The prince owns everything in the kingdom, except the wind.
Victor Hugo, La légende des siècles
An air of summer holidays as the race heads across the south of France on the 14 July, the French national day. Whilst those in Paris are treated to a North Korean style military parade, the south should see a hard day’s racing. At first glance this looks like a day for the sprinters. But there are two surprises waiting for the riders in the final 40km: the Mont St Clair and a crosswind.
- Km 194.0 – Mont Saint-Clair1.6 kilometre-long climb at 10.2% – category 3
The Route: the start in St Paul Trois Chateaux sounds charming with the name implying three castles. It is a nice place but dominated by a giant nuclear power station which saps the charm a bit. Once under way the route is flat and exposed and the race will speed past vineyards and fields of sunflowers.
The Intermediate Sprint: held in Mas de Londres, “London village”, this seems like a tribute to Mark Cavendish on the day L’Equipe crowns him as the “greatest sprinter of the Tour de France”. Held on a rural road, there’s a slight drag to the line.
Mont Saint Clair: 23km from the finish, this short sharp climb can do some damage. It climbs out of Sète, a town sandwiched between the sea and a lagoon. 1.6km at over 10% means it’s a hard climb especially as it has a brief section above 16% as the road passes the cemetery. Cycling historians will remember the name as it was often used for the defunct Midi-Libre stage race. When used in this race the finish was selective but this time I think it’ll just prove awkward for the sprinters. They might lose time but they should be able to get back… although this will cost them energy.
After the race passes along the coast. The route here is flat and exposed and if gaps open up on the climb, teams can grow them by driving hard as there will be a crosswind from the right. It need not take much organisation given many will be rushing for the finish. Indeed the pressure to be at the front could incite a crash.
The finish: it looks like a hill but actually the profile is exaggerating a lot, this is flat. Instead the main difficulty comes from the sharp corner in the final kilometre although it is more of a sweeping bend that passes under a bridge.
The Race: a sprint or a breakaway? I think this is for the bunch sprinters but the wind, the hills and the French national holiday could make this less likely. Orica-Greenedge have plenty of motivation to try and win one and we should see others with an incentive to haul back the breakaway.
Weather: sunny but not too hot. 27°C (80°F) and a 30km/h wind from the north-west. This matters because on a flat coastal roads the bunch is exposed to the crosswind. The race can split apart here but 30km/h is not enough to guarantee trouble.
TV: coverage will start at 2.00pm. The finish is expected between 4.50-5.30pm Euro time.
Do: watch the French riders. FDJ’s Marc Madiot keeps a CD in the team bus with the Marseillaise, the French national anthem and plays it loud on the morning of the 14 July. There’s always extra motivation to shine today. But the French revolution is already taking shape with Pinot, Rolland and others, this time local hopes don’t rest on a few fugitives trying to storm the finish line.
Don’t: stray too far. I gather Europe’s biggest nudist beach is nearby.
if you were to look up ‘flat and exposed’ in the dictionary there would be a picture of the run into Cap D’Agde. Perfectly flat straight piece of road down what looks like a sand bar, should be an interesting finish.
the nudist beach is over rated by the way 🙂
Allez Cav!
In his preview, James Startt thinks that stage hunters or Sagan will foil the plans of sprint teams today. It will be interesting either way.
The entire peloton are pretty cooked after the last two stages. Would love to see Chavanel take the win on La Fête Nationale! Last time a Frenchman won on 14 July was Moncoutie, seven years ago…sorry to see him crash out this year.
After Mont Saint-Clair + the last two days into the legs, Sagan is a good pick, but he should have good competition from the hot group of French riders and stage hunters.
Think Chavanel is sick and on antibiotics, which is a real shame given how well he’s been going in the last few months and during the first week of the Tour.
That’s correct. We’ll see if he stays in the race or leaves to rest before the Olympics.
Look out for Michael Mørkøv (again…)
Today it’s 5 years since his father died of cancer.
Sagan wins again.
In the middle of yesterday’s stage, I think I saw Cav coming up to help his team. Sky rewards good soldiers. I think they may spare some of the boys today to give him — dare I say it? — a leadout.
That should be a “Do” – straying too far and arriving at nudist beach!
Does anyone know why so much of the field finished over ten minutes back today? Farrah, Leipheimer, Cavendish and many more were way off the back.
They were caught out on the hill and then the crosswinds afterwards made it hard to get back. Since they were behind there was no point wasting energy, they just rolled in behind. That’s the importance of crosswinds, once you are dropped it takes a giant effort to get back on and it’s often impossible during the final 30mins of a race.