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Montpellier is well renowned for being a sprinters paradise and Stage 11 will offer the fast men another chance for glory after the craziness of the previous stage.
The 162.5 kilometres from Carcacassone to Montpellier will be fairly straightforward, but a nervous final as always for the general classification favourites, heading into tomorrow test up Mont Ventoux.
The first 60 kilometres of the stage feature some lumpy roads, with two category four climbs in the first part of the race. However, they will not play a major role in the back end of the stage.
The intermediate sprint point is positioned quite late on the stage, just inside the final 50 kilometre in the town of Pezenas. Sagan leads the green jersey competition quite handsomely at the moment, after collecting a big amount of points on yesterday’s stage.
From the sprint, to the finish in Montpellier, there are a few lumpy roads to contend with until 25 kilometres to go, however after that it is fairly flat.
The final ten kilometres of the stage is fairly simple, with a few technical parts inside the final five kilometres. However, the last corner is a right hander at 2.5 kilometres to go, and the rest of the stage curves slightly round to the left all the way to the line.
A sprinters dream, with past winners including Robbie McEwen, and two current riders, Mark Cavendish and Andre Griepel from 2013, making it the perfect opportunity for the fast men to grab a stage win before the riders get to the Alps.
Mark Cavendish will be looking for his fourth stage win, after an incredible start to the Tour, having taken wins on the first two stages, and on Stage 6. Dimension Data have ridden superbly in the sprints. However, Mark Renshaw has gone home with illness, so Boasson-Hagen will be the final lead-out man for Cav.
Not a bad replacement, but he ain’t no Renshaw.
Kittel took the difficult uphill finish in Limoges on Stage 4, but has had no success on the pure sprints. He will be looking to change that today.
Other riders to look out for include Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie), Michael Matthews (Orica BikeExchange), Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto NL-Jumbo), Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale), Sondre Holst Enger (IAM Cycling), John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and Christope Laporte (Cofidis).
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