Hello and welcome! With just 24 hours until the Grand Départ, it's time to kick off the 100th Tour De France! We are on the French island of Corsica, never before home to a stage in La Grande Boucle. We will stay here for three days, before taking a ferry to the Côte d'Azur. Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the island of Corsica also harbors enough hilly terrain to make the first few days of the Tour more than a sprinter's domain. There is no doubt that GC riders could very well lose the Tour before they even reach the French mainland. This gives the the 100th Tour all the perfect ingredients for an exciting start! Are you ready?
The Stage and the Profile
Today's stage starts in the harbor town Porto-Vecchio, on the island's Southern tip. The riders will then head North along the Eastern coast of the island, finishing after 213 kilometers on the Northern coastal town of Bastia. While normally, a coastal stage is often impacted by strong winds, this seems unlikely today. The race starts at noon, and is expected to finish between 5PM and 5.30 PM.
The profile of the stage is very flat, with only one Category 4 climb after 45 kilometers to decide the Maillot à pois rouges. Today's winner will almost certainly be a sprinter. As there is no Prologue in this year's Tour, the sprinters will also have a unique chance to wear the Maillot jaune. We will most likely see the world's strongest sprinters engaging in an epic battle to achieve this feat. Course Director Jean-François Pescheux has this to say:
"Why isn't there a prologue? Quite simply because we wanted to take the fullest advantage of Corsica, the only region of France that has never previously welcomed the Tour de France. With that in mind, we've put together a first stage of 212km that runs through magnificent countryside: we will start off by heading to beautiful Bonifacio! There's little doubt we will also start with a win for a sprinter. This is a golden opportunity for the likes of Cavendish, for example, to claim the yellow jersey. I'll remind you that the previous road stage "openings", at Plumelec and Les Herbiers, finished on the top of hills, which favoured the puncheurs. Here, the advantage lies with the pure sprinters."
There are not many certainties in life but, the outcome of today's stage is pretty close to being one. The teams with the strongest sprinters will control the race, and a mass sprint seems inevitable. You can expect several sprint trains in the last 15 kilometers: Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Lotto-Belisol and Argos-Shimano will probably duel for the best position of their train. Hopefully the pressure on the GC riders will not lead to any mass crashes, but the risk is definitely there.
****Mark Cavendish****
Will Mark Cavendish be the first wearer of this year's Maillot Jaune? Most odds seem to point in his favour: Without a doubt he is the fastest sprinter of the peloton, and this year Omega Pharma-Quick Step has provided him with his own sprint train, with Steegmans being his final lead-out. The Manxman is also known for his excellent positioning skills, meaning he doesn't even need a train to be a contender.
***André Greipel***
Poor Gorilla. The quiet and respectable German recieved so much rivalry from Cavendish in the past, until he finally managed to beat his former HTC teammate in the 2011 Tour. Since then, we have seen his further rise into stardom. Last year, he won three stages, confirming that he is a solid matchup for the Manxman. Cavendish won three stages as well last year, but that was without his own sprint train. This year, Cavendish does have a sprint train however, so the question now becomes how well Greipel will fare against him. With Henderson as his lead out, Greipel's Lotto-Belisol sprint train is arguably better, but will it be enough to beat his rival?
**Peter Sagan**
This young Terminator is known for not only his excellent talent, he is also known for his extravagance sometimes. From his unique ways of celebrating a victory, to his butt-pinching, could we be dealing with the next Cippolini? One thing is for sure, this man from the Cannondale team is a force to be reckoned with throughout the Tour. He has the raw power to contest both flat sprint finishes, as well as punchy stages in particular. Does he have the power to surpass Greipel and Cavendish on the flat?
*Marcel Kittel*
This young German talent from Argos-Shimano has proven that he can beat the world's best. This year, he finished ahead of Cavendish in the Scheldeprijs, as well as getting stage wins in Paris-Nice and the Ster ZLM Toer. To top it all off, he's got his own sprint train with him, with an excellent lead out in the form of John Degenkolb. The two Germans agreed that John would lead out Marcel on the flat stages, and Kittel would lead out Degenkolb in the hillier stages. With a well-oiled sprint train, anything could be possible from them. In last year's Tour, a fierce sprint battle was expected between Cavendish and Kittel, but unfortunately the German had to abandon in the first week, after dealing with sickness. This year he is back for revenge.
This year's 100th Tour is about to break loose. For the following 3 weeks, this will be the center of the world. It's about to get underway, and as the saying goes, 'The Tour waits for nobody!' Enjoy!
Edited by ShortsNL on 28-06-2013 14:13
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