This is another long stage, but much flatter, heading south from the Loire valley to a flat finish in Châteauroux — where Mark Cavendish won his very first Tour stage three years ago. There are some sharp turns and a roundabout in the final 5km, but the lead-out trains set up by the teams of the leading sprinters should prevent any late attacks from succeeding.
THE SCOOP: This stage will almost certainly provide the last (and best!) mass sprint finish of the Tour’s opening week, though the overall contenders will again have to avoid crashes (on two sharp turns and the roundabout) before reaching the 3km-to-go marker.
miles)This longest stage of the 2011 Tour is also likely to be one of the fastest because it heads east with the prevailing winds out of Brittany along the Channel coast and across the rolling hills of Normandy. The finish at Lisieux features a significant climb past its massive Ste. Thérèse basilica, 2km from the finish, featuring a 10-percent pitch midway up the 1.3km, 6.3-percent grade.
THE SCOOP: The sprinters’ teams are likely to let a breakaway form after the intermediate sprint at Vassy, some 100km from the finish. Given the length of the stage, the break should stay away; but GC contenders will still need to be wary of losing time when the peloton splits on the climb to the finish.
The main features of this medium-distance stage are the 45 communities it passes through (increasing the likelihood of crashes) and the winds that almost always blow across the exposed coast of northern Brittany. The finish near Cap Fréhel, a rocky headland jutting into the English Channel (the French call it La Manche), is where Bjarne Riis’s CSC team split the race apart in crosswinds on a stage to St. Brieuc in 2004. This year’s route is in the opposite direction, with the race passing through St. Brieuc 50km from the end, but expect similar tactics from Riis (who now directs Contador’s Saxo Bank team).
THE SCOOP: A short, sharp hill 3km from the finish followed by a fast downhill and a slightly uphill final kilometer with frequent turns could favor a late attack and catch out the sprinters (and a few GC contenders).
