A breakaway is likely to succeed in Pau

Geraint Thomas is in the yellow jersey before stage 18 to Pau. This was a bit unexpected although he had won the Critérium du Dauphiné before the Tour de France. He’s in a great position after two demanding Pyrenean stages but he is very likely to enjoy some respite before the last two decisive stages of the 105th edition. Pau is kind of a must-have on the route but the city of King Henri IV is a bit too far away from the giants of the Pyrenees so none of them is on the menu today. Two scenarios seem possible on this transition stage: a breakaway is very likely to succeed like in 2012 with Pierrick Fedrigo. Last year it was a bunch sprint won by Marcel Kittel but coming from the north, before the Pyrenean stages. Another bunch gallop can happen but there aren’t many sprinters left, which means not many sprinters teams left to pull behind a breakaway, and green jersey holder Peter Sagan wasn’t unscathed after his crash yesterday.