Le Tour de France on Ten Pounds — Stage 10
The first rest day is done, although unlike me taking a break from the keyboard the riders themselves will have all spent time on the bike yesterday. Team Sky released an outline of what a rest day entails for them and it makes for interesting reading:
Team Sky nutritionist James Morton reveals how the British outfit structure their rest day to stay fresh for the yellow…www.cyclingweekly.co.uk
Today’s tenth stage is largely downhill, starting in Escaldes-Engornay and with a category 1 climb to Port D’Envalira at 24km in before descending for pretty much the rest of the day to a finish in Revel. It’s a total of 217km in length and has a nasty little ramp at Cote de Saint-Ferreol just 7m from the finish, a category 3 climb. That might mean this isn’t entirely a sprinter’s stage, and although the odds offered suggested that it is I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a small group break away and try to take a stage win before the going gets really tough towards the weekend.
Tour de France 2016 - Official site of the famed race from the Tour de France. Includes route, riders, teams, and…www.letour.com
With £10.88 in my Tour fund, here are the rated riders for today:
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) 4/1
Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) 9/1
Michael Matthews (Orica Bike Exchange) 12/1
Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) 14/1
Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) 14/1
Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) 16/1
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 16/1
Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) 18/1
Seeing Mark Cavendish as low as 18/1 for what could well be a sprint stage is likely a reflection of his struggles at the rear of the autobus on Saturday and Sunday, the Manxman suffering in the Pyrenean heat. I’m going to back Andre Greipel for today’s stage, maintaining his run of winning at least a stage of every Tour de France since 2011.