After suffering for two days in the Pyrenees, the sprinters should look forward to another shot, at victory at the Tour de France as the race heads away from the coast to Nîmes. The wind will probably be of major importance in the final 40 kilometres which are very exposed and see numerous changes of direction.
In all reality, stage 16 should be the final stage for the sprinters to go for glory. Their teams will want to control the race but it won’t be that easy, as it’s the day after a rest day, following two brutal days in the Pyrenean mountains. The sprinters and their teammates had to battle to make the time cut on Sunday, where both Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) and Arnaud Démare (Arkea-B&B Hotels) made it across the line with less than two minutes to spare.
Triple-stage winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) has a healthy lead of 86 points in the points classification on double-stage winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and 216 points on Bryan Coquard (Cofidis).
At the start of the third week, not only are teams and riders tired, but sprinters - Girmay, Cavendish, Démare, Philipsen, Cofidis and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) - have all lost teammates in the first two weeks of racing.
Some more adventurous riders are going to try to get a stage win before the final difficult mountain stages of the Tour, so it’s going to be a nervous and strenuous day.
Stage 16, from Gruissan to Nîmes is a 188.6km transition stage following the second rest day. The sprinters may be heavily tipped for success when the race heads away from the coast near Narbonne, and maybe even when the riders pass over the Pic Saint-Loup. But the Mistral can blow fiercely at this time of year and could well upset the plans of the sprinters if those teams that feel at home when it’s windy end up scattering the peloton.
Nîmes has established itself as one of the Tour’s favourite stopping points in the south and as a testing ground for sprinters, the victors here include Mark Cavendish (2008), Alexander Kristoff (2014) and Caleb Ewan (2019). However, breakaway riders have sometimes upset predictions, such as Aïtor González in 2004 and Nils Politt on the last visit in 2021.
Stage 16 Sprints
- Intermediate sprint, km 96.1
Stage 16 Mountains
- Côte de Fambetou (1.2km at 5%), cat. 4, km 112.6
