The day after a rest day can be a turbulent one, as riders are sometimes out of the rhythm that have built up over the previous nine days of competition. Perhaps with this in mind, the organisers have scheduled a pancake flat day for the sprinters, so no one's GC hopes will be foiled.
The Course
Not much to say here, it is as flat as my singing. The weather looked initially that it might make things interesting, with a quite hot 29 degrees Celsius and the threat of crosswinds, but it appears that instead the wind should be a tailwind, which will make things even easier for the riders, though they will still get pretty hot.
The finish is a pretty technical one, with a paved section in the last 2 kms, a bottleneck and a turn with only 500m to go, so it will pretty important to be at the front throughout the final few kms.
Not much to say here, it is as flat as my singing. The weather looked initially that it might make things interesting, with a quite hot 29 degrees Celsius and the threat of crosswinds, but it appears that instead the wind should be a tailwind, which will make things even easier for the riders, though they will still get pretty hot.
The finish is a pretty technical one, with a paved section in the last 2 kms, a bottleneck and a turn with only 500m to go, so it will pretty important to be at the front throughout the final few kms.
The Tactics
Yeah, again it is the flattest of flat stages, and unless the weather forecasters have got this one wrong, and the crosswinds come earlier, there won't be anything more exciting than observing the ocean views for the first 190 kms here.
Yeah, again it is the flattest of flat stages, and unless the weather forecasters have got this one wrong, and the crosswinds come earlier, there won't be anything more exciting than observing the ocean views for the first 190 kms here.
The Contenders
Andre Greipel is again the favourite here, and for good reason, as he is the only champion sprinter here. He took Stage 7 pretty easily, and his reduced leadout was working very well there to deliver him to the front in the last 200m, and he was always going to be very hard to beat from there. His team will be called upon to do the majority of the chasing, and he is going to be the man that all the other sprinters are looking to follow and get the jump on. That will make things a touch harder for the big German, but it's not like he's not used to that, and it hasn't stopped him winning in the past.
Sacha Modolo was my pick to go close to Greipel last stage, and he did that, sitting on the German's wheel, but unable to do anything beyond that, and if anything, Greipel accelerated away from him. After the stage, Modolo wasn't too disappointed, and said that he had to do quite a few accelerations in the lead-in and was lacking pace in his legs as a result.
Andre Greipel is again the favourite here, and for good reason, as he is the only champion sprinter here. He took Stage 7 pretty easily, and his reduced leadout was working very well there to deliver him to the front in the last 200m, and he was always going to be very hard to beat from there. His team will be called upon to do the majority of the chasing, and he is going to be the man that all the other sprinters are looking to follow and get the jump on. That will make things a touch harder for the big German, but it's not like he's not used to that, and it hasn't stopped him winning in the past.
Sacha Modolo was my pick to go close to Greipel last stage, and he did that, sitting on the German's wheel, but unable to do anything beyond that, and if anything, Greipel accelerated away from him. After the stage, Modolo wasn't too disappointed, and said that he had to do quite a few accelerations in the lead-in and was lacking pace in his legs as a result.