Stage 10 **SPOILER**

[rich p]

Profile here
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/96th-tour-de-france-gt/stages/stage-11

I cycled through the vCreuse region once and it was torture. A non-stop series of small sharp climbs and virtually no flat bits. I found it very hard but the pros will probably zip up them at 24mph!
Maybe a coming together for a bunch sprint today?

 

[dan_bo]

Looks like death by a thousand cuts to me!

 

[yello]

I cycled through the vCreuse region once and it was torture. A non-stop series of small sharp climbs and virtually no flat bits.

You ain't wrong, it's my cycling playground! Just south of there, the Haute Vienne has some really lovely climbs; through the woods at tolerable gradients.

Imo, it will be a sprinters day. Whilst from Limoges up to around Aigurande (120km ish) is bumpy, it shouldn't really trouble the pros. And it's pretty much downhill from there. It's a possible breakaway day but they'd have to go early, have at least 5 and be prepared to work very hard. I don't see it myself. The run into Issoudun is flat flat flat so tailor made for sprinters. If Cavendish is rested after the Pyranees then he has to be looking to take the green jersey back.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

He might be, but Thor has been dissing Columbia and saying they aren't strong enough to control the race. He reckons he will keep riding for intermediate points and Cav will not get the jersey back. And whatever Cav says, he wants it back, so he might have to start contesting those intermediates or hoping a breakaway without Hushovd happens.

 

[marinyork]

Thor did pick up quite a few points on the intermediate sprints the other day. This one got a slightly downhill finish?

 

[Chuffy]

I wonder what impact the radio ban will have? Probably not much if it's flat.

 

[dellzeqq]

I wonder what impact the radio ban will have? Probably not much if it's flat.

Radio ban? I've missed that entirely...
(whoops - just seen thread...)

 

[Noodley]

There's a thread about it....(whoops, just seen that you've seen the thread!)

....I reckon Cav will get today's win, but would quite like to see Romain Feillu make it on Bastille Day.

 

[Crackle]

I'm going for the long early breakaway, especialy without radio for insruction. My only doubt is the long flat run-in and the fact people might be nervously covering everything without the radio for instruction but then again they are pro racers capable of making their own decisions.

 

[yello]

And whatever Cav says, he wants it back, so he might have to start contesting those intermediates or hoping a breakaway without Hushovd happens.

This, in all honesty, was one of my biggest doubts for Cavendish taking the green jersey - he looked to be relying on stage wins. I asked the question (here? I think) whether the green jersey had ever been won on stage wins alone, because I really don't know. But I would doubt it.

It will certainly be interesting to see if Hushovd goes for the points in today's intermediates, because Cavendish wont and that's for sure. Not today. There's 18 points on offer, Hushovd has 11 on Cavendish at the moment, so he could potentially have 29 before today's finish. It certainly would put the pressure on!

Columbia have the best lead out going, it's almost infallible. If Cavendish and lead out are there and working come the 5km mark then he has to be odds on to take it and the 35 points (if it's deemed flat today, and the finish definitely is!)

That's if it goes to plan, a successful breakaway (and this stage probably appeals to many riders, particular French riders on Bastille Day!) could see that all go out of the window.

As much as I rate Cavendish, I have always thought that this year is too soon to talk about him taking the green jersey. He needs to have more to his game.

 

[marinyork]

If Hushovd were to take the most out of the intermediate sprints he'd only need to be 9th in a sprint at the end to take the same number of points from the stage. 9th!

 

[rich p]

I know that the green jersey is iconic but I think Cav is correct in placing stage wins above it at this moment in his career.
When Cav dropped out last year he had won 4 stages to Freire's zero but Freire was well ahead of him in points at the time. Much of the time the sprint points are uncontested by a group of breakaways or won by a bloke who happens to be there. They are rarely fought over by the best sprinters whereas the bunch finishes are. The points (not sprint) jersey is a bit of a sideshow compared with winning stages IMHO.

 

[yello]

I'd love to see a breakdown of where the points came from in the previous green jersey wins.

 

[dellzeqq]

I know that the green jersey is iconic but I think Cav is correct in placing stage wins above it at this moment in his career.

not least because they're a decent source of income for his team.

 

[yello]

Snippet from another forum...

The 14 teams who were opposed to the banning of radios for today's stage have told their riders not to race today.

Possible I guess, difficult to say at the moment, but I can't see the sprinters not going for a win.