Tour de France Week 3 Overview
The last week of the Tour was full of action with 3 mountain stages in the Pyrenees. It’s exciting to see short mountain stages this late in the Grand Tour.
Stage 17 amounts to 65 kilometres with 38 of them being uphill. Nairo Quintana heads out alone early on the Col du Portet and climbs to victory, 28 seconds ahead of Martin.
In stage 18 the riders heads out of the Pyrenees for a flat finish from Trie-sur-Baïse to Pau, some of the most popular host cities in the history of the Tour. Geraint Thomas regains the maillot jaune ahead of Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome.
We see an altitude gain of 4,800 metres in stage 19, travelling over the Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque, this is rightfully called the Queen Stage.
The 20th stage is a hilly individual time trial of 31 kilometres in the French part of the Basque Country, Tom Dumoulin powers to the win ahead of Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas. The Welshman wins the GC, while the podium will be rounded out by Dumoulin and Froome.
Tour de France bids farewell with a traditional flat route. At 116 kilometres, stage 21 travels from Houilles to Paris to conclude with eight laps on the Champs-Élysées. Geraint Thomas finishes safely in the bunch to win his first Tour de France.