Lorient hosted the Tour de France many times. The last arrival was in 2006, with Sylvain Calzati taking the honours, while the last start was in 2011, when the stage ran to the Mûr-de-Bretagne and Cadel Evans won the race.
After leaving the town and seaport of Lorient the riders race along the coast to the northwest. The route is all but flat and they ride from one hill to the next. The climbs are short and sharp and all the more grueling. The steepest slope is Côte de Kaliforn – 1.7 kilometre at 7.1% -, while the Côte de Menez Quelerc’h is the longest climb of the day: 3 kilometres an averaging 6.2%.
The last KOM is Côte de la Montagne de Locronan – 2.2 kilometres at 5.9% – with its top 23 kilometres before the line. But the riders are not done climbing, as the route still holds a number of demanding sections up its sleeve.
Approaching arrival town Quimper the riders stumble upon a trying finale. With 12.7 kilometres remaining a 800 metres stretch climbs at 6.5% before the slope continues for 1 kilometre at a lesser gradient. Then the route enters its next uphill stretch 7.8 kilometres before the line. For 1.3 kilometres the riders face a 5% gradient, which turns into a rolling section and ultimately a 2 kilometres drop. A 400 metres uphill at 3% ends with 1.4 kilometres to go before a short drop runs to the deciding fase of the race. The final kilometre run-in to the line climbs at 4.8%.
The last time the Tour de France finished in Quimper was in 2004 when Thor Hushovd powered to the win, outsprinting the pack by bike lengths on the uphill arrival.
The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the first intermediate sprint (at kilometre 92.5) is for green jersey points and the second (at kilometre 192.5) for time bonuses of 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Read also: results/race report 5th stage 2018 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2018 stage 5: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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Profile 1st intermediate sprint
Details 1st intermediate sprint
Profile 2nd intermediate sprint
Details 2nd intermediate sprint
Love the scenery… What a ride.
This time when the Tour goes past the spot marked S on the map , try to mention that the area of Bretagne where the immigration to the USA started from in the 1800 , then again in 1948