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Stage 7 - Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand Bornand - (197.5km)
Start: 12:10 p.m. (6:10 a.m. U.S. EST) - Estimated Finish: 4:52 p.m. (10:52 a.m. U.S. EST)
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COURSE: Only a week into the race, much earlier than usual, this first mountain stage will give an indication of who is going to challenge for the yellow jersey.
The stage finale includes the long, tougher northern side of the Cat. 1 Col de la Colombière, which has an average grade of almost 7 percent for 16km. Before this Cat. 1 climb, the stage uses winding roads through the edge of the Jura, with flat roads in the limestone gorges mixed with two Cat. 3 and a Cat. 4 climb. After the Colombière, the course has a fast, open 10km descent into Le Grand Bornand, with a flat 4km loop into the finish.
HISTORY: Only one Tour stage has finished in Le Grand Bornand, which was in 2004, when Lance Armstrong took out Andreas Klöden in the final meters and made his infamous “no gifts” comment.
FAVORITES: It’s possible that an early break could stay clear (and break up) over the Colombière; but it’s more likely that the top teams will try to keep things together before their leaders show their stuff on the difficult climb.
But with a much tougher stage coming in 24 hours, the favorites will probably stick together unless a team like Astana (with leaders Alexander Vinokourov and Klöden) decides to set a tough tempo and see which riders can stick with them. On this French national holiday, Bastille Day, the home fans will be hoping for a stage win from AG2R’s on-form Christophe Moreau, his Tour rookie teammate John Gadret of Française des Jeux’s climbing sensation Rémy Di Gregorio.
