It was an exciting day in the Tour, it doesn't come often but it was a day for the classics specialists, a day designed for a breakaway but the work of Bora had it be for the peloton, and it was an exciting set of climbs with plenty attacks from the puncheurs and the stage hunters, a quality set of groups was formed led by Sunweb and Hirschi went solo with a powerful attack in Suc au May, and his deserved win came as he powered and never looked in distress taking a dominant and impressive win. Pierre Rolland finished a strong second and Hirschi's teammate Soren Kragh Andersen, my pick, finished third. The GC remained the same.
Positive: Sunweb again looked perfect today, not bringing Matthews was a controversial subject but completely justifiable seeing the team's form. It should've came already but they got their win. Vital Concept with a 2nd and 4th place also deserve a mention.
Negative: Bora burning themselves again for no profit at all, Sagan was nowhere near the front and Schachmann was in the winning move but doesn't look at his best yet.
The Route
Stage 13 is the Massif's queen stage. In fact, the second one with the most climbing in the whole race actually with over 4400 meters in it, half an everesting attempt. And no wonder, the day is absolutely full of climbing from start to finish there's no flat roads, just pure and rough rugged terrain to the liking of some riders, to the heartbreak of others.
The stage has it's climax on the climb to Col de Neronne which is 4Km long at 8%, and no rest until the summit finish in Pas de Peyrol which is a short climb but very very steep towards the end with several kilometers above 10% right to the finish line.
The Weather
Sooth temperatures and also only a little breeze to the day, it does come from the north though so it may help the breakaway's chances.
The Favourites
It's an interesting day tomorrow, definetely one that will see gaps in the GC riders in those final couple of kilometers. Pace will be very high in Neronne, so in those final kilometers whichever surviving breakaway members will loose some minutes for sure, but they can get there with enough advantage. It's a hard stage though, very little flat, riders in front will be riding hard all day long and alongside the assured high pace probably will be set by Jumbo in the final 15Km will probably be too much, the big climbers will have lots of opportunities still to come so maybe they'll want to take it easy on such a brutal day.
In the peloton the final climb will be paced, attacks can come but those final 2 kilometers are very constant, Pogacar is the rider who will be longing to attack, Jumbo will pace those kilometers for as long as they can and for sure Pogacar will want to put others into distress. It's a climb though that suits Roglic better, and Quintana/Bernal should also like it despite finding the longer mountains more suiting, they're both quite lightweight and could benefit from the very high gradients. Lots of outsiders, don't expect a move from anyone else, in a race of pacing everyone is trying to keep it as conservative as possible. Romain Bardet is racing in almost home roads, this is a stage that suits him and he's in peak form however not at the same level as those above, Martin and Landa will also try to stay with the leaders as best as possible, Uran, Yates, Lopez, Porte and all others targeting the GC will keep riding as strong as they can in hope of going up the overall.
As for breakaway chances, I reinstate there still is a solid possibility of a win coming from there, and with good reason as the climbers who are distanced from the GC are quite strong and many will like tomorrow's roller-coaster. Alaphilippe, Lutsenko, Rolland, Herrada, Elissonde, Reichenbach were all on the attack today, they would be good names but I feel they won't have their best legs after today's effort.
Some riders have gone less hard may be licking their lips tomorrow and will want to take an opportunity. Groupama have been on the attack a lot, Pinot and Gaudu may want to try something tomorrow and I would go more for the latter, EF have Daniel Martinez who's looking to have his best legs after an early crash in the race and also Hugh Carthy may try something big. Big climbers Emanuel Buchmann and Lennard Kamna, Daniel Martin and Pierre Latour are riders that should be on the uprise, some coming back from crashes, some have been saving themselves from the start of the race. A lot can go down tomorrow, there's uphill close to the start and if the break is set in there it will be a strong group that can make it, if the break goes in the flat part then there's no way for sure.
Prediction Time
⭐ Landa, Bardet, Carthy, D.Martin, Kamna, Latour, Pinot, Alaphilippe
Going with a Roglic win. He likes these steep climbs, even thrives in them, his priority will be for sure to keep Pogacar in sight but the truth is he's capable of more. He'll want to distance Bernal, he's got the team to set him up as he wants, so I expect a rough stage to be discussed by the peloton and the Slovenian will win in yellow!
Make sure to let me in on your opinion, and of course follow me on twitter for the latest updates!
Comentarios