- Jun 22, 2009
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just looked at route again, in all honestly whilst it aint the best route there are plenty of chances to take time. Wiggins will have his work cut out forsure.
Stage 3: punchy riders like evans should try and take 10 or more seconds here.
Stage 7: short but steep finish; 6km @8.5%. Wiggins will struggle here imo. Of course this is the only highlight of the stage.
Stage 8: Another stage the climbers and brave men should utilize if they want to hurt wiggins. In fact I like this stage, up and down all day (seven categorized climbs) Short but steep final climb 4km @9-10% followed by short descent and 10km flat. Problem also that the follwoing stage is the tt.
Stage 10: If they ride hard on colombier this could be a good stage forsure.
Stage 11: Madeleine and Croix de fer (and mollard) will have the legs hurting, and La toussuire could make a big difference if the entire stage is raced properly (even if isn't too steep, it has some ok sections).
Stage 12: Ok this stage requires some balls if they're gonna take time, or some good collabaration. Mur de Péguére is pretty hard tho, especially those last few km. But yeh those 15-20km after the descent make it tough.
Stage 16: Very dangerous stage for wiggo, difficult last climb followed by downhill finish. This is a nice stage; Col d'Aubisque, Tourmalet and col d'aspin should mean some tired bodies on col de Peyresourde. Tough stage.
Stage 17: Last real chance for the climbers, and hard enough stage to make the difference imo. Especially if they race hard on Port de Bales.
But of course, it is the good ol' cliche that the riders have to make this hard. But the point is, the course isn't that easy that wiggins is a shoe in... plenty of chances.
Stage 3: punchy riders like evans should try and take 10 or more seconds here.
Stage 7: short but steep finish; 6km @8.5%. Wiggins will struggle here imo. Of course this is the only highlight of the stage.
Stage 8: Another stage the climbers and brave men should utilize if they want to hurt wiggins. In fact I like this stage, up and down all day (seven categorized climbs) Short but steep final climb 4km @9-10% followed by short descent and 10km flat. Problem also that the follwoing stage is the tt.
Stage 10: If they ride hard on colombier this could be a good stage forsure.
Stage 11: Madeleine and Croix de fer (and mollard) will have the legs hurting, and La toussuire could make a big difference if the entire stage is raced properly (even if isn't too steep, it has some ok sections).
Stage 12: Ok this stage requires some balls if they're gonna take time, or some good collabaration. Mur de Péguére is pretty hard tho, especially those last few km. But yeh those 15-20km after the descent make it tough.
Stage 16: Very dangerous stage for wiggo, difficult last climb followed by downhill finish. This is a nice stage; Col d'Aubisque, Tourmalet and col d'aspin should mean some tired bodies on col de Peyresourde. Tough stage.
Stage 17: Last real chance for the climbers, and hard enough stage to make the difference imo. Especially if they race hard on Port de Bales.
But of course, it is the good ol' cliche that the riders have to make this hard. But the point is, the course isn't that easy that wiggins is a shoe in... plenty of chances.