Imagine a cycling and music festival. Think of Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, Paul Seixas, Jonathan Milan and Jonas Vingegaard and others coming to party and race in an event organised by DJ David Guetta and this attracts tens of thousands of people for the weekend? Something like this happened before.
Round 1 of the breakaway world championships.
The course is shortened by about 30km because of the ongoing heat wave.
The race will go through Port-de-Couze with 25km to go as it speeds towards Bergerac. It’s here that the greatest ever tragedy to afflict the Tour de France occurred.
The big stage in the Pyrenees. The breakaway has a good chance today and the first hour or more should be lively. Those wanting to win the stage will be active and look for teams with GC contenders trying to place riders in the move.
Things are hotting up at the Four de France. It’s going to be a warm day but there’s the trend of rising temperatures to consider.
Today’s stage starts in Lannemezan and passes through Castelnau-Magnoac where Antoine Dupont was born and grew up. He’s the world’s best rugby player and rooted in this area, owning a family restaurant and often portrayed as the local son. He might make guest appearance at the start.
There’s another local sportsman to celebrate. Bruno Armirail was born in Tarbes and grew up in Bagnères-de-Bigorre by the foot of the Pyrenees and went to school in Vic-en-Bigorre, location for today’s intermediate sprint.
A day of wild suspense awaits. Ok, it’s sprint stage so the suspense will come late in the day but it could be more unpredictable than many a mountain stage.
