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The 2013 Vuelta a Espana bids farewell to the land of Conquistadors, Extremadura, and cycles towards the autonomous region of Andalusia and the city of Seville.
Departing from the city of Almendralejo, the peloton will cycle 205.9km to the city of Mairena Del Aljarafe for another predicted sprint finale.
A lumpy day still awaits the peloton however, with 1,575m of accumulated elevation gain.
Once again there will be little incentive for riders to get involved in the breakaway, with a stage victory unlikely to eventuate and just two intermediate sprints to contest.
Nevertheless expect another breakaway to form early on, with several teams keen to have their sponsors seen and mentioned on TV.
As la Vuelta a Espana transitions to the south of the Iberian Peninsula, the weather is once again expected to be be quite warm with temperatures (celsius) predicted to be around the high 20s to low 30s.
There could be a chance of rain, or at least some relief from the heat, during the initial two-thirds of the stage with cloud cover expected.
With Stage 7 following the example of Stage 6 and utilising an avenue for the stage’s finale, the sprint should a relatively straight forward affair.
A number of corners and roundabouts will complicate matters approaching the final kilometre however, therefore the peloton may be further stretched out than usual for a pure sprint finish.
The stage victory could be decided by which teams have the strongest lead-out train on the day.
Position at the fore of the pack extremely could be crucial should the peloton stretch into one thing line.
While the every so slightly downhill nature of the approach in to the bunch sprint will help assist with keeping the pace high.
There is the slightest of rises up to the finishing line within the final few hundred metres of the sprint, however, it shouldn’t bother the sprinters.
With a well organised lead-out train Dutch outfit Argos-Shimano should be in contention for their first victory in the 2013 Vuelta a Espana.
Meanwhile, Orica-GreenEDGE have the luxury of choosing from two candidates for the sprint, with Leigh Howard usually the favoured choice for such finishes, but not discount Michael Matthews getting the nod.
American outfit Garmin-Sharp should once again feature near the front with Tyler Farrar.
However, the team may need to improve their lead-out train to secure the sprint victory while after the dramatics scenes of Stage 6, Omega-Pharma – QuickStep should, in theory, be fully focused on Gianni Meersman again.
There a number of other potential candidates who could finish highly during the stage. However, their chances of winning will be hampered by having to freelance their way on to the right wheel.
Team Saxo-Tinkoff’s Michael Mørkøv is unlikely to repeat his Stage 6 result without another great lead-out from Fabian Cancellara.
With two consecutive second placings at the finish, perhaps today will be the day Maximiliano Ariel Richeze of Lampre-Merida goes one better. With how unpredictable and exciting la Vuelta a Espana can be there may be another surprise in store.
Though I shan’t hold my breathe awaiting another amazing solo breakaway attempt, after arguably costing Tony Martin the stage victory it must be Cancellara’s turn to try something bold and ridiculous.
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