Cortinovis on today's stage

It was Milram's Alessandro Cortinovis' turn to describe the race of its team's perspective. He said, tongue in cheek, that "it's another ideal day for the sprinters...Help! What a profile."

He thought it'll be the last stage where the GC favourites can do something, except for the time trial, of course. The all rounder wrote on his team's website, www.team-milram.com that there would be a hard and long day looming ahead, even though everybody was already out of strength in the third week. As for his local knowledge, he only knows the Col de Marie-Blanque and the Col d'Aubisque and he described them as "both are very hard. When hitting the Aubisque, we already have 200 kilometres in our legs." He was also expecting it to be very hot, which wouldn't help matters.

He joked that he doesn't really remember the Marie-Blanque, "but that probably has its reason." Cortinovis was drawing strength from the fact that it's the last day in the mountains. The Italian hoped that "with luck we'll get to the Marie-Blanque in the first group and then hopefully there is a gruppetto."