Tour de France 2026 Favourites stage 18: Attackers in the Alps

fotobureau Cor VosStage 18 of the Tour de France kicks off a three-stage mountain trilogy. It is the easiest of the three, so you might expect the GC contenders to keep their powder dry for the two days ahead, that both finish in Alpe d’Huez. If so, the road will be open for a strong breakaway to fight for glory. (Slideshow route/profile)

First published on 1 July - last updated 23 July: weather forecast updated

The route is relatively straightforward for a mountain stage. The riders tackle 3,900 metres of climbing over 185.2 kilometres. After a flat opening of around 20 kilometres, the Côte d’Engins (11.4 kilometres at 5.4%) provides the first launch pad for strong breakaway climbers. Then comes the Côte de Monteynard (9.7 kilometres at 5%), before a prolonged rolling section featuring the Côte des Terrasses (2.5 kilometres at 6.5%) as its main difficulty.

The rolling terrain gradually turns into an uphill false flat in the final 32 kilometres. The Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes spikes this section with around 20 kilometres to go (2.5 kilometres at 6.5%), after which the road continues to rise steadily towards the foot of the finish climb.

The road to the line in Orcières-Merlette averages 6.7% over 7.1 kilometres. It is a fairly steady effort.

Pogacar may well be tempted to go for a fifth stage win, but it seems more likely that he will give his team a day off before making his move in (at least) one of the two blockbuster stages to Alpe d'Huez.

Favourites 18th stage - 2026 Tour de France

*** Thymen Arensman, Quinn Simmons, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Davide Piganzoli
** Richard Carapaz, Sepp Kuss, Luke Plapp, Tom Pidcock, Pablo Castrillo, Harold Tejada
* Tadej Pogacar, Isaac del Toro, Remco Evenepoel, Mauro Schmid, Valentin-Paret Peintre, Einer Rubio

Another interesting read: route 18th stage 2026 Tour de France.

Weather forecast:
The riders are in for another sunny day at the Tour de France. It will be sunny with very little wind, meaning the weather is unlikely to influence the race.

Start: 26°C, sunny, north-westerly wind (11 km/h)
Finish: 21°C, sunny, north-westerly wind (13 km/h)