Where have we seen this before, Soren Kragh Andersen attacks over the top of the final hill to take a solo win. But hold on I'm not talking about stage 14, it happened again today, in a day designated for the classics men and the sprinters we got more than we were asking for as the race got agressive and a mega strong group got away in the final third of the race including sprinters and rouleurs, there was some attacking by Trentin in the final hill and over the top went Andersen, who easily got a gap and enlarged it to the finish line, in the chasing group Mezgec and Stuyven led it home, before the Bennett/Sagan group where marking was as clear as any other day, and the peloton that arrived almost 8 minutes back.
Positive: Sunweb, taking their third win, Mezgec and Stuyven getting some good results and Deceuninck who perfectly blocked the race in their favour, preventing Sagan and Trentin from gaining on him in the fight for green, and Bennett himself super strong able to respond to every attack.
Negative: The classics men specially like Naesen and Stuyven, SKA was the obvious man to follow specially in that part of the stage, they should've been on the wheel straight away but instead let him go, they should've studied the last week better...
The Route
And this day, in the Vosges is the final GC day. The overall may already be decided at this point, but if it isn't then it will be an insane day. It's the race's sole time-trial, it's 36 kilometers long and it's a very very tough one.
It's essentially a slow rise until the base of the Planche des Belles Filles where the riders will climb to it's summit (not that gravel section). It's a proper place to finish this year's Tour GC race.
The Weather
Mild temperatures and a small breaze from the east. There's a tiny change in wind speed favouring the early riders but I mean it that it's really small, shouldn't make any difference.
The Favourites
It's a really interesting time-trial, it has flat roads, slight uphills, descents, bike swaps expected for everyone or at least most riders, and a proper climb to it. The kind of mix you rarely see, and it's a shame that the pandemic will private us of having massive crowds on the final climb because it is something very similar to Bergen that we'll have tomorrow.
Speaking of Bergen if you recall that day in Norway it won't be very different to what we should expect. On the day Tom Dumoulin won and Primoz Roglic came second, tomorrow maybe you could reverse the order and end up with a very possible result. Jumbo present themselves as the men to beat, Roglic has had no flaws in this race and has dominated it despite not even having a time-trial to gain time on the competition, at this point he is safe but still has the chance to take another win and I reckon he's the main favourite. His teammates Tom Dumoulin who hasn't shown the legs of 2017/2018 will still really like the profile that suits him very well, and seeing how well Wout van Aert has been climbing he'll be another big candidate for this win, as he should be the fast man until the base of the climb.
If you're discussing a stage win, sorry I'm afraid there's no getting over Jumbo. Riders like Pogacar or a flying-form Porte will like the route but aren't at the same level, Porte will want to get on the podium and will put on his best possible performance but has to take some time on an equally strong Miguel Angel Lopez who baring mechanicals can also defend himself. Mas, Uran and Caruso will try to gain a spot on the overall whilst Landa, Yates and Valverde will defend themselves.
There's some more time-trialists that could be considered however it's a tough call to put them in top places, 4th in Bergen Nelson Oliveira has been riding well and could be a nice name, Max Schachmann (despite his intense race), you could hope for Thibaut Pinot to do a good ride since the stage will start right in his home town where he can maybe even see his goats after three weeks, Alberto Bettiol and Kasper Asgreen would be my final two wildcards for a surprise result.
Prediction Time
⭐ Porte, Oliveira, MA.Lopez
I'm going with Wout both heart and head. Last year his career was feared to be over in the Tour's time-trial, what a magnificent closure of that crash would it be to take revenge on it a year later. Wout will be the fastest man until the base of the final climb, he has looked to be in no fatigue in the whole race and I reckon he can even win enough time on Roglic to hold him on the final climb, yesterday he climber Glières (very similar climb) only 35 seconds slower and had worked. He can climb very well, and the added gains he'll have from Roglic not taking many risks can be enough to hand him the third win of the race.
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