Stage
8 Report:
 |
| Stage 8 on the map |
Today's stage goes 161k
through the Lorraine region to the Vosges, from Tomblaine to Gérardmer (La
Mauselaine).
The riders will see
the first cat-2 climbs of the race; and the first uphill finish.
The profile shows about
130k of flats, followed by three climbs in quick succession in the final 25k,
including a short, steep kick up to the finish. Made for a puncheur.
Weather: Overcast,
mid 60s f. Rain later.
DNS: Mathias Frank
(BMC) retired last night after finishing stage 7 with a fractured femur.
Vincenzo Nibali
enters stage 8 with a lead of 2:37 over Alberto Contador.
Kwiatkowski trails
Nibali by :50; he is Nibali's closest GC threat.
Van Den Broeck trails
by 1:45; Porte by 1:54; Talansky by 2:05; Valverde, Bardet, and Rui Costa all trail
Nibali by 2:11; Mollema is at 2:27; then Contador at 2:37; Van Garderen by
3:14; Pinot by 3:24; and Peraud is at 3:29.
 |
| Stage 8 Profile |
Peter Sagan comes
into the stage with a lead of over 100 points in the points jersey competition.
Will he go for it at the finish today? He has shown that he is capable of
impressive results on punchy finishes as well as flat sprints. Sagan has finished in the top 5 on
every stage so far. No rider has finished the first seven stages with all
top-ten finishes since 1930**.
Purito Rodriguez
would normally eat up today's race profile, but he seems to still be building
form. He has not raced since crashing out of the Giro d'Italia in mid-May.
This is a good
finish for Valverde, but he may have to defer to the break unless the peloton
chooses to chase down the break today.
To the road...
Fast and furious
start;
Breaks aren't
taking.
Bart De Clercq
(LTB) has abandoned the race (ankle).
*~km35: Sylvain
Chavanel (IAM) and Niki Terpstra (OPQ) get away.
Simon Yates, Adrien
Petit, and Blel Kadri join the 2 up front to form a 5-man breakaway group.
Break (5): Chavanel (IAM), Terpstra (OPQ, Kadri
(ALM), Yates (OGE), and Petit (COF).
Today's break has a
good chance of succeeding. They could likely be allowed to get a healthy lead,
and may not be chased down.
TO READ ON, JUST CLICK THE TINY WORDS "Read more" just below these words...
TO READ ON, JUST CLICK THE TINY WORDS "Read more" just below these words...
