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.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Thanks to everyone who followed along tonight. Stay tuned to The Roar for further Tour de France coverage with live coverage of stage 8 tomorrow night. Good night.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
General Classification after Stage 7: 1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 34:13:40 2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:06:36 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:38 4 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:06:39 5 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:06:42 6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:06:42 7 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:06:42 8 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac 0:06:42 9 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:06:42 10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:42
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Pinot finishes 3min down on the main contenders.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Top Ten on the Stage: 1 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data 3:51:58 2 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-BikeExchange 0:01:05 3 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:05 4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:14 5 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:03:04 6 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:29 7 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 8 Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky 9 Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 10 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
In summary Cummings enhanced his reputation as a breakaway specialist with a terrific solo ride. Unbelieveably he was able to ride away from far more credentialed climbers including Vincenzo Nibali on the Col d' Aspin and took a decisive victory. The overall contenders kept their powder dry today with the knowledge that very hard stages come on Saturday and Sunday. Van Avermaet did the yellow jersey proud and increased his margin.Incredible scenes at the end when the 1km to go banner fell on Adam Yates when he was off the front of the peloton. Shambolic that can happen in such a big race. Yates appeared to have a cut on his chin when he rolled in.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Only GC contender to lose out today was Pinot who was dropped on the Col d'Aspin. Bizarrley after his team had ridden hard on the early slopes.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Peloton crosses 4min34 down on Cummings. Contador appeared safe in the peloton.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
All the favourites will get the same time after the banner fell down on top of them. Lucky it wasn't serious.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Absolute breakaway specialist.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Van Avermaet crosses the finish line 3min03 down. Brave ride.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Steve Cummings was in 191st on GC at the start of the day. He saved himself perfectly for this stage.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Chaos as the 1km banner falls on the main peloton. No injuries.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Nibali now appoaching the finish line. Crossing 2min 15.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Interesting to see no real movement from the bunch. Cheers for the call Ryan. Great job.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Jeez 4th stage for Dimension Data.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Navarro and Impey coming in now. Impey should take the sprint. Navarro leads it out. Impey comes around him and takes second place. Great result for Orica-BikeExchange.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Steve Cummings punches the air and lets out a roar. What a ride what a victory.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
He is now on the uphill approach to the finish line. What a Tour for Dimension Data.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
Inside 1km. Cummings will have time to soak this up.
Ryan Day
Roar Guru
1.5km to go Cummings making quick work of the descent.