2013 Tour de France Stage 1: Porto Vecchio -> Bastia, 213km (29/06/13)

[auscyclefan94]

2013 Tour de France Stage 1: Porto Vecchio -> Bastia, 213km

Km 45.5 - Côte de Sotta 1.1 kilometre-long climb at 5.9% - category 4

Route Map

Startlist

 

[maxmartin]

First
Cav

 

[ElChingon]

Yea, should be a very fast stage and sprinter filled. OK Cav for the first stage, I just hope the rest are at least within a wheel

 

[PCutter]

Gorilla. Cav has a bit of a habit of missing the first sprint stage (I think 2009 is the only time he's taken it out)

 

[veganrob]

I want Greipel also.

 

[Duke_S]

Grepiel taken out by a crash, Kittel gets dropped on the 200m @ 2% climb, Cavendish wins sprint under the Flamme Rouge – before realizing there’s still 1km to go, Sagan accidently rides on top of car, Goss relegated for obstruction, Bouhanni relegated for headbutting, Kristoff wins

 

[Jancouver]

It will be a carnage, thats for sure. Some lucky guy from a second wave will take it ...

 

[kanari]

Voted Sagan, Cav and his team has had a tendency to mess it up on the first sprint stage before, but if they don't then we'll see Cav in yellow. Which would be very deserved IMO, even if I'm not much of a fan personally.

 

[uconnryan]

Cav knows this is a one in a lifetime opportunity to wear yellow. An extra motivated Missile? Gimme that.

 

[Afrank]

The sprint and lead up to it is no doubt going to be chaos. Positioning is going to be key, and every single team with a sprinter is going to be fighting hard to be in within the first 10 riders all in the hope of getting that first yellow jersey. Won't be surprised if we get carnage somewhere.

And don't forget that corner with 2000 meters to go. It's a long way to go from the finish but if someone screws up on it and they're near the front they could create a big barrier and some lesser known rider/sprinter could slip away for that first yellow jersey.

I say Cav to take the stage, OPQS will ride balls to the wall to keep everything under control for Cav. As long as they can keep him at the front and safe from crashes he'll be able to win the sprint.

 

[Ryaguas]

I'll go with Greipel... He is quite motivated and his positioning has improved a lot

 

[saneguy]

Cav is far too motivated for this one. He'll give it everything...

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

The first of several sprint finishes with dodgy corners. 2km should be OK (certainly if it were not day 1) - the corners with 400m to go later in the race will certainly be more awkward.

 

[One Eyed Aussie]

Cav knows this is a one in a lifetime opportunity to wear yellow. An extra motivated Missile? Gimme that.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for every sprinter. I can't see anything but carnage coming out of this one.

 

[richard_91]

Cav to win, but I also think there will be at least 2 crashes so who knows!

 

[personal]

Cav have a habit of not winning first one, so... Greipel.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Booooooouhanniiiiii will catapult himself into yellow.

Its time to flex the muscles.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

The sprint and lead up to it is no doubt going to be chaos. Positioning is going to be key, and every single team with a sprinter is going to be fighting hard to be in within the first 10 riders all in the hope of getting that first yellow jersey. Won't be surprised if we get carnage somewhere.

And don't forget that corner with 2000 meters to go. It's a long way to go from the finish but if someone screws up on it and they're near the front they could create a big barrier and some lesser known rider/sprinter could slip away for that first yellow jersey.

I say Cav to take the stage, OPQS will ride balls to the wall to keep everything under control for Cav. As long as they can keep him at the front and safe from crashes he'll be able to win the sprint.

Is that a corner, or a combination of several chicanes in succession? Certainly, looks ripe for a pileup.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Is that a corner, or a combination of several chicanes in succession? Certainly, looks ripe for a pileup.

Everyone has the road book, and they'll all have a DS shouting down their ear about it for 10 minutes beforehand.

The crashes will come where you don't expect.

 

[jens_attacks]

kristoff or greipel

 

[cycladianpirate]

Let's face it, Stage 1 of the Tour is a bit of a lottery. The mad dash to be at the front is, at the very least, going to make positioning difficult. Whether you're in the right place with, say, 200m to go is going to be as much about luck as it is judgment.

On the 100th edition of the race, Fortune to favour the French - Bouhanni FTW.

 

[spalco]

I think Cavendish will be there, if there's a crash at 2K it's unlikely he'll be affected; but he might be alone afterwards if OPQS burns their matches to put him on the front at that point.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

I think Cavendish will be there, if there's a crash at 2K it's unlikely he'll be affected; but he might be alone afterwards if OPQS burns their matches to put him on the front at that point.

As long as Tony isn't already on the front of their train with 3km to go he'll be alright.

How do people see the Intermediate sprint - expecting lots of pointless partaking or will it be down to 5 guys behind the break already?

Flat and straight incidentally.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Most boring first stage ever

 

[Pentacycle]

Most boring first stage ever

Even Kittel can survive this... pretty pathetic stage indeed.