It’s a hilly day on the Tour de France. The road keeps going either up or down from start to finish. A glance at the height profile of the 5th stage must be enough to tire pure sprinters, whereas the classics riders – Van Avermaet, Alaphilippe, Sagan – will be all smiles. Expect the race to come down to a sprint of strong men. The last kilometre slopes upward at a gradient of 4.8%.
To give an idea of the type of riders who’ll probably be fighting for the stage win. In 2004, the powerfully built Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd stormed to victory on the uphill arrival.
Favourites 5th stage 2018 Tour de France
*** Peter Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet, Philippe Gilbert
** Alejandro Valverde, Julian Alaphilippe, Arnaud Démare, Sonny Colbrelli
* Daryl Impey, Gorka Izagirre, Michal Kwiatkowski, John Degenkolb
Tour de France 2018 stage 5: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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