monty1104
Brownlow Medallist
Stage 12: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Annonay
Odd stage today. Nothing in it for the GC guys or the sprinters really. Breakaway win for mine.
Current Jersey Leaders
Bradley Wiggins (Sky)
Peter Sagan (Liquigas)
Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana)
Tejay Vangarderen (BMC)
Radioshack-Nissan
Odd stage today. Nothing in it for the GC guys or the sprinters really. Breakaway win for mine.
Current Jersey Leaders
- Km 34.0 - Col du Grand Cucheron (1 188 m)12.5 kilometre-long climb at 6.5% - category 1
- Km 80.5 - Col du Granier (1 134 m)9.7 kilometre-long climb at 8.6% - category 1
- Km 207.5 - Côte d'Ardoix5.9 kilometre-long climb at 3.4% - category 3General Classification after Stage 11
GBR 1 WIGGINS, Bradley (SKY PROCYCLING) 48:43:53
GBR 2 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) + 2:05
ITA 3 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 2:23
AUS 4 EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING) + 3:19
BEL 5 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 4:48
ESP 6 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 6:15
USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 6:57
SLO 8 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (ASTANA) + 7:30
FRA 9 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 8:31
FRA 10 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ-BIG MAT) + 8:51
Today's stage had a rather odd profile. It doesnt really provide any incentive for anything other than a breakaway win. Expect to see both Kessiakoff and Rolland attack early to try and get themselves some KOTM points.
The pure sprinters will really struggle to get over the two early Cat 1 climbs. They still have over 140km after the second climb to get back to the peleton, but the energy they will have to exert, along with the late Cat 3 climb and he uphill finish will put them out of contention. Sagan is one who could win this stage if he manages to stay close to the peleton on the climbs.
This stage is really just a "transition stage" for the GC. The big climbs are too far out to have any impact on the GC.
After last night, Cadel is pretty much out of contention for GC. He will be looking for stage wins now and this one is a possibility for him, or even his team mate Gilbert. Having said all of that, I really do expect a breakaway win. The teams will have nothing to race for really, given the sprinters (bar Sagan) and the GC guys really wont be able to do much here.
As for Cadel, well given his age and the course, it was always going to be tough for him to win this year. With the form Wiggins has been in in the past 2 years, this was always his to lose. The course just suits him so well with the amount of ITT km's and the lack of really tough finishes. This probably would have been Cadel's last chance to win as well, especially now we have seen that Vangarderen can match it with the best. I'd expect Vangarderen to be BMC's leader next year (if he is still on the squad) and Evans to be his domestique, and target the Ardennes classics himself. If this happens, BMC will be an amazing classics team, even more so than now. Next year's Tour will be guaranteed to have more mountain finishes, less ITT kms and much tougher stages IMO. It is the 100 year anniversary for Le Tour, so I'd expect to see Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux feature next year, probably the Galibier again as well. Hope it will be a real climbers course.
Sorry to go off on a tangent there My tip for todays stage is Nicholas Roche in a breakaway win.