It was the blog’s pick Roglic, who wasn’t able to contained himself and showed everyone that he is -by far- the fastest of the peloton in an uphill sprint. Another noticeable performance is the 4th place of Nairo Quintana, someone to keep an eye on troughout the rest of the Tour!
The first week of the tour continues with a relatively flat stage. Will it be up to the sprinters, or will this be one for the break?
Let’s take a look at the route!
Stage 3 takes us from Gap to Privas. A stage which is boring for the first 150 kilometers. Once we enter the Ardeche, things might get interesting:
A short climb (2.7 km @ 4.2) and a descent bring us to a final 7km which consists mostly of false flat (between 1-2%). The road narrows at 1km to go which, combined with the false flat, means that a train is overly important and teams will sprint to drop off their sprinter in a good position on the Boulevard du Vivarais.
The final kilometer? Flat
As the organisers indicate that the road narrows down for the final kilometer, it might be worth looking into what ‘narrow’ looks like in reality. The picture underneath shows streetview image from what’s supposed to be the finish line tomorrow. Small for a regular road race? No. Small for a Tour Peloton? Quite a bit. This further underlines a need for a perfect dropoff into the final kilometer. Riders who do not have this luxury and find themselves at the back of the bunch with 2 km to go will not make it into the top-20.
Perfect racing weather for this stage, with no rain, a gentle breeze and temperatures around 20 degrees. Wind blowing from the northeast will mean that it will not impact the sprint too much.
This is an easy one to control from the sprinters. After having a day off today they will surely be fresh to chase down the morning break in order to set their riders up for victory.
Sam Bennett
He has the best train to bring him into position for the final kilometer, but his timing has been far from perfect so far. Will following Ewan’s wheel provide better chances?
Caleb Ewan
If he is in position, he is in the drivers seat to win. Looked fresh on stage 3 and is a level above the others in terms of top speed.
Giacomo Nizzolo
Will challenge for top-3
Cees Bol
Wildcard
Kristoff/Pedersen
Trek will definately be sprinting for Pedersen after giving Theuns his fair chance. Might challenge for the podium, but does not have the accelleration to beat the likes of Ewan/Bennett.
Wout van Aert
Jumbo Duty
Caleb Ewan’s second stage win
