Well, we have a well worn stage to look forward to. Plenty of the current peloton have been bouncing this bump for years. I suspect some have it ingrained in their memories for mostly failed attacks and gear failure.
It will be a nice ride out for sure.
My predictions (mostly, as always) center around riders who have no duties to perform for their “leader” which means we could see a break and some toe tapping from the guys who’ve been waiting for a stage like this since the tour started.
Astana have been quiet, so could be either … Izagirre, Lutsenko, Sánchez, who all have been rattling this bump since they started racing.
Slightly more left field.. Kangert, Langeveld who are mainly flatlanders, but hard nuts to crack.
Since it looks like Katusha will fold, this is the time for some brilliant riders to show their potential and solidify their place in the peloton.. Wurtz, Zakarin
Some more flatlanders with great palmares…Arndt, Kelderman
And Henao, because he chose to leave Skineos and think he should have been given free rein in that team to shine..
Please let it be either Pierre-Luc Périchon or Simon… Simon was once a stellar domi, getting slightly outshined by the new crop so think there’s still a lot left in him to make a go of it.
And finally Sicard or Taaramae.. my last prediction and a total outsiders…. quite why Sicard hasn’t shone is frustrating, so I think he’s putting on a canny mind game.. sandbagging perhaps..
Either way, no change in GC purely because Skineos will block the road and not let anyone past.. the virtual rolling roadblock will be out in force today. And that’s sad.
Should see some nice photos though..