There seems to be a lot of discussion of the "cobbled stage" going on throughout several threads... so I thought I'd just create one. I'm very curious about how teams might approach this stage.
It's a very flat stage. The cobbled sections are:
1. 85 km to go (350 meters)
2. 44 km to go (1200 meters)
3. 40 km to go (700 meters)
4. 27 km to go (2400 meters)
5. 24 km to go (2500 meters)
6. 18 km to go (3700 meters)
7. 10 km to go (2300 meters)
In the 19-20 km from section 4 to section 7, there are 10.9 km of cobbles. My guess is this would be the section a GC person who felt competent on the pave would make a move.
But how would such a rider do that? Are Wiggins and Armstrong good enough to actually attack on their own to force the pace? Or would they have to hope a cobbled team attacks and do their best to hold on? Can Saxo Bank use their cobbled riders to ride a furious tempo to burn others off... but not burn the Schlecks off? What kind of gap would a somewhat together group that was dropped be able to pull back in the last 7.7 km?
It's a very flat stage. The cobbled sections are:
1. 85 km to go (350 meters)
2. 44 km to go (1200 meters)
3. 40 km to go (700 meters)
4. 27 km to go (2400 meters)
5. 24 km to go (2500 meters)
6. 18 km to go (3700 meters)
7. 10 km to go (2300 meters)
In the 19-20 km from section 4 to section 7, there are 10.9 km of cobbles. My guess is this would be the section a GC person who felt competent on the pave would make a move.
But how would such a rider do that? Are Wiggins and Armstrong good enough to actually attack on their own to force the pace? Or would they have to hope a cobbled team attacks and do their best to hold on? Can Saxo Bank use their cobbled riders to ride a furious tempo to burn others off... but not burn the Schlecks off? What kind of gap would a somewhat together group that was dropped be able to pull back in the last 7.7 km?