Tour de France 2016 Favourites stage 18: Dumoulin for his third win?

Stage 18 in the Tour de France is an uphill chrono race. Totalling at 17 kilometres, the opening section is a false flat leading to 11 kilometres of climbing before a plunge down at over 2 kilometres takes the riders to the line. The name of Tom Dumoulin springs to mind. (Slideshow route/profile)

Two 2 kilometres are super-steep with double digits grades, yet the other uphill sectors are doable with grades at around 5%, sometimes peaking to 8%. That’s too much for the likes of Tony Martin, but Tom Dumoulin doesn’t shy away from an occasional climb. On the contrary, he will think of it as a good training ahead of the Summer Olympics in Rio. Same story for Ion Izagirre and Nelson Oliveira, yet Dumoulin is a a better climber.

Dumoulin will be eyeing up his third stage win in La Grande Boucle, but just as interesting is the battle among the GC men. Froome was in class of his own in the first ITT in the France – that is, if we are talking GC riders as Dumoulin put 1 minute into the yellow jersey. Mollema was suprisingly strong, too, in last Friday’s hilly ITT.