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By David Hunter Seraing-Cambrai 223.5km First thing to note is the length of the stage. At 223.5km, it is getting close to Classic length. It’s not quite there, but this is going to take it out of the riders, especially after two crazy days.
By David Hunter Anvers-Huy 159.5km This is not Flèche Wallone! Yes, we finish on the Mur, but this stage is around 10% as hard as Flèche. Their, the riders cover 11 climbs, with the Mur done 3 times. This isn’t even a mini Flèche Wallone. This is a very easy stage, with a hard finish. It…
By David Hunter Utrecht – Zelande 166km We are in Holland and that means flat roads, no hills! We don’t even have a token cat 4 climb, to give the jersey to someone. The map of the stage, is more important than the profile.
By David Hunter Utrecht – Utrecht 13.8km ITT No prologue, no road stage, we are straight into a TT. At 13.8km, it’s long enough for some proper gaps and the winner could win by around 5 seconds. The route is technical, with a lot of corners to be covered. Despite the corners, we do have opportunities…
By David Hunter Well, it’s just about here. The race of the year and potentially the race of the decade. After being robbed of a battle in 2014, it’s time for an epic, titanic battle. We have Froome v Contador v Quintana v Nibali. They’re not the only GC stars here. Also wanting to join the…
By David Hunter Bern – Bern 38.4km This profile should look very familiar, as it’s the same as today. It gave the riders a perfect chance to see the climbs, involved in the stage, and get ready for the TT. At 38.4km, it’s a long one, where we could see big time gaps. That’s bad news…
By David Hunter Biel – Dudingen 164.6km A stage that looks like a sprint, but might not be. The race finishes with a challenging circuit, in Dudingen. The lap features two cat 3 climbs, which are completed twice. The circuit doesn’t feature many flat roads, constantly ascending or descending. This is going to be another hard…
By David Hunter Wil – Biel 193.1km At last, a day for sprint fans! After a prologue and 4 gruelling stages, we have a day suited to the fast men. There are still a few bumps along the way, but nothing that should see any of the sprinters dropped. The only classified climb is 1km at…
By David Hunter Unterterzen – Solden 237.3km Time for the Queen stage, although it’s still early in the race. The gaps today will shape the GC, although we have to wait until the final stage and the lengthy ITT, before anything is decided. This stage is not only difficult, but very long. At 236km, it’s the…
By David Hunter Flims – Schwarzenbach 193.2km This is the second longest stage of the race and the riders will be disappointed to hear, that it’s going to be another wet day. Heading out of Flims, they have a cat 2 climb of 8.9km at 6.7%. This is a hard climb, but coming so early in…
By David Hunter Quinto – Olivone 117.3km At just 117.3km, this is one of the shortest stages in a World Tour race, but it’s hard. The race begins with the GC climb of Gotthardpass. It’s 18.8km at 5.8%. The length is a difficulty, but so is the altitude. At over 2000m, some riders will have great…
By David Hunter Saint Gervais Mont Blanc – Modane Valfrejus 156.5km After another day full of drama, the final stage shouldn’t be too crazy, at least for the opening 100km. Lacets de Montvernier, might only be a cat 2 climb, but it’s very important.
By David Hunter Risch Rotkruez – Risch Rotkreuz 161.1km There is no messing about in the Tour de Suisse! The first road stage and bam, straight into some hard racing. The stage looks very hard and it’s going to rain, making it a challenging start to the race.
By David Hunter Montmelian – Saint Gervais Mont Blanc 155km 155km, with 5 cat 1 climbs and a cat 3 climb. Jesus Christ!!! What were the organisers thinking? From the point of a view of a fan, what a stage!
By David Hunter The racing returns to Switzerland, for the last “big” race, before the TDF. We have the usual mix of demanding sprint stages, high mountains and TTs. The race is dominated by a monster mountaintop finish and a 38.4km ITT. You must be a good TT rider to win this race. The opening stage…
By David Hunter Saint Bonnet en Champsaur – Villard de Lans 183km After the fireworks of today, we have another big day. Team Sky, blew Nibali and Valverde away but Froome lost ground to Van Garderen. He must have been feeling very strong, to attack from that distance. It now looks like an error, as it…
By David Hunter Digne les Bains – Pra The cat Loup 161km The sprinters have had their last chance, it’s now time for the GC riders to come out to play. This stage, is an exact copy of stage 17, of the TDF. Riding this, gives an advantage to Froome and Nibali, over Contador and Quintana….
By David Hunter Anneyron – Sisteron 228km The longest stage in the race, in fact, the only stage over 200km. A long and mostly boring day in the saddle. The boredom is punctuated by 3 classified climbs and a long, unclassified bump.