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There’s no respite today for the riders as the race enters the mountains of Andorra. A brutal stage lays ahead and should see another shake-up in the general classification with the pure climbers coming to the fore. Who will prevail and who will wilt in Andorra? Join The Roar to find out with live coverage of Stage 9 of the Tour de France from 8:30pm (AEST).
Stage 9 will be the hardest stage of the tour so far. The general classification riders will be looking to be aggressive and take time on their rivals, while the majority of the peloton will be battling to beat the time cut.
There will be no gentle introduction into this stage with the peloton tackling the category 1 Port de la Bonaigua which tops out at 2,072m, the climb itself is 13.7km long at an average gradient of 6.1 per cent.
Expect the early kilometres to be hectic as riders look to get in the day’s breakaway. After descending the opening climb there is a short respite of 25km on the flat before the ascent of the 19km Port del Canto a category 1 climb which averages 5.4 per cent.
After the descent the riders will not encounter any flat road for the rest of the stage with two climbs coming back-to-back. First the category 2 Cote de Comella (4.2km at 8.2 per cent) and then the category 1 Col de Beixalis, 6.4km at a leg-punishing 8.5 per cent.
The uncategorised Andorre Arcalis (10.1km at 7.2 per cent) serves as the finish today and should see a showdown between the overall contenders.
With the rest day tomorrow, expect the racing to be more aggressive than stage 8. I expect Movistar to ride a strong tempo on the Col de Beixalis to try and shed Team Sky riders and isolate Chris Froome on the final climb. A task easier said than done.
The Andorre Arcalis is not overly steep so it will be hard to put in a decisive attack but expect attacks to come thick and fast.
Prediction
The one-two punch of Valverde and Quintana should be on full display tonight but the final climb won’t be hard enough to dispatch Froome.
The worst case scenario for Froome’s rivals is if he has teammate support on the last climb with the Team Sky juggernaut capable of putting everyone in difficulty.
Expect a smaller group coming to the finish than stage 8. I expect Froome to assert his dominance and put in a decisive attack to seal the stage win with Quintana closely behind.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 9 of the Tour de France at the earlier time of 8:20pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
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