Tuesday, the riders remaining in the 101st Tour de France will travel 237.5kms from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Lucho.
While yes, there is an intermediate sprint (at 123.5kms in Saint-Girons), the day after the rest day is the longest stage and it’s the first day in the Pyrenees with 5 categorized climbs en route:
• Km 25.0 – Côte de Fanjeaux2.4 kilometre-long climb at 4.9% – category 4
• Km 71.5 – Côte de Pamiers2.5 kilometre-long climb at 5.4% – category 4
• Km 155.0 – Col de Portet-d’Aspet (1 069 m)5.4 kilometre-long climb at 6.9% – category 2
• Km 176.5 – Col des Ares6 kilometre-long climb at 5.2% – category 3
• Km 216.0 – Port de Balès (1 755 m)11.7 kilometre-long climb at 7.7% – category H
The day will probably feature yet another forlorn breakaway getting away early. It’s hard to tell if Rodriguez or Majka will think it worthy to go on the attack for points, though. The Porte de Balès at the end, however, will have the most points on offer, and whoever is most willing to take risks on the downhill may sneak away with the stage win as well.