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Stage 7 enters the Pyrenees and those that harbour overall ambitions will test each other on the first serious climb of the 2016 Tour de France. Who will stamp early authority on the race? Join The Roar to find out with live coverage of Stage 7 from 10:00pm (AEST).
So far the yellow jersey contenders have kept their powder dry, keeping safe at the front of the peloton and avoiding the costly time losses that can happen in the hectic first week of the tour.
With the exceptions of Richie Porte and Alberto Contador, the main protagonists have avoided crashes and time loss and come into Stage 7 with fresh legs, ready to test themselves against each other and see where their form stacks up.
After departing from L’Isle-Jourdain the riders have a relatively easy first 100 kilometres with no categorised climbs, however the profile becomes undulating after 50km.
The first climb of the day comes after 109 kilometres of racing. The category four Cote de Catvern is a gentle 7.7-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 3.1 per cent and serves as the warm-up for the decisive climb of the day.
The Col d’Aspin is one of the most famous and enduring climbs of the Tour de France, having made its first appearance in 1910. It is a category one climb of 12 kilometres with an average gradient of 6.5 per cent. Unlike some climbs in the Pyrenees, the Col d’Aspin doesn’t fluctuate in gradient as it hovers around 6-7 per cent for the whole climb with no notable steeper sections.
The summit of the Col d’Aspin comes seven kilometres from the finish with the riders having to deal with a fast technical descent before the uphill finish in Lac de Payolle. While this stage shouldn’t prove overly selective in regards to general classification riders it is a stern enough test that, if on a bad day, some riders could be dropped.
The gentle gradient of the Col d’Aspin doesn’t lend itself to solo attacks, instead favouring strong team tempo riding. With this in mind look for Movistar and Sky to come to the head of the peloton and set a difficult tempo to test the legs of their opposition.
Prediction
A group of around 15 favourites should make it over the Col d’Aspin and fight for the stage victory. Alberto Contador will face his biggest test today since the crash, the question is has he recovered enough to survive?
Greg Van Avermaet’s lead of 5 minutes, 11 seconds should see him just hold onto the yellow jersey. In terms of the stage victory, the fast and technical descent with a slight uphill finish suits Alejandro Valverde and Dan Martin. Today Valverde will be the victor.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 7 of the Tour de France from 10:00pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
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