Tour de France 2013 : Stage 12 Preview

IT'S a day one man has been dreading above all others.

Even Mark Cavendish looking at the double ascent of L'Alpe d'Huez is not quaking in fear as much.

The man? Eurosport's commentator Carlton Kirby!

Stage 12 travels 218km (or 135.5 miles) from Fougeres to Tours and bar the obligatory intermediate sprint, there is nothing on the profile. No climbs, no descents, nothing.

It means a long day behind the microphone as a break goes up the road and the sprinters teams take their time bringing them back. Expect as much waffle and time filling as it is possible to muster. And expect many scenic shots as the helicopter goes looking for Chateau's and vineyards!

Once the break has been caught the finish at least should bring some excitement. With about 2.5km to go the road swings through two 90 degree bends, first left and then right, as we cross the river.

Then with 700m we turn right through another 90 degrees and again with 400m to go.

It will mean any leadout train will have their rhythm severely disrupted and position for the last two corners will be paramount. Anyone with designs on the stage win will need to be in the one of the first five positions out of that last corner.

It will really raise the likelihood of a crash in the peloton as nerves will be high and sprint teams race to get their man into the best position possible for those final two corners.

The nullification somewhat of the sprint teams at the end means we could see other riders getting close to the now established names of potential sprint winners.

Roberto Ferrari has figured in the top 20 in a few of the sprint stages so far but without the success of the Giro d'Italia in 2011. Samuel Dumoulin is another who can't be totally ruled out. While he could never be classed as a top sprinter, the diminutive Frenchman has a habit of appearing through carnage and other peoples difficulties to grab good results. Could be an outsider for a top 3 place here.

And you just can't seem to keep Orica Green-Edge away from the spotlight. Matt Goss was 11th into Saint-Malo the other day. He should be able to go higher than that.

The likelihood is though that the winner will be from that elite sprint group. Kittel looks fast at the minute and both of his wins so far in this Tour have come without the aid of a sprint train. I have him down to pip the likes of Greipel, Cavendish, Sagan and Kristoff.

It will be a chaotic finish to what will be a fairly quiet day. Quiet that is except for the Eurosport commentary box!

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Best Young Rider Classification (White Jersey)

Eddy Merckx famously won every jersey going in the 1969 Tour de France, his first appearance at the race.

He would have won this one too had it been in existence!

First awarded in 1975 the title has been given to the best rider on GC under the age of 25 since 1987. The jersey itself came fully into existence in 2000.

It has been won by some of the great in the sport, as well as some of the now disgraced, and has seen some of it's winners go on to swap white for yellow. The likes of Andy Schleck, Alberto Contador and Marco Pantani all won this competition prior to the big one.

And Schleck, Contador, Jan Ullrich and Laurent Fignon are the only four men to have won both in the same year.

It is basically a competition within a competition. It uses the same rules as defines the overall standings. Tejay Van Garderen won the white jersey last year while finishing 8th overall.

This year as I've mentioned previously, barring a crash or other such misfortune, the jersey will be a two horse race between Nairo Quintana and Michael Kwiatkowski.

Both have been touted as future winners of the Tour and for good reason. Both can time trial and both can climb although the Colombian excels more in the lumpier stuff while the Pole takes the plaudits against the clock.

With the Alps fast approaching it will be fascinating to see how they react. Both are in their first tour and the final week of any three week tour brings with it a whole new range of issues, as the riders cope with fatigue and a savage profile.

They have shown enough already to cement their reputation and potential. Don't be surprised if this jersey is just the start of many for them both.

Tour de France 2013 : Stage 10 Preview

AFTER the trials and tribulations of the mountains, it's time to turn our attentions back to the sprinters.

Stage 10 sees the peloton at the opposite end of the country to the Pyrenees with a 197km route through Brittany from Saint-Gildas-des-Bois to Saint-Malo.

The profile shows just one Cat 4 climb coming 55km from the finish although there are a couple of uncategorized lumps early in the stage which may prove a springboard for a breakaway.

The last part of the course hugs the coastline and can be described as rolling but shouldn't be testing unless there is a wind coming off the Channel. The final 5 km are pretty straight with just a slight dogleg right with 350m to go to test the sprinters.

A break will be allowed to go early on and while the responsibilities will be on Team Sky to keep it in check, it should be a fairly easy day for them. Once over the Cote de Dinan expect some of the sprinters teams to come and give them a hand in reeling the escapees back.

Favourites for the stage are the usual suspects. Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel, Peter Sagan, Alexander Kristoff will all be in the mix again. Greipel looks the strongest at the minute but you can never count out Cav. Or Sagan for that matter.

If you want outsiders for the sprint then look to the former race leader Daryl Impey to be involved. He is in great form and I think Orica Green Edge will hand him the opportunity to go for the win ahead of Matt Goss. Euskatel's Juan Jose Lobato del Valle has also been impressive through this race and should gain another top 10 finish here.

If the wind does get up, and the forecast has it coming from the north east which will be behind the field for the last 10km or so, then we could see someone try and jump away from the group along the coast. Juan Antonio Flecha has been very active this year as has his team Vaconsoleil as they attempt to attract new sponsors. A lone attack suits Flecha's style down to the ground and he certainly has the power to back it up. If the peloton hesitate and allow someone like him to go they may miss out altogether.

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The Points Classification (Green Jersey)

There is more than one race within the Tour de France. Not everyone can win the yellow jersey so in 1953 the organisers introduced the Malliot Vert for the best daily finisher. The colour green was chosen because the sponsor at the time was a lawn mower producer.

Usually this is a competition for the sprinters. Points are available to the first 15 finishers on each stage and there are more on offer on the flat than in the mountains or time trials.

There is also one intermediate sprint each day which also gains points towards the classification.

So for a stage like today 45 points are awarded to the first man across the line with the rest getting 35, 30, 26, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 respectively.
 
For medium mountain stages the winner gets 30 points with 20 points going to the winner of a high mountain stage or time trial.

Intermediate sprints also awarded 20 points to the first across the line.

Last years winner Peter Sagan looks on course to retain his title. He currently holds a fairly substantial lead in this competition, a full 93 points clear of Andre Greipel in second and 106 points ahead of Mark Cavendish in third.

Sagan owes this lead predominantly to his ability to get over mountains and hills better than his rivals and in particular to stage seven. Here he was able to hoover up a full 65 points while his main competitors struggled to get over the climbs and picked up nothing.

It is worth noting that you don't have to win the most stages to get this jersey. Cav won six stages in the 2009 tour and five in 2010 yet finished second in this classification.

And I would expect Greipel and Cavendish to both rack up more wins than Sagan this time around. But nothing, other than a crash and abandonment,  will stop the Slovakian from taking the title again.