follows into Mende on stage 14. After the following day’s stage into Carcassonne there’s another rest day.
And then follows four tough days in the Pyrenees. Stages 16 and 19 into Bagneres-du-Luchon and Laruns respectively will be testing.
In the middle of those is a 65km hilly stage, with 37km of climbing finishing on the Col de Portet, and a sprinters’ stage to Pau.
There then follows the TT; 31km from Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle to Espelette and then the final stage in Paris.
Tour de France Route 2018
- Stage 1, July 7: Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile – Fontenay-le-Comte, 189km
- Stage 2, July 8: Mouilleron-Saint-Germain – La Roche-sur-Yon, 183km
- Stage 3, July 9: Cholet – Cholet (TTT), 35km
- Stage 4, July 10: La Baule – Sarzeau, 192km
- Stage 5, July 11: Lorient – Quimper, 203km
- Stage 6, July 12: Brest – Mûr de Bretagne Guerlédan, 181km
- Stage 7, July 13: Fougères – Chartres, 231km
- Stage 8, July 14: Dreux – Amiens Métropole, 181km
- Stage 9, July 15: Arras Citadelle – Roubaix, 154km
- Rest day, July 16: Annecy
- Stage 10, July 17: Annecy – Le Grand Bornand, 159km
- Stage 11, July 18: Albertville – La Rosière, 108km
- Stage 12, July 19: Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs – Alpe d’Huez, 175km
- Stage 13, July 20: Bourg d’Oisans – Valence, 169km
- Stage 14, July 21: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Mende, 187km
- Stage 15, July 22: Millau – Carcassonne, 181km
- Rest day, July 23: Carcassonne
- Stage 16, July 24: Carcassonne – Bagnères-de-Luchon, 218km
- Stage 17, July 25: Bagnères-de-Luchon – Saint-Lary-Soulan (Col de Portet), 65km
- Stage 18, July 26: Trie-sur-Baïse – Pau, 172km
- Stage 19, July 27: Lourdes – Laruns, 200km
- Stage 20, July 28: Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle – Espelette (ITT), 31km
- Stage 21, July 29: Houilles – Paris Champs Elysées, 115km
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