Tour de Francia 2020 Beyond the Roglic-Bernal duo, the rest are forced to attack
SAfter the halfway point of the race, and after completing the most nervous days of this week, it is the mountain’s turn. The weekend offers new opportunities to climbers. Some of them are installed in the Top 10 and must move before the Alps arrive, when it may already be too late.
Roglic and Bernal, 1 and 2, play their particular league by having the best teams and being watched over each other. Since Martin (3) to Landa (10), things change. Of the eight involved, only Bardet (3) and Urn (6) can boast of traveling with the entire team. The rest have already had casualties among their formation. Taking this factor into account, the most affected is a Pogacar who has lost Aru and Formolo.
Days like yesterday have caused a lot of wear and tear among a group of favorites who have not yet had many duels with their pants off. “The end of Puy Mary is hard and there can be differences,” he said yesterday Bernal.
Roglic, who many do not see super, played the distraction with a “I have not had any rest day.” Facing the decisive part of the race, it is the turn for the Bardet, Martin, Urn, Lpez, Landa and company move because, already in the AlpesIt will be difficult for changes in the general to be more abrupt with so many involved seeking to safeguard what has been achieved to date. “There are eight ports, something serious. It will be more decisive than Alpes“, says Erviti. It is a now or never. After, the differences will be minor.
After a short rest, the Tour regains contact with the high mountain in a new crossbar of the central massif with the indita top of Puy Mary, a tough but short first-class port to bring back the fight between the favorites for the general classification. Located at the top of the No Peyrol, the road that leads to the highest point of the Massif Central, the place has never hosted an arrival of the Gallic round, but its squad has crossed it ten times.
It will be the icing on the cake of a constantly sloping stage, which totals 4,000 meters of ascending slope, the biggest difference in this edition and which does not stop offering possibilities for runners. Between Chtel-Cuyon and the goal is 191.5 kilometers that begin to ascend from the beginning, with ascent to the col de Ceyssat, first category after the first 30 kilometers. From there, there is almost no rest. Two thirds, with a second in the middle, take the squad to the final stretch, 20 explosive kilometers. First with the ascent to Nernne, a second of 3.8 kilometers with an average slope of 9.1%, which can serve as a springboard for ambitious attacks, which must continue in Peyrol the port, which has 5.4 kilometers at an average 8.1% slope, it houses in its last two kilometers ramps constantly above 11%.
The sporting director of the Tour, Thierry Gouvenou, creator of the day, is convinced that the general start will not be the same as the finish after this tough stage, which occurs when the cyclists have already passed half the route. Behind were the Pyrenees, but the Tour still has a lot of mountains to climb, with the Gran Colombier as the first date, before facing Alps and Vosges, with the time trial at La Plancha des Belles Filles as the final sentence. – 13 stage: Chtel – Puy Mary, 191.5 kilometers Start: 12.05 (10.05 GMT) Expected arrival: 17.02 (15.02 GMT) -Montaa: Col de Ceyssat (1st, 10.2 km at 6.1%) at 155, 5 from goal Col de Gury (aa) at 128 from goal Monte de la Stle (2nd) at 106 from goal Cota de Estiade (3rd) at 61 from goal Cota de Anglards-de-Salers (3rd) at 34.5 from goal Col de Neronne (2nd), bonus, 11 from the finish line Pas de Peyrol / Puy Mary (1st, 5.4 km at 8.1%), on the finish line.
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