Peloton sets out toward Alps
Breakaway orf bunch finish?
After a good day of rest in Limoges in Central France, the peloton will embark on its long journey towards the Alps, starting with 193 rather flat kilometres to Issoudun.
A perfect day for the sprinters to race back into the limelight. But could a French breakaway on the day of the 'Fête Nationale' spoil their feast? The finish line in Issoudun, home of Olympic track champion Kevin Sireau, will tell.
See full-size map and profile.
Vaughters' views
Straight after a momentum-losing rest day, this is going to hurt. As the GC will be sorted quite a bit, some 95 percent of the peloton stand no chance of getting maillot jaune at this point, so breakaways wont be chased as fervently.
That said, everyone knows this, so 95percent of the peloton is trying to form a break, as they know they have a real chance of making it to the line.
This lends itself to a race pattern that takes a good 80km to finally get a break off the front. Attack after attack in the hilly, beef laden countryside of Limoges just hurts.
All this said, my bet is the break will try too hard to get out there in the first place and it comes back together for a sprint, with Mr. Cavendish winning.
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Most Popular
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Punchy climbs, a summit finish and the Pogačar factor – Giro d'Italia braced for toughest start
How the opening weekend in Piedmont can blow the corsa rosa apart from the outset -
How to watch stage 1, 2 and 3 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia
The mountains come in the first weekend so don't miss a minute as Tadej Pogačar makes his debut -
‘White jersey would be a dream’ – Cian Uijtdebroeks ready for Pogačar offensive at Giro d’Italia
Belgian targets high overall finish on Visma-Lease a Bike team built for stage wins -
‘The deal is done’ - Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe has the wings to secure super team status
'With the arrival of Red Bull, we have big, big goals but the Tour de France isn't the only goal' says Ralph Denk