Cycling: The Tour de France reaches the Pyrenees! But before the class riders and the top climbers put their cards on the table, it's the turn of the breakaways. We bet on a win for Michael Woods.
A day for the runaways
The sprinters will no longer have a chance for five stages. Because the focus of the Tour de France is now on the mountains. Tomorrow the drivers are over 183,7 kilometers from Carcassonne to Quillan traveling. The undulating terrain is too hard for the sprinters, but too easy for the classification and mountain riders. Accordingly, a breakaway group will decide the victory among themselves tomorrow. At the same time we celebrate reaching the Pyrenees from the Col de Montségur.
The key moments of the 14st stage
- Sharp start in Carcassonne at 12:40
- Category 3 mountains: Col du Bac (3,1 km a 5,3%) 132,8 km / 50,9 km
- Sprint classification in Lavelanet 107,0 km / 76,7 km
- Category 2 mountains: Col de Montségur (4,1 km a 8,7%) 94,7 km / 89,0 km
- Category 2 mountains: Col de la Croix des Morts (6,8 km a 5,7%) 73,4 km / 110,3 km
- 3rd category climb: Côte de Galinagues (2,2 km a 9,0%) 57,4 km / 126,3 km
- Category 2 mountain classification & bonus sprint: Col de Saint-Louis (4,7 km a 7,4%) 16,9 km / 166,8 km
- Finished in Quillan between 16:45 and 17:15
Velomotion prognosis: Michael Woods has to dare tomorrow
Many candidates for victory come into question for tomorrow's stage. From twelfth place onwards, the gaps in the overall standings are already so large that the top drivers would probably not be able to follow them. Worth mentioning again is Wout van Aert, who will be hard to beat in the sprint, uphill and downhill. The only question is: Who wants to ride with the Belgian? Dylan Teuns would also be a contender for his second stage win, as would Julian Alaphilippe. The section suits both of them perfectly, as it is not too difficult, but still challenging enough. However, we are betting on someone who is still waiting for success at this year's Tour de France. Michael Woods has proven that he is in great shape, but that it is not quite enough in the high mountains. So tomorrow he has to go on the offensive if he wants to win a stage.
☆☆☆ Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation)
☆☆ Wout van Aert (Jumbo - Visma), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain - Victorious)
☆ Bauke Mollema (Trek - Segafredo), Sergio Higuita (EF - Nippo), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step)