Tour de France: Stage 18, Blagnac – Brive-la-Gaillarde 222.5KM

[kjetilraknerud]

Tour de France: Stage 18, Blagnac – Brive-la-Gaillarde 222.5KM

I take advantage of the lack of interest in the tour to make my first, I think, and probably last stage thread.

This stage has breakaway written all over it.

On a personal note, I hope Sky will allow EBH to join the break today. Kessiakoff might give the polka dots one last try (I didn't bother to check how many points that are available), and the teams without a win so far will be desperate. And Vino might give it another go.

Some random names who finished 30 minutes behind yesterday:

Sagan
Nuyens
Roelandts
Hondo
Gerrans
Albasini
Voigt
O'Grady
Bak
Pineau
Zabriskie

I'd say we could very well see some very good racing on the final climb. Looking forward to it actually!

 

[SuperH-]

Fail tour , fail route no need to watch anymore

 

[ericthesportsman6]

Gerrans for the win

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Sagan ftw.

 

[The Barb]

90+% chance the break survives.

I also hope they let EBH go in the break. The profile is good for him and he deserves something for selfless work he's done for the team.

Voigt and Vino, in the last chance they will ever have to win another Tour stage, will surely be on the attack. Profile is similar to the stage Vino won in 2010.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Fail tour , fail route no need to watch anymore

You can say what you want about the route and the racing this tour, but in my opinion the profile of this particular stage is great. We'll probably see a break of 10-15 strong riders battling it out, and at the same time we won't worry about boring racing in the peloton because this stage doesn't matter for GC.

 

[The Barb]

I think it would be great if everyone who just wants to post about how much this Tour sucks, without adding anything to the discussion about this stage, went and did so in the "Tour de Bore" thread rather than here.

 

[Kwibus]

Another breakaway stage!
That's one of the things I really liked about this tour. Atleast 4-5 stages for breakaway riders. Allthough those breakaway guys need to be able to climb.

 

[manafana]

people love to hide behind keyboards and moan, 21 mountain stages is not how cycling works, and even then this tour would have been over by now, wiggans and froome just too strong.

Todays stage, breakaway likely to get away albasini prehaps.

 

[Cimber]

I would love for Nuyens to make the break. The stage suits him well.

Orica needs to put Gerrans in the break

Oh and what about Gilbert?

 

[stazzy]

EBH for the win. He has really good legs, so they should let him go in the break.

 

[Cimber]

The peloton will be riding like a mad for a long time I think. Everyone wants to be in the break. Will be like the stage that Fedrigo, or even more crazy

 

[stazzy]

The peloton will be riding like a mad for a long time I think. Everyone wants to be in the break. Will be like the stage that Fedrigo, or even more crazy

indeed, too bad live coverage doesnt start from the get go

 

[theyoungest]

I think there's about 12 teams who haven't won a stage yet, and for most of them this is their final chance... so yeah, it will be all out war from the get-go.

 

[RedheadDane]

Mørkøv to get in a long solo-break and lay down the final claim for that Super Attacker prize!
And of course win the stage too!

 

[Cimber]

Mørkøv to get in a long solo-break and lay down the final claim for that Super Attacker prize!
And of course win the stage too!

I think no matter what Mørkøv does, Voeckler will get the prize - he is French after all (well unless they think the polka is enough for him)

 

[For The World]

The Gilbert fan in me hopes that BMC will muster some sort of distraction and let Gilbert get up the road and take the stage.

However, I can see this as being a drag race between Cavendish, Greipel and Sagan. I just can't see a break staying away today, but I'm more than happy to be wrong.

 

[Devilen]

yeah ... Mørkøv aims at a breakaway again today ... he's going to secure the super attacker, which he deserves by being by far the one riding the longest in breakaways (some 800km if i remember correctly)

 

[Cimber]

The Gilbert fan in me hopes that BMC will muster some sort of distraction and let Gilbert get up the road and take the stage.

However, I can see this as being a drag race between Cavendish, Greipel and Sagan. I just can't see a break staying away today, but I'm more than happy to be wrong.

Look at the profile. No way Cav will be able to mix in a possible sprint. The stage profile got break-away written all over it. I doubt they will be able to keep it together for a sprint.

 

[Pentacycle]

Mørkøv to get in a long solo-break and lay down the final claim for that Super Attacker prize!
And of course win the stage too!

That prize should belong to someone who could actually fight for a stage win. Voeckler or Sanchez have really earned this one imo. They both had injuries in the first week and fought back to win. But since Voeckler has made France proud, I expect LL takes it. Breaking away in the first week is more a joke than serious business. Mørkøv even managed to miss the only break in the first week that could have taken the win.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

No sprinter teams will want to control this stage, too late in the race and too hard. They're saving themselves for the Champs Elysees.

 

[royalpig180]

No sprinter teams will want to control this stage, too late in the race and too hard. They're saving themselves for the Champs Elysees.

Liquigas might. At this point they don't need to save themselves for Nibali any longer so they can afford to do the bulk of the work on this stage. They won't have to on the Champs-Elysees as Orica and Lotto, and probably Sky will work to ensure a sprint there. This sprint could definitely suit Sagan with the climbs not all that far from the finish, and even if green's sewn up, a stage win's a stage win. May as well go for it, eh?

 

[rainman]

yeah ... Mørkøv aims at a breakaway again today ... he's going to secure the super attacker, which he deserves by being by far the one riding the longest in breakaways (some 800km if i remember correctly)

Sandy Casar has also been brilliant, in the break several days in a row.

 

[For The World]

Look at the profile. No way Cav will be able to mix in a possible sprint. The stage profile got break-away written all over it. I doubt they will be able to keep it together for a sprint.

Normally I'd agree, but Cav has shown he can climb better than he has in the past, and it's entirely possible he could still be there at the finish with Wiggins leading him out. The last 3KM are all downhill - perfect for a sprint train going full speed.

That is, if Gilbert doesn't take the stage

 

[Froome19]

No sprinter teams will want to control this stage, too late in the race and too hard. They're saving themselves for the Champs Elysees.

9/10
Stages won from a break, seems like we are missing HTC..