From the hills of Tuscany to the gravel roads of Troyes, it was a busy, first GC week of the Tour de France. But Wednesday’s stage via the Massif Centrale is about to do something however decrease the GC and breakaway stress, predict EF Education-EasyPost supervisor Charly Wegelius and UAE Team Emirates counterpart Joxean Fernández Matxin.
The rollercoaster stage 11 consists of 4,200 metres of vertical climbing and 4 class 3 or greater ascents within the final 50 kilometres, the final simply two kilometres from the end in Le Lioran.
“It’s a bit like going into the Apennines within the Giro d’Italia,” Wegelius says. “If you take a look at issues that [former GC contender Laurent] Jalabert did within the central sections of France, these levels can transform rather a lot more durable than you’d count on.” He referenced the long-distance ambush by Jalabert on Miguel Indurain on the roads to the close by city of Mende in 1995, nearly up-ending the ultimate final result of the Tour.
“There was a day a couple of years in the past, too, when the break went on the flat on the gun on a stage like this and UAE needed to pull all day, for over 200 kilometres,” he remembers. “So something can occur.”
Wegelius predicts a breakaway stage, as occurred in 2020 when former EF rider Dani Martínez gained in a protracted, slow-mo battle towards Lennard Kamna on the slopes of the ultra-steep Puy Mary, the toughest climb of Wednesday’s stage, and that “there can be an enormous battle to be in on the break, too”.
“Then there are the dangers that individuals who lastly make it into the break are both cooked consequently, or not adequate to outlive to the ultimate. So then if individuals fall out and argue, then it finally ends up being a small breakaway on the entrance. But I’m hoping for a break, anyway.” And is he hoping to get some his riders in there, too? “Absolutely”.
“It’s an advanced stage as a result of I take into consideration 15 groups can be making an attempt to get within the break,” UAE Team Emirates’ Matxin instructed Cyclingnews earlier than stage 10, “so I don’t understand how a lot time it can take for the break to take form.
“You may get a break of 20 riders with nearly each workforce represented, wherein case everyone can be completely happy, but it surely’s like there are two levels in a single. First, there’s a battle for the break after which there’s the ultimate half, the final 80 kilometres, that are going to be troublesome to regulate.”
For the GC riders, “within the finale, positioning can be essential and we’ll should be on the entrance. We’re the leaders, so we’ll defend that lead. I don’t wish to race defensively, however that is a type of moments the place we’ll be trying to hold what we’ve got and ensure the break isn’t a harmful one.”
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A area infamous for its tough, slender climbs and corkscrew, technical descents, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) instructed reporters on the remainder day that he was planning on calling Greg Van Avermaet, the now-retired fellow Belgian and former Olympic Champion, to get an inside line of this a part of the Massif Centrale basically and the ultimate ascent to Le Lioran, the place Van Avermaet gained a Tour stage in 2016.
“The final 50 kilometres are equivalent to 2016,” Evenepoel identified. However, he had been unable to do a Massif Centrale trip this spring, as the world was comparatively distant and it was troublesome to suit into his schedule, therefore his name to ‘Golden Greg’.
That mentioned, Wegelius was not overly satisfied that Evenepoel will, in any case, be at an obstacle, even given his relative unfamiliarity with the terrain that each present race chief Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) know from the 2020 Tour de France stage, when Martínez gained.
“Not within the trendy world, everyone’s obtained entry to all that info,” Wegelius insisted.
“I’m not a fan of doing in-person recons with riders on the bikes, anyway, as a result of they naturally trip slower than they might do within the race, you don’t get the identical momentum to allow them to get spooked by how arduous a course is as a result of they’re not driving within the peloton.
“So I believe these recons, should you do them are higher to do within the automotive with out the rider. With the quantity of knowledge you get within the trendy world, there gained’t be any surprises, anyway.”
After a largely, very uneventful stage 10, the GC standings stay the identical, with Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 33 seconds forward of Evenepoel, whereas Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is third at 1:15.
However, given the brutally undulating terrain, Wegelius was anticipating “a form out” between the GC riders, “even when the break has gone”.
“There will all types of physique punches and higher cuts,” Wegelius concluded, “possibly not the killer blow that decides the Tour de France, however one thing that can contribute to the ultimate final result.”
But come what might on Wednesday, his favorite for ultimate victory in any case, stays the identical for now: “Pogačar”.
Stage 11 Sprints
- Intermediate dash, km 65
- Time bonus dash, km 196.4
Stage 11 Mountains
- Côte de Mouilloux (1.9km at 6.3%), cat. 4, km 79.8
- Côte de Larodde (3.8km at 6%), cat. 3, km 89.7
- Col de Néronne (3.8km at 9.1%), cat. 2, km 168.
- Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol (5.4km at 8%), cat. 1, km 180
- Col de Pertus (4.4km at 7.9%), cat. 2, km 196.4
- Col de Font de Cère (3.3km at 5.8%), cat. 3, km 208.2