Tour de France 2026 Favourites stage 11: For fast men #4

fotobureau Cor VosThe riders face 1,400 metres of elevation gain over 161.3 kilometres. That is hardly enough to trouble the sprinters, especially as the only climbs come well before the finish. Barring the unexpected, the 10th stage should end in a bunch sprint. (Slideshow route/profile)

First published on 29 June

The Côte de Billonière (1 kilometre at 5.8%) and the Côte de Billy-Chévannes (1.4 kilometres at 6%) are the only climbs of the day. The latter is crested with 37.9 kilometres remaining before the finish in Nevers.

It will be the fourth time the Tour de France finishes in Nevers, and each of the previous three editions ended in a sprint, won by Eric Leman (1971), Guido Bontempi (1986) and Alessandro Petacchi (2003). All signs point to another bunch sprint this time around.

On paper, Olav Kooij, Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier are the strongest sprinters in this year's Tour. They recently went head to head at the Baloise Belgium Tour, where each claimed one stage victory. On the first day, however, they had to settle for the minor placings as Biniam Girmay took the opening stage.

We’ll continue to update this article in the build-up to the Tour de France.

Favourites 11th stage - 2026 Tour de France

**** Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen, Olav Kooij
*** Biniam Girmay, Arnaud De Lie, Max Kanter
** Mads Pedersen, Milan Fretin, Søren Wærenskjold, Phil Bauhaus
* Pascal Ackermann, Fernando Gaviria, Pavel Bittner, Arvid de Kleijn

Another interesting read: route 11th stage 2026 Tour de France.

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