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TdF'13 Stage 7: Montpellier to Albi (July 5)
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| Malkael |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:19
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Stage 7: Montpellier to Albi
Stage Seven of the 100th Edition of le Tour de France sees the peloton depart from the city of Montpellier, where the race ended for Stage Six, and head inland towards the finish in the town of Albi. This third of three transition stages, as the race heads towards two days in the Pyrenees, will see the peloton tackle yet another rolling profile, just over 205km in length.
With four catagorised climbs scattered throughout the stage, and a total of 10 points on offer for anyone who can win all four sprints, Stage Seven could act as a launch pad for someone targeting day two in the Pyrenees or consecutive days in the breakaway. Depending on who successfully makes the breakaway of the day, we could potentially see a King of the Mountains contender close the gap to Pierre Rolland ahead of the Pyrenees.
While the route for Stage Seven features one Catagory 2 and 4 climb alongside two Catagory 3 climbs these are arguably too far out from the finish or not quite selective enough to threaten the chances of the major sprinters. The peloton must first ascend the Catagory 3 Col des 13 Vents, with a 5.6% average gradient at 6.9km in length, 73km in to the stage follow by the Catagory 2 Col de la Croix de Mounis, 6.5% at 6.7km, some 7km later. These two catagorised climbs are later followed by the Catagory 3 Côte de la Quintaine, 4% at 6.5km, at 142km and the Catagory 4 Côte de Teillet, 5% at 2.6km, whose summit is just 34km from the stage finish in Albi.
Regardless of the odd bump in the stage profile, after the ascent of the Catagory 4 Côte de Teillet the route gradually descends in to the streets and avenues of Albi. Where our contenders for the stage victory should be greeted by very few twisting bends en route to their victory, which should please those dragsters among the sprinters.
Stage Profile
Intermediate Sprint
For Stage Seven the Intermediate Sprint has been positioned after the ascents of the Col des 13 Vents and the Col de la Croix de Mounis at the 135km mark on the stage's route. The peloton shall descend in to Intermediate Sprint become beginning the ascent of the Côte de la Quintaine roughly 7km later. With a descent in to the Intermediate Sprint we could witness a particularly fast approach and sprint for the line between the contenders for the Points competition.
Final Kilometer
Compared to the uneven finish seen in Montpellier for Stage Six, the final kilometer for Stage Seven's finish at Albi is practically downhill. The road makes a gentle descent in to the finishing line, with patches of slight descent followed by periods of near on perfect flatness. There is maybe a slight hint of elevation from the 100m to go mark, but arguably nothing which should disrupt a favourite's sprint finish.
As with many stages where a sprint finish is a likelihood to occur, Mark Cavendish will be many people's favourite to claim the stage victory. Who could deny him another after the victory he claimed on Stage Five where he comfortably defeated his rivals in the crash affected bunch sprint. While arguably the Omega Pharma-Quickstep sprint train is not as well drilled as the Lotto-Belisol sprint train Cavendish can easily surpass the advantages a sprint train gives his rivals.
Once again Andre Greipel has been on fine form at the Intermediate Sprints competing against the other contenders for the Green Jersey. With the unfortunate abandonment of Jurgen van den Broeck the focus of Lotto-Belisol has now turned to fully supporting the German in the sprints and attempting to "steal" a stage victory from a breakaway. In Stage Six they claimed the stage victory thanks to the strength of their sprint train, can they do it again for Stage Seven?
Meanwhile Argos-Shimano will be seeking to steal the thunder of both Greipel and Cavendish to claim a second Tour victory in their bid to retain their World Tour status. Should Marcel Kittel survive the rolling profile of the stage, as he almost did on Stage Five until an ill timed crash in the peloton ruined his chances, the nature of the stage finish may suit his attributes.
Outsiders for the stage victory includes the likes of Peter Sagan for Cannondale, Danny van Poppel for Vacansoleil-DCM, and Alexander Kristoff for Team Katusha.
While you can never discount the possibility of the breakaway taking the stage victory, on paper Stage Seven should come down to another bunch sprint finish. With two days to come in the Pyrenees and opportunities for the sprinters limited so far by a variety of factors the teams of the sprinters should be keen to contest another stage victory.
So the time comes once more for the prediction games begin, who will you be backing for Stage Seven from Montpellier to Albi? Will the breakaway finally steal the limelight from the sprinters again? Or could we see a shock winner from the sprint? |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 11:26
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| cosmic |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:22
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Stagiare
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Stage got a scent of Sagan, but I guess he'll be 2nd as usual  |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:24
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Kristoff or Lobato. Sagan 2nd |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:25
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Sagan to be 2nd while Greipel take's another win. |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:25
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I like the break for this. Slightly downhill to the end should save energy and could see them say away. Also decent mountain points on offer should see a decent group get away.
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| Jesleyh |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:28
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Nice preview once again Malkael!
Will you do it for the rest of the Tour as well? 
Feyenoord(football) and Kelderman fanboy
PCMdaily Awards: 12x nomination, 9x runner-up, 0x win.
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| Mwuhi |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:32
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Seems to be a nice stage for the breakaway. |
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| cactus-jack |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:36
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I think there's a good chance that Impey will be dropped and with a good effort Boasson Hagen might hang on. If that happens we got Edvald in yellow!
There's a fine line between "psychotherapist" and "psycho the rapist"
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:40
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Impey is not a bad climber imo. He should mantain the jersey to Ax3 Domaines. |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:42
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Break or Sagan to break the curse. 
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| Booker |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:49
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I'm expecting to see someone from Movistar in the break tomorrow. It's about time they started attacking. |
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| jseadog1 |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:51
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Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Break or Sagan to break the curse.
This is also what I think. Voeckler in a break would be cool.
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| Selwink |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:51
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Most sprinters should survive this, so I think Cav will win
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| Malkael |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:53
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Sprinter
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Doesn't seem more selective, arguably less so, then Stage 3 in my opinion, which Impey coped with. Fatigue and any other number of factors could play a factor of course, I'll give you that.
Edited by Malkael on 04-07-2013 16:54
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| aidanvn13 |
Posted on 04-07-2013 16:59
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Miguel98 wrote:
Impey is not a bad climber imo. He should mantain the jersey to Ax3 Domaines.
Impey will hang on. He can climb extremely well for somebody considered to be a sprinter. If you watched Volta Catalunya last year you'll remember Impey dragged the bunch up big climbs on some stages while other riders considered to be climbers were dropped.
In Tour of Oman, he finished 16th up the climb up Green Mountain.
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race.p...?id=117694
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 04-07-2013 19:47
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Jani is out.
Shame for him, didn't have a great early part of the season, and was looking good in Suiise for the Tour and this shit happens.
Vuelta could become a target, but it's not greatly suited to his style of climbing.
Astana down to 6, will be tough for them.
......
Quintana and Rodriguez hurt too, especially Quintana's knee.
Edited by Alakagom on 04-07-2013 19:50
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 04-07-2013 20:33
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Breakaway.
I expect riders like Dupont, Veilleux (someone from Europcar for sure to protect Rollands jersey), or Jose Ivan Gutierrez. Basically riders that are fairly far down and are good climbers. Im trying to calculate if someone targeted the polka dots if they would get the jersey or not tomorrow. Maybe De Gendt?
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| fosforgasXIII |
Posted on 04-07-2013 21:41
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A break with Voigt, De Gendt, Voeckler, Flecha and Fédrigo would be nice. |
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| MartijnVDD |
Posted on 04-07-2013 21:54
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Finish will be a sprint. Both Greipel and Cavendish will want to score the 2-1 before the mountains. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 04-07-2013 21:56
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Hope to see Sagan win. A break'd be nice, too, though. Preferably Thomas Voeckler  |
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