We are heading to the Vosges! Three hard days await and surely Sagan is adieuing the spotlight for a brief period.
These three badboys are lying in wait.
Nibali should of course be able to defend his jersey, but will he? It's a possibility that a break will be allowed to go away with Astana "handing over" the jersey sparing themselves from too much early fatigue.
If it's a plain favourites finale who will come out on top? When asked this morning Sagan said, presumeably joking, that "every stage is for me". That shouldn't however not be the case in stage 8.
What about his Polish clone, Kwiatkowski, has been climbing well this season and finished 3rd in L-B-L and Fleche, so the steepness of the final climb shouldn't be a problem to him, should it?
There are more climbs than the last one of course and that could ultimately narrow the potential vainqueur down to the puncheurs who can climb. Valverde, Purito, Rui Costa, Mollema, Van den Broeck... maybe Contador or Talansky. The American's Lieutenant Slagter is definitely also a valid bid with these parcours... and I seem to have forgotten all about Nibali and Fuglsang.
Personally I must say, I have a funny feeling about Kwiatkowski for tomorrow's run-in. (An I-think-he-is-going-to-win funny feeling).
I think breakaway will take it. The likes of Albasini, Bakelants, Reichenbach come to my mind maybe even Purito in the break as he "only" lost 1'30'' today so he got better.
KOM riders probably to win this. Attacking for the first summit, around 2min lead, down to a 1'30 lead at the 2nd summit and about a '30 win over the eventual GC riders group at the end of the stage.
I dont think the morning break will succeed either as it is to easy to control on the flat. However, I could see riders attacking on Moinats such as Rolland, Schleck, Reichenback and those type of riders.
cactus-jack wrote:
Regadring poll option 4 and 5; What happens if a breakaway consisting of someone else than Kwiatkowski, Valverde and Slagter?
*exploding universe*
You know what I mean..... Norwegians
Sidenote: My Kwiatkowski bid may be highly influenced by the fact that I have chosen him as captain of my manager team for tomorrow's stage due to the fact that few will do so. I am very unsure whether he can stay with riders like Valverde and Purito (if on form) taking the length of the climbs into consideration.
Should be an interesting stage, so I'm disappointed that I'm going to miss it, but having said that I don't think we should expect too much fireworks. Sure Valverde, Contador etc might put in a dig but we're probably going to be looking at gaps of single-figure seconds gained in the 'sprint' to the line.
I think someone like Rolland or Konig will win from an attack on the Grosse Pierre or maybe even the Croix des Moinats, but anything could happen
Kirchen_75 wrote:
I think breakaway will take it. The likes of Albasini, Bakelants, Reichenbach come to my mind maybe even Purito in the break as he "only" lost 1'30'' today so he got better.
For a second on stage 7, I thought of a super surprise move from our Daily at the back-Purito at the last climb yesterday. Seeing as how he slowly starts to build up form & interest and stays longer and longer with the bunch, I hope we can enjoy some Purito-time this weekend. The finish climb definitely should be to his liking with 10%.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
I don't know why Slagter is in the poll, but he definately won't win. He's dedicated to helping Talansky and he doesn't seem to be in good shape either.
Mollema doesn't look too good either, so I expect him to lose some time.
