Croix de Fer, Télégraphe, Galibier; now these are names that make cycling fans smile; this might be a heavenly battle. No uphill finish unfortunately though.
The General Classification is going to see quite some shifts today. The Télégraphe descent is so short that you can basically consider it and the Galibier a 42 kilometre climb. Many a GC rider is going to explode here. Some will find some hidden reserves and clamp back on while others will see their dreams go up in smoke. Hopefully no one will take any crazy risks on that last descent to the finish.
Will we see a GC rider win here or will one or two riders escape their clutches? Rafał Majka was so strong in the Giro, can we expect to see him again? It would also be nice if Warren Barguil finally lived up to the potential Sunweb sees in him.
Winner: Primož Roglič
Saint-Sorlin-d'Arves is a traditional Maurienne mountain village with some 350 permanent inhabitants. It is positioned in a mountain setting, with its slopes facing the 3000 metre Aiguilles d’Arves and at the foot of the Étendard glacier. Situated between 1550 and 1700 metres it is the highest village on the Col de la Croix de Fer. Made up of 14 hamlets spread over 3 km it has a famous Baroque church, several chapels, a cheese cooperative and a few farms giving it an authentic Savoyard village ambiance.
The St Sorlin area has over 120 kilometres of pistes and is generally considered to have the best runs and be the best placed sector of the Sybelles area.
Rui Costa
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Pinot
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Pinot
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Uran
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Matthews
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For my favourite TdF climb (Galibier from the Telegraph side) I hope for a worthy winner. He'll probably have to work for Froome but I'll pick Mikel Landa.
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Chris Froome.
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Bardet
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Closed
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I expected more from the GC guys.... Kudos to Roglic though, that was a great effort, didn't expect him to be so strong in the mountains. With his TT skills he may soon become an overall contender!
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He did great! Thanks for reminding me I forgot to write my little stage review. :)
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Amazing win by Primož Roglič! I was hoping to see something special from him this Tour but after his fall in the opening ITT I must admit I figured his Tour was sort of over already. Now he's the big favorite for Saturday's ITT. It would be quite special if he manages it; two wins in your first Tour, not many people have done that.
No one was surprised at Contador attacking today and I wasn't surprised he didn't manage to win.
The GC riders all basically did as expected; Quintana proving you can't contest the GC in the Giro and Tour in one year and the others hardly attempting to attack Froome. The best GC rider by far right now is... Mikel Landa. I can't imagine what he must be thinking right now.
Here's hoping that tomorrow (the last mountain stage; finish on the Izoard!) will give us the fireworks we've been waiting for.
Edit: totally forgot to mention Marcel Kittel's exit from the Tour. The green jersey looks to be for Michael Matthews now, making Sunweb's Tour even better. With Kittel and Arnaud Démare already out the last two sprint stages now look a real possibility for Dylan Groenewegen. It all depends on how he'll survive tomorrow's stage but he could make this years Tour quite a succes for LottoNL - Jumbo.
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Thank you once again! Have a nice day :)
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Enjoy!
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