Stage 4-6
In the 4th stage, the riders leave France to finish in the Spanish town of l'Escala. The 163 kilometres are flat, except for some hills in the middle of the stage. Expect a mass sprint here. We stay in Catalunya in stage 5, when the riders arrive after 142 kilometres in Manresa, still along the Mediterranean sea.
Stage 6 is the first mountain stage. Starting in Andorra La Vella, the riders enter France again over the Port d'Envalira. The finish is after 166 kilometres at the summit of the Col de Core (10.7km at 7.9%).
Stage 10-12
The route continues after the rest day in stage 10 on the coast of the Biscaya Bay, to the town on Arcachon close to Bordeaux. Mostly flat, it should be a stage for the sprinters, though wind could shake things up a bit. The next day, we go to the centre of France to Limoges. The stage finishes with a small 7% hill, just before the finish. The 12th stage, with the finish in Autun in Bourgogne, will suit a breakaway with 2 climbs in the middle part.
Stage 13-15
Stage 13 is the longest stage with "only" 197 kilometres. It brings the riders over flat roads to Lyon. Before the Alps, the GC will be shaken up in the 14th stage with the 29km ITT to Vienne, in the Rhone-Alps. After several flat stage, the mountains show up again in stage 15 with the Cucheron, the Port and finally the Chamrousse (19km at 6.9%). After a 30km descend, the finish is in Grenoble.
Stage 16-18
A very difficult and hilly stage between Grenoble and La Mure. 3721 height metres and the finish at La Mure (4.7km at 6.9%). Stage 17 is a tough mountain stage with start in Bourg d'Oisans. The riders have to climb the Col du Lautaret and the Col d'Izoard, before the final climb to Risoul 1850 (13.5km at 7.2%) awaits. Another mountain top finish. Stage 18 is an easy one to Digne-les-Bains, so the climbers can relax before the queen's stage.
Alberto Contador
The double TdF-winner missed last year's edition due to the Clenbuterol-saga. This year, he is back to take his revenge. Contador moved this winter to the Movistar-team, and altough he seems to be a little less strong as 2 years ago, he remains the biggest favourite to win the GC, looking at his Mo and TT abilities.
Cadel Evans
Last year's runner up Cadel Evans tries again to win Le Tour. Question is if his age (36) will work against him. Also rumours say, that his fitness level at the start of the Tour are very low...
Robert Gesink
After winning the Giro and Vuelta in 2011, Robert Gesink is looking for his first Tour win. He already has the Giro in his legs, were a bad crash costed him the GC-win. Last year, he finished in 3rd and will only be satisfied with the win. Everybody is curious how his team will ahndles the co-leadership with Andy Schleck. Will the 2 help each other when necessary?
Vincenzo Nibali
Sicilian Vincenzo Nibali is the defending champion and wants to be his own successor. His season so far was pretty anonymous, but his form was increasing in the Tour de Suisse.
Podium candidates
Andy Schleck
Monster's Andy Schleck is the best climber of the peloton, but his relatively weak time trial will probably cost him the win. He has to attack a lot, and thereby can bring his team mate Robert Gesink in a good position. Both are co-leaders and after the first week, the race will tell who will be the leader.
Ryder Hesjedal
Canadian Ryder Hesjedal has the ability to finish on the podium, but has to minimize the loss in the 2 time trials.
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Belgium finally has a rider that can finish on the podium of the Tour de France. Jurgen Van den Broeck dominated the Tour de Suisse, and hope that the same happens in the Tour de France, as last year with the Suisse-winner (Nibali doing the double).
Bradley Wiggins
Crush the opposition in the 2 ITT's, and minimize the loss in the mountains. That's what Bradley Wiggins has to do to finish on the podium. He has to hope that his team mate Nibali (and Klöden & Brajkovic) has a weak start, so he doesn't have to work for him.
Dark horses
Janez Brajkovic
Slovenian Janez Brajkovic rode a good Tour de Suisse, finishing in 3rd place. Can he do the same in the Tour, or does he has to serve as a domestique for Nibali and Wiggins?
Fränk Schleck
Fränk Schleck is probably the worst time trialist among the GC-favourites, so he has to attack a lot in the mountains. He has to be lucky to get a top 3.
Roman Kreuziger
The Czech Astana rider is one of the most allround riders of the peloton. He has the potential to become a top 3-rider, but mostly has 1 bad day too much.
Steven Kruijswijk
Young Dutch Steven Kruijswijk rode a great Tour de Suisse (2nd place overall) and starts with top 10-ambitions in the Tour. Question is if he is already strong enough to do it?
The question is if a sprinter will win the maillot verde, or if a GC-contender will win it. It all depends on the sprinter teams that need to turn the flat stages into mass sprints and preventing breakaway wins.
Mark Cavendish
Team Sky's Mark Cavendish is the best sprinter in the world. The last 2 Tours, he was in a bad form, this year he'll need to do better. He won a stage in the Tour de Suisse, and will probably be in a better form in France.
Tyler Farrar
Tyler Farrar won 5 stages in the 2012 Tour, and of course wants to do the same this year. but.... with almost 60 racedays in his legs, fatigue will hit him in the second half of the Tour.
Peter Sagan
Monster Energy's Peter Sagan is the youngest of the sprinters, with only 23 years old. He can survive the hills and mountains easily, so as a good chance in winning the maillot verde. But can he also win a stage?
@ Schleck96: Don't think so, he'll loose too much time in the ITT I think.
No, the first ITT, he can drive FAST, since it's going up, and then theres only 40 km back. He's gonna win, and his chances are better than Gesinks IMO.
I agree with Maddrengen! Schleck should clearly be the strongest in the mountain stages. There are enough of them for him to take time on the better tt-ers.
Spilak23 wrote:
I agree with Maddrengen! Schleck should clearly be the strongest in the mountain stages. There are enough of them for him to take time on the better tt-ers.
Good luck!
Like I said, Schleck is a great contender because he is by far the strongest going uphill, but only the time will tell it
Probably, the polka dot-jersey will be won by one of the GC-favourites. But as I'm not going to show you the same riders twice in this preview, I'll give you the good climbers with limited TT-abilities.
Ivan Basso
Already at the age of 35, and in the last few years especially his TT-abilities have declined. But he remains one of the better climbers of this peloton, so when he dares to ride attackingly, Ivan Basso has a chance to get the KOTM-jersey.
Fabio Duarte
Colombia's Fabio Duarte will get a free role from the Astana-team, looking to score a stage win in one of the mountain stages. When he goes into more attacks, he can win the jersey.
JoaquÃm RodrÃguez
With already 57 race days in the legs, JoaquÃm RodrÃguez will be too tired to go for the GC. So he'll probably try to get a stage win and collect as many KOTM-points as possible.
Pierre Rolland
French hope Pierre Rolland will try to sneak in the GC-top 10 again. His weak TT-ability will probably prevent that to happen. But as he is one of the better climbers, and loves attacking riding, we'll see him in many mountain stages!
Simon Spilak
It was very quiet around Simon Spilak after his top 5 in the Giro '12. But he's back, looking to ride a good GC in the Tour. And being one of the better climbers (Mo 80), why not go for the polka dot-jersey as well?
Under 25
The U25-ranking won't be a very entertaining one to watch, as there are only a very few riders that can ride a good GC.
Early starter Bradley Wiggins needs a time that is faster than his strong Radio Shack team mates, so they have to work for him. He sets the best time so far, 1h 01'38, a time that should be good enough for a top 5 at the end of the day.
But Wiggo can't sit in the hot seat for very long, as his time is broken by his former team mate Geraint Thomas. The Qantas-rider is '18 faster then Wiggins and sets the target for the others at 1h 01'20.
Robert Gesink sets the fastest time of all riders in the first sector, with the climb to the viaduct of Millau. But in the 2nd and 3rd sector, he has problems in keeping the pace up high (fitness 83) and looses places. He sets the 8th time so far, and will finish in 14th at the end of the day, in a time of 1h 12'46.
Jakob Fuglsang is in a great form and sets the 2nd time so far, only '7 behind Thomas. He even beats Wiggins, and becomes the best Radio Shack-rider so far.
Without Tony Martin at the start (his Red Bull-team didn't receive a wildcard), Fabian Cancellara is the big favourite to win this time trial. He's only '2 behind Gesink after the climb, and then starts to blast the opponents away. New best time for Spartacus: 1h 00'18!
Young Dutch Steven Kruijswijk is a dark horse for the GC. But he looses already 3'35 to Cancellara and will finish in 39th place today.
Knowing that last year's Tour de Suisse-winner also won the Tour de France, must give Jurgen Van den Broeck a motivational boost. But the Belgium disappoints a lot, finishing in 46th place, 3'50 behind Cancellara.
Another big disappointment is Cadel Evans. The Aussie does better than Van den Broeck, but a 34th time, 3'22 behind Cancellara is a terrible start of this Tour.
After 1 year of absence, Alberto Contador is back in Le Tour. And the Movistar-rider has a great start, setting the 5th place 1'22 behind Cancellara. A great way for El Pistolero to start his hunt for his 4th Tour-win.
Andy Schleck knows that he has to gain time in the first part of the route, and to minimize the loss in the rest of it. He's 3rd at the first sector, 22nd in the 2nd and 38th at the finish, 3'30 behind Cancellara. Only '8 behind Evans and faster than Kruijswijk and Van den Broeck, a decent start for him.
The last rider to start this 1st stage of the Centennial edition of Le Tour is last year's winner Vincenzo Nibali. He wasn't as strong as last year in the Tour de Suisse, so the question is if he can the Tour again. He rides a decent ITT, finishing in 11th at 2'20, but is inly the 4th best of Radio Shack.
