Tour de France 2018 stage 18 preview: Peter Sagan bereft of rivals and favourite for sprint despite 'hard crash'

Having a sprint stage so late in the Tour after such aggressive cut-off times in the Alps have already weeded out the pure sprinters makes little sense

After the drama of stage 17 comes something a little more formulaic: a routine sprint stage peppered with a few minor climbs from Trie-Sur-Baïse to Pau.

What makes it even more predictable is the lack of sprinters left in the race. Most of them have been weeded out by short cut-off times on demanding stages through the Alps, including Mark Cavendish who missed the 30-minute cut on stage 11, admirably choosing to finish anyway rather than climb off his bike, crossing the line more than an hour after the day’s winner, Geraint Thomas.

Stage 12, which finished on top of the legendary Alpe d’Huez, ripped the field of sprinters to shreds with five missing the cut including Dylan Groenewegen and Fernando Gaviria, who each won two stages before the race entered the Alps.

All of which means the favourite on stage 18 will be Peter Sagan, despite his “hard crash” on Wednesday’s stage 17 which left him with nasty cuts and grazes on his right side.

"I crashed in a turn, in the corner I made a mistake," Sagan said at the finish. "It looked like a fast corner, but after I just went a little more right. I was braking but it wasn't enough. After I flew through the forest and I hit a big rock with my ass.

Peter Sagan received medical treatment after the stage (AFP/Getty Images)

"It would be very easy to just go home, but two or three days before Paris, no. It could be worse. I have some scratches and I hit the muscle on my ass. I hope it is going to be better in one or two days."

Sagan just needs to finish the race in Paris on Sunday to clinch a record-equalling sixth green jersey, having already mathematically sealed the sprinters’ points classification without much fight.

For those punchier sprinters like Arnaud Demare and Alexander Kristoff, who survived the mountains and could now reap the benefits of a thinner field, the more aggressive cut-off times are an important part of their livelihood and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

But the only ones likely to beat Sagan in a pure sprint are those who have already departed the race, and it means the spectators will miss out on a showdown between Sagan and Gaviria, for example, on the Champs-Elysees.

Sport is always trying to find the right balance between competition and entertainment, and to look at the field of sprinters heading into the final stages, it is difficult not to conclude that the spectacle has been forgotten.