Check out Luke Armstrong's behind the lines photos from the Tour de France.

Check out the photos from Stage 18 of the Tour de France.

Check out "Behind The Lines" from stage eighteen of the Tour de France.

Tour de France
Stage 18: Salies-De-Béarn to Bordeaux, 198km/123mi
By Cathy Mehl

While all eyes have been focused on the battle in the mountains for the yellow jersey, the sprinters have hauled their bodies over the cols to resume the fight for the green sprinter’s jersey.  With only four points separating Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese) at the start of today’s stage, the battle for green is far from decided.  Today’s victory by the fastest man on the planet, Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia,) moved him up to within striking distance of the jersey, but Petacchi’s third place put him back in green.  Only 16 points separate Petacchi, Hushovd and Cavendish, setting the stage for an exciting finish in Paris on Sunday.

Plain Stage
Fri, July 23 —starts at 12:55 local time

About Stage 18
By Chris Brewer
Today is a great chance for a successful escape to win the day.  By now many riders are over one hour down in the overall standings, and if the right group can get down the road the race leaders will be content to have a “day off on the bike” and let them have their due.  But if it’s riders closer on GC, or the sprint jersey is still up for grabs, it could once again be a thundering herd riding into Bordeaux.