Tour of Britain 2014 – Stage 5 Preview
By David Hunter
Exmouth – Exeter 177.3km
The riders head in a loop around the South coast of England. They pass over 3 classified climbs.
They pass over Haytor Hill, home of the “summit”finish, from 2013. It’s not the hardest climb in the world, and appearing so early in the stage will ensure it’s done at an easy pace.
Again, we have a short, steep climb at the end of the stage.
The climb is 2km long and steep! It takes place on a narrow, sheltered road and we should see many attacks. Once crested, we have 2km downhill and 1km of flat. The climb isn’t tough enough to distance most of the sprinters, and they’ll be looking at this stage with open eyes.
Kwiatkowski is looking unstoppable and this stage suits him well. The opening kilometre is at 8%, the next 600m is at 6%, with a flatter section to end the climb. Overall, it’s 2km at 5.5%. For him to win, he needs to get rid of Swift and a few of the other quick men. Can he?
He now has the yellow jersey, so the need to attack has decreased and he can ride defensively. Will he get greedy and want more stage wins?
Swift should be able to hang on and Sky will be keen to get something out of the race, as Wiggins seems to be beaten.
Prediction time…
The tough sprinters to have their day and Swift to take the win.
David Hunter
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