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| Stage 14 on the map |
Stage 14 takes the race further
southeast, from Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule to Lyon, in the Rhône-Alpes. On the
way are seven categorized climbs, none of which is above a cat-3. It will be a
kind of warm-up for the riders’ legs as they get ready to move south on Sunday
for the finish on top of the bald pate of Mont Ventoux.
Many riders are going to
look to get into a breakaway tomorrow. All that rolling up and down, even
though no climb by itself is anything particularly challenging, will tire out
the pure sprinters’ legs. It is difficult to say who will chase, and how hard.
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| The finish city of Lyon |
I see the cat-3 climb of the
Col du Pilon at km 126 as a good place for a long distance attack. The three
cat-4’s in the final 30k do not look like exceptional break points to me.
It is very possible that
some sprinters will make it to a bunch sprint, but there will be some very
motivated riders trying hard on Saturday, on one of those medium-ish stages
that don’t favor the big climbers or the flat sprinters.
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| Stage 14 profile |
Peter Sagan is one who should
like the look of this stage. It’s got the type of profile that suggests a
strong rider with a fast finish will probably leave flat sprinters behind.
Classics specialists will
also have this stage on their radar. Besides Sagan, Sylvain Chavanel, Juan
Antonio Flecha, Simon Gerrans, Michael Albasini, Lars Bak, John Degenkolb, and Jan
Bakelants are some of the names that come to mind for stage 14.
Maybe Movistar will try
something in an effort to make up for their horrible display on Friday. Their
team is full of riders who could normally excel on a stage like this. But with
Mont Ventoux looming the next day, most of the GC contenders would probably
prefer to save their energy for Sunday’s climb.
More good weather is expected
on Saturday, around 80 f and sunny.
MY PICK: Peter Sagan
UNDERDOG PICK: Not really an underdog, but it would be interesting
to see Michal Kwiatkowski try to
gain some time on his rivals.
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