After the first GC test and the first teaser of the fitness of the respective GC contenders, a long, but calm day awaits - a flat stage from Belfort to Chalon-sur-Saõne.
Map:
Belfort has been visited a couple of times by the Tour - most recent at 2012, where it hosted the start of the stage to Porrentruy, where the 5th placed rider of today's stage, Thibaut Pinot, won his breakthrough victory, helped by the passionate support of Marc Madiot. Belfort is a city of approximately 50.000 residents, and the city is known for the lion of Belfort...
...which was built as a symbol and celebration of the strong French resistance towards the Prussian siege of the city in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. The siege by the 40.000 Prussians lasted 103 days, and the defense is more impressive when considereing that of the 17.000 defenders, only 3500 were militarily trained.
There are three categorized climbs in the stage, placed exclusively at the first half of the stage, which is more bumpy than the last 90 kms, which are entirely flat. Considering that there is an intermediate sprint just 35 kms from the line, it might encourage the sprint teams to keep the breakaway on a tight leash as to let the point jersey contenders contest the intermediate sprint.
The flat finish in Chalon-sur-saône will surely by contested by the likes of Viviani, Sagan and others - in sunny weather the forecast predicts:
The city of Chalon-sur-saône is famous for being the birthplace of the man credited as the inventor of photography, Nicéphore Niépce. He didn't bother to take a picture of himself (selfies are a modern phenomenon after all :lol: ) , so a painting will do:
Now, let's finish this off with the stage profile:
General classification on the eve of stage 7:
1. Giulio CICCONE
2. Julian ALAPHILIPPE + 6''
3. Dylan TEUNS + 32''
4. George BENNETT + 47''
5. Geraint THOMAS + 49''
6. Egan BERNAL + 53''
7. Thibaut PINOT + 58''
8. Steven KRUIJSWIJK + 1'04''
9. Michael WOODS + 1'13''
10. Rigoberto URAN + 1'15''
11. Jakob FUGLSANG + 1'19''
12. Emanuel BUCHMANN + 1'22''
13. Enric MAS + 1'23''
14. Adam YATES + 1'24''
15. Xandro MEURISSE + 1'39''
Green jersey competition on the eve of stage 7:
1. Peter SAGAN 144
2. Michal MATTHEWS 98
3. Elia VIVIANI 92
4. Sonny COLBRELLI 88
5. Matteo TRENTIN 75
Polka-dot jersey competition on the eve of stage 7:
1. Tim WELLENS 43
2. Giulio CICCONE 30
3. Xandro MEURISSE 27
4. Dylan TEUNS 13
5. Natnael BERHANE 13
Youth classification on the eve of stage 7:
1. Giulio CICCONE
2. Egan BERNAL + 53''
3. Enric MAS + 1'23''
4. David GAUDU + 1'53''
5. Wout VAN AERT + 13'20''
Map:
Belfort has been visited a couple of times by the Tour - most recent at 2012, where it hosted the start of the stage to Porrentruy, where the 5th placed rider of today's stage, Thibaut Pinot, won his breakthrough victory, helped by the passionate support of Marc Madiot. Belfort is a city of approximately 50.000 residents, and the city is known for the lion of Belfort...
...which was built as a symbol and celebration of the strong French resistance towards the Prussian siege of the city in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. The siege by the 40.000 Prussians lasted 103 days, and the defense is more impressive when considereing that of the 17.000 defenders, only 3500 were militarily trained.
There are three categorized climbs in the stage, placed exclusively at the first half of the stage, which is more bumpy than the last 90 kms, which are entirely flat. Considering that there is an intermediate sprint just 35 kms from the line, it might encourage the sprint teams to keep the breakaway on a tight leash as to let the point jersey contenders contest the intermediate sprint.
The flat finish in Chalon-sur-saône will surely by contested by the likes of Viviani, Sagan and others - in sunny weather the forecast predicts:
The city of Chalon-sur-saône is famous for being the birthplace of the man credited as the inventor of photography, Nicéphore Niépce. He didn't bother to take a picture of himself (selfies are a modern phenomenon after all :lol: ) , so a painting will do:
Now, let's finish this off with the stage profile:
General classification on the eve of stage 7:
1. Giulio CICCONE
2. Julian ALAPHILIPPE + 6''
3. Dylan TEUNS + 32''
4. George BENNETT + 47''
5. Geraint THOMAS + 49''
6. Egan BERNAL + 53''
7. Thibaut PINOT + 58''
8. Steven KRUIJSWIJK + 1'04''
9. Michael WOODS + 1'13''
10. Rigoberto URAN + 1'15''
11. Jakob FUGLSANG + 1'19''
12. Emanuel BUCHMANN + 1'22''
13. Enric MAS + 1'23''
14. Adam YATES + 1'24''
15. Xandro MEURISSE + 1'39''
Green jersey competition on the eve of stage 7:
1. Peter SAGAN 144
2. Michal MATTHEWS 98
3. Elia VIVIANI 92
4. Sonny COLBRELLI 88
5. Matteo TRENTIN 75
Polka-dot jersey competition on the eve of stage 7:
1. Tim WELLENS 43
2. Giulio CICCONE 30
3. Xandro MEURISSE 27
4. Dylan TEUNS 13
5. Natnael BERHANE 13
Youth classification on the eve of stage 7:
1. Giulio CICCONE
2. Egan BERNAL + 53''
3. Enric MAS + 1'23''
4. David GAUDU + 1'53''
5. Wout VAN AERT + 13'20''
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