Critérium du Dauphiné 2018 Route stage 7: Moûtiers

Critérium du Dauphiné 2018 Route stage 7: Moûtiers – Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc

Sunday, 10 June 2018 - The last stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné is a 136 kilometres blast from Moûtiers to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc. Two huge intermediate climbs before the final ascent amounts to 9.8 kilometres with an average gradient of 8%.

Following the start in Moûtiers the route moves through Bourg-Saint-Maurice, where yesterday’s last climb to La Rosière began. Now the riders tackle the Cormet de Roselend from the side they came flying down during the Rosière-stage. The climb is 19.3 kilometres and the average gradient is 6%. The descent is on the side of yesterday’s ascent.

In Beaufort the riders leave yesterday’s route to ride up the Col des Saisies, a steady slope of 15.1 kilometres at 6.4%. This was the first climb in last year’s final stage when Chris Froome put so much pressure on leader Richie Porte that he became isolated which ultimately led to Jakob Fuglsang winning the overall. Porte wasn’t amused, to say the least.

A long downhill – with an intermediate flat section of some 10 kilometres – leads to the finale. The last climb actually consist of two modules. The first part is the sharp Côte des Amerands – 2.7 kilometres at 11.2% – and following a negligible descent the route continues to climb to arrival place Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc. That last ascent is 7 kilometres and averaging 7.7%, although that’s a biased statistic as the final haul up is extremely irregular. The riders tackle its steepest ramps of 15% early on and at 3.5 kilometres and 2.8 kilometres before the top. Another double digit stretch appears 200 metres before the line.

In the 2016 Tour de France the two climbs were seen as one, thus amounting to 9.8 kilometres at 8%. In rainy conditions Romain Bardet attacked just before hitting the climb and he soloed to victory. Chris Froome also tasted the sweetness of winning in Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc. He did so in the 2015 Critérium du Dauphiné.

The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds. The race does not include intermediate sprints.