Chris Froome is the latest stage winner of the Tour de France at Bagnères-de-Luchon. The spa resort is a city located in the middle of the Pyrenean climbs. In 2016, the Briton took advantage of the downhill from the col de Peyresourde to claim a solo win and move into the yellow jersey. This time around, the finale comes from the opposite direction. Although all start and finish locations of the 105th Tour de France are in France, 22km of the whole route are abroad, today on Spanish soil, before tackling the col du Portillon whose summit is only 10km away from Bagnères-de-Luchon. The last downhill of the day is a very technical one, coming after col de Portet d’Aspet and col de Menté, known for dramas, the death of Fabio Casartelli in 1994 and the crash of Luis Ocaña in the yellow jersey in 1971. None of these climbs is considered being in the high mountains as they don’t even culminate at 1400 metres above sea level but the difficulty comes from the length of the stage (218km) combined with the side effects of the rest day in Carcassonne, the fatigue of fifteen stages and the reduction of the teams to eight members. It’s surely an occasion for Froome to take over from his team-mate Geraint Thomas in the lead of the overall ranking.
