Tour de France 2019 Favourites stage 16: Sprint fest in Roman city

Following the Pyrenees' torture and the well-deserved rest day, the sprinters are likely to come to the fore in a relatively easy race with start and finish in Nîmes. (Slideshow route/profile)

The route is far from flat, yet the only classified climb is the Côte de Saint-Jean-du-Pin. The length (1.8 kilometres) and the slope (4.2%) of the Saint-Jean-du-Pin say it all: the red carpet is rolled out for the fast finishers in the 16th stage of the Tour de France.

So the outcome is next to certain. Luckily, all sprinters are still in the mix. Last year’s Tour de France ventured into the Alps in the second week to leave the mountain range without Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Fernando Gaviria, André Greipel and Dylan Groenewegen.

Not this time though. So the usual suspects, Groenewegen, Viviani and Ewan, are the riders to watch in Nîmes. They all won one stage in this Tour.

The first sprint on this year’s Tour de France was marred as Groenewegen went down inside the last 1.5 kilometres. Surprisingly, his lead-out Teunissen took the reins and outgunned Sagan in a millimetres sprint, while Ewan finished in third. When Groenewegen wasn’t able to fight for the day honours in Albi, Van Aert stepped up and he outgunned Vivani and Ewan.