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With yet another hilly stage that started crazily, the Tour de France was back with a bang after the rest day.
It was also an emotional day for the team Bahrain Victorious as their rider Pello Bilbao won the stage and dedicated the win to the memory of his teammate, Gino Mäder.
Tour de France Stage 11 Preview
Contents
The start of today’s stage leads from the capital of the Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, over 179,2 mostly flat kilometres to Moulins, where the Tour arrives for the first time in its history. This is sprinter territory par excellence. Though there will be three climbs, all of them fourth category, these are less than seven kilometres in length combined and should prove no obstacle for the fast men at the end of the stage.
The intermediate sprint will be after two of the three climbs, as we can see on this Tour de France map, so the sprinters may need to put in a shift, in order to get some points on the road.
There may be a twist to this stage, however. It is described as flat, yet the profile is indeed undulated. This may be tempting for riders who fancy a breakaway, who are strong riders facing the wind and do not mind a few up and downs along the way.
This year’s Tour has been highly unpredictable, it has been fast and the initial parts of each of the stages so far have been hectic and chaotic.
The green jersey standings before the start today:
1. J. Philipsen 260 pts
2. B. Coquard 149 pts
3. M. Pedersen 143 pts
4. W. van Aert 112 pts
5. Tadej Pogačar 85 pts
6. V. Lafay 80 pts
7. J. Meeus 80 pts
8. B. Girmay 77 pts
9. C. Ewan 73 pts
10. N. Powless 70 pts
The top ten in the overall standings ahead of today’s stage:
1. J. Vingegaard 42h 33′ 13”
2. Tadej Pogačar + 00h 00′ 17′
3. J. Hindley + 00h 02′ 40”
4. C. Rodriguez Cano + 00h 04′ 22”
5. P. Bilbao Lopez + 00h 04′ 34”
6. A. Yates + 00h 04′ 39”
7. S. Yates + 00h 04′ 44”
8. T. Pidcock + 00h 05′ 26”
9. D. Gaudu + 00h 06′ 01”
10. S. Kuss + 00h 06′ 45”
Tour de France Stage 11 Predictions:
There has been a bit of a shake up as Pello Bilbao gambled and cycled himself into the top ten – again a sign that this Tour is somewhat unusual. Any rider who feels good and whose legs will not give in over the course of the day will be in with a chance. A breakaway group is just as likely as is a mass sprint.
We may even be in for a treat and see one of the top riders try to shake things up a bit.
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