Thursday 23 July – Tour de France stage 18: Voiron → Orcières-Merlette (185.2 km)

Route

Stage 18 opens the Alps. The peloton departs from Voiron, heads south towards Grenoble and climbs 185.2 kilometres to the ski resort of Orcières-Merlette at 1,825 metres altitude. The stage features 3,900 metres of climbing.

The first climb begins just before Grenoble: the Côte d’Engins (11.4 km at 5.4%, cat. 1). After the descent, there is a short valley passage along the Drac. Then comes the Côte de Monteynard (9.7 km at 5.0%, cat. 2). After the summit, the road barely descends; the route stays around 900 metres altitude over rolling terrain. The Côte des Terrasses (3.4 km at 6.6%, cat. 3) is the hardest section of that intermediate stretch.

From La Fare-en-Champsaur, 32 kilometres from the finish, the road rises almost continuously. The Côte de Saint-Léger-les-Mèlèzes (2.8 km at 6.8%, cat. 3) stands out in the approach. The route then joins the climb used in 2020. The final ascent to Orcières-Merlette is 7.1 kilometres long at an average of 6.7% and has a notably consistent gradient.

Final kilometres

The final climb to Orcières-Merlette begins 7.1 kilometres from the finish. The average gradient is 6.7% and the profile is steady, without steep spikes. The final metres pass through the ski resort itself, finishing on a wide plateau at 1,825 metres altitude.

Recent editions

Orcières-Merlette last served as a Tour finish in 2020 (stage 4, Sisteron – Orcières-Merlette). Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won the sprint from a reduced peloton, ahead of Tadej Pogačar. Before 2020, the finish had not been used for a long time: in 1971, Luis Ocaña rode solo to the line after attacking from 60 kilometres out, more than nine minutes ahead of Eddy Merckx and Joop Zoetemelk. Ocaña later abandoned the Tour following a crash on the descent of the Col de Mente. Last time before 2020 was in 1989 when Steven Rooks won the individual mountain time trial.

Scenarios

The final climb (7.1 km at 6.7%) is consistent and not particularly long. That makes a breakaway success realistic. Pogačar leads the general classification by well over five minutes; with a limited time gap, the peloton has little reason to push the tempo. A breakaway group of climbers outside the top ten could hold on at this finish if the gap is large enough.

For the general classification, there are opportunities here for the pursuing teams. Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) lies second at 5 minutes, del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) third at 5:58. With two more stages after Orcières-Merlette (both to Alpe d’Huez), this could sharpen the battle for podium positions. The chance of GC attacks on the final climb is real.

Local

Voiron is located in the Isère department, approximately 30 kilometres northwest of Grenoble. The town is known as a production centre for Chartreuse liqueur. Orcières-Merlette is situated in the Hautes-Alpes, in the Champsaur massif. The finish was first used in the 1971 Tour and has since been used only occasionally as a mountain finish.