Friday, July 20, 2012

Tour Preview - Stage 18


If you can’t sprint with the best and can’t time trial either, this is your last chance to get something out of this Tour de France. I doubt Lotto-Belisol will have the manpower to keep it all together and therefore I’m pointing at breakaway to make it once again.

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As this being the last chance for most of the riders, it’s almost impossible to predict who will end up winning the stage. Still, of course, there are some riders better at hitting the breaks than others. One of these is Michael Mørkøv. The Danish Tour de France debutant managed to get in the right break on the three first stages in a row(!) and has been extremely active in Tour so far. Mørkøv wants to get on the final podium in Paris as the most aggressive rider in the Tour and even though he already has good chance of winning that prize, Thomas Voeckler certaintly candidates for it too. The French rider has already won two stages and seems sure to win the polka dot jersey as well. If Michael Mørkøv wants to be crowned as the most aggressive rider in his debut Tour, he needs to attack again if he manages to get in the right break then his fast finish could be enough to give him that stage win he has been chasing since day one.

If it does come to a mass sprint, and I really doubt it will, it will be a fight between Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel. There is a cat4 climb, Côte de Lissac-sur-Couze (1,9km – 5,7%), with its top only 10 km from the line and that should mean some of the remaining sprinters won’t be there to give it a go in the final. The last climb is also an excellent opportunity for a rider to attack from a breakaway and if a rider like Michael Albasini or Arthur Vichot is up there this could be the place they will go solo.

Winner pick: Michael Mørkøv
Joker: Michael Albasini 

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