{"id":286773,"date":"2025-07-24T02:24:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/286773\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T02:24:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:24:16","slug":"tour-de-france-stage-18-preview-expect-a-gc-battle-royale-on-the-highest-stage-of-the-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/286773\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France stage 18 preview: expect a GC battle royale on the highest stage of the race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The highest stage of this year&#8217;s Tour with the most climbing, this queen stage with a summit finish at the Col de la Loze also takes in the Col du Glandon and the Col de la Madeleine, for three Hors Categorie summits.<\/p>\n<p>Expect a battle royale between the GC contenders to sort out the final rankings in three days&#8217; time.<\/p>\n<p>Stage 18: Vif &gt; Col de la Loze<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Date:<\/strong> 24 July<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distance: <\/strong>171.5km<\/li>\n<li><strong>Elevation gain: <\/strong>5,450m<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stage type:<\/strong> Mountain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"354\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TdeF2025-Stages-Stage-18-Schedule.jpg\" alt=\"Tour de France 2025 - stage 18: Vif &gt; Col de la Loze - schedule\" class=\"wp-image-922694\"\/><br \/>\nRoute profile<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1760\" height=\"672\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TdeF2025-Stages-Stage-18-Elevation.jpg\" alt=\"Tour de France 2025 - stage 18: Vif &gt; Col de la Loze - elevation\" class=\"wp-image-922693\"\/><br \/>\nRoute map<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"679\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TDF-2025-Stage-18-map.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-923080\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Once more with feeling \u2013 the Tour returns to the mountains for a final time with the first of two Alpine stages.<\/p>\n<p>Col de la Loze was a new mountain in the 2020 race (and was used again in 2023). In reality, it was the climb to the M\u00e9ribel resort, followed by a new path closed to traffic that connected M\u00e9ribel with Courchevel.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the race takes the road up to the high-end ski resort of Courchevel, where Ineos Grenadiers owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a chalet, followed by the passage up the Loze.<\/p>\n<p>The trickiest sections come first in the altiport, followed by another steep ramp as the road merges into the bike path in the final 4km.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe stats don\u2019t lie \u2013 this is the most demanding stage of the 2025 Tour, with 5,500 metres of vertical gain,\u201d says race director Christian Prudhomme.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuch of this total will come on the climbs to the Col du Glandon and then the Col de la Madeleine, where the riders will reach 2,000 metres for the first time today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen, they\u2019ll hit the heights again above Courchevel to reach the Col de la Loze, tackling the pass for the first time from this flank.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter passing through the altiport, the final four kilometres are on a cycle track where the gradient is just as irregular and almost as hard on the legs as the route taken in 2020 and 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More on the Tour de France 2025<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s in store for the riders?<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-1541942743-103fe09.jpg\" alt=\"Jumbo-Visma's Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey cycles in the ascent of Col de la Loze in the final kilometres of the 17th stage of the 110th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 166 km between Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc and Courchevel, in the French Alps, on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON \/ AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON\/AFP via Getty Images)\" class=\"wp-image-740334\"\/>Vingegaard extended his lead over Poga\u010dar to more than seven minutes on the Col de la Loze in the 2023 Tour de France. Thomas Samson \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the third time the Tour has tackled the Col de la Loze and its 26.4km climb with ramps of up to 20%. At 2,304m, the Col de la Loze is the highest point on the 2025 Tour, marked by the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, honouring the originator of the Tour de France.<\/p>\n<p>The Col is also the place where Poga\u010dar cracked on stage 17 of the 2023 Tour, with Vingegaard widening his lead to 7 minutes and 35 seconds \u2013 a lead that he kept, barring two seconds lost, until the race finish in Paris.<\/p>\n<p>One to watch: Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2224603079.jpg\" alt=\"Primoz Roglic of Slovenia and Team Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe prior to the 112th Tour de France, Stage 7.\" class=\"wp-image-931001\"\/>Stage 18 could be Rogli\u010d&#8217;s chance to make a mark on the 2025 Tour de France. Dario Belingheri \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Poga\u010dar and Vingegaard may have dominated the race to date, but this could be an opportunity for Red Bull \u2013 Bora \u2013 hansgrohe&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/features\/pro-bike\/primoz-roglics-specialized-s-works-tarmac-sl8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Primoz Rogli\u010d<\/a> to make his mark and win the stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The highest stage of this year&#8217;s Tour with the most climbing, this queen stage with a summit finish&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-286773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114905839647048981","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}