Following Monday’s final rest day of the 2024 Tour de France the riders return to action on Stage 16 on Tuesday, with a 188.6 km route from Gruissan to Nimes awaiting them.
It is a mainly flat parcours with 1200m of elevation gain and just one categorised climb at Côte de Fambetou (Cat .4, 1.2km at 5%) and the sprinters will be heavily tipped for success when the race reaches Nimes.
Before that as the peloton heads away from Gruissan, on the coast near Narbonne, heading inland to Beziers (km 21) and onwards to the intermediate sprint at Les Matellettes (km 96.1) there could be disruptive crosswinds with the mighty Mistral blowing in from the Gulf of Lion. If so the sprinters and GC favourites teams will need to be on alert to keep their star men well positioned.
This is the 20th time Nimes will host a Tour de France stage finish and it has seen plenty of bunch sprints in the past. Although Nils Politt’s win from the breakaway in 2021 bucked the trend, the fans in Nimes have usually been treated to frantic bunch sprints, such as those won by Caleb Ewan (2019), Alexander Kristoff (2014) and Mark Cavendish (2008).
Could Cavendish make it Tour stage win number 36, with another Nimes triumph 16 years on? To do so he will have to outsprint the likes of green jersey Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Arnaud Demare (Arkea-B&B Hotels) for the victory.
