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Tour de France Tour de France 2021, Stage 13: Nîmes – Carcassonne, 219.9 km

On one of the less technical finishes, the 3 kilometer rule has been extended to 4.5 kilometers for some reason. Other than that, this is a much more suitable route for echelons, but will the wind cooperate?
Stage 13: Nîmes – Carcassonne, 219.9 km
The second-longest stage of the race takes in some significantly more open roads than yesterday, so we might get lucky here in terms of echelons. If not, the breakaway has a strong chance again.

Map and profile
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Route details
The entire stage weaves its way along the southern edge of the Massif Central, sometimes taking in valleys and small climbs in its foothills, but always returning to flatter, more exposed terrain. The only categorised climb of the day, Côte du Pic Saint-Loup, is very hard for a cat. 4, a shame it comes so early. The profile below is missing the first kilometer, which has similar gradients to the second, but you get the idea.

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The intermediate sprint comes just before the halfway point, at the foot of a hill.

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Final kilometers
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The final 16 or so kilometers are identical to the 2018 stage, won from the break by Magnus Cort Nielsen on a significantly more mountainous route. It’s not the most complicated finale, with the big right-hander just before the flamme rouge at the start of the video below being the key pinch point. The last slight bend comes with 200 meters to go.

 
Tough route - hopefully Mathews & Colbrelli get some confidence and their teams join in the chase as they're not going to get much better chances than this
I would say if Sonny and Bling are serious about green their best chance is to get in the break and pick up as many points as possible on stages 14, 15 and 16. Problem is, those 3 stages presumably don't carry the full 50 points, so it'll be a lot of work for not a lot of return.
 

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