When the route for the 2017 Tour de France was unveiled last October, one of the biggest selling points was the fact that, for the first time since 1992, the race would visit each of France's five mountain ranges. After the Vosges, the Jura, and the Pyrenees, today it's the turn of the Massif Central, a region that may lack the lustre and immediate decisiveness of its high-altitude counterparts but that nevertheless poses more than a few pitfalls for the overall contenders
The 189.5km stage, which starts out from Laissac-Sévérac l'Église and tracks north east through the hills to le Puy-en-Velay, has a curious profile. There are two first-category climbs, almost bookending the race, and the rolling roads rarely let up in between.
It should provide fertile ground for a breakaway, but make no mistake, this is a GC day, too. As the cliché goes, it may not be a stage where the Tour de France can be won, but certainly one where it can be lost.
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"It's a dangerous stage," Julien Jurdie, directeur sportif for local lad Romain Bardet at AG2R La Mondiale, told Cyclingnews on Saturday. "Any of the favourites who are in a delicate state tomorrow could pay heavily."
The riders will start climbing after just 20km, with the first-category Montée de Naves d'Aubrac set to be decisive in the formation of the breakaway, and while the overall contenders aren't likely to take the race on from that far out, we could see many of them place teammates up the road to be called upon later.
Read more on this article
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- Analysis: Froome retakes yellow as Sky prove to be the Tour's A-Team
- Aru loses Tour de France lead after 'being too far back'
- Tour de France: Order restored as Froome reclaims yellow
- Tour de France: Bardet wary after 'opening the door' for GC rivals
More controlled with Froome in yellow
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