Stage 10 - Tallard to Marseille (229.5km)
Start: 12:00 p.m. (6:00 a.m. U.S. EST) - Estimated Finish: 5:18 p.m. (11:18 a.m. U.S. EST)
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COURSE: With a start from just south of Gap, and heading through Provence to the Mediterranean coast, this long stage looks ripe for a successful breakaway.
Two Cat. 3 climbs in the final 30km will split up the break and also disrupt the chasing efforts of the sprinters’ teams. The Col de la Gineste, out of the small wine town of Cassis, summits 10km from the finish, which is on a wide boulevard on the eastern edge of Marseille.
HISTORY: There have been 32 stage finishes in the port city of Marseille, the most recent in 2003 and 1993. Four years ago, Denmark’s Jakob Piil out-sprinted Italy’s Fabio Sacchi, who split from a nine-man break that arrived 20 minutes ahead of the pack. And in 1993, at the end of a marathon 286.5km stage from Isola, Italian Fabio Roscioli won by seven minutes after a brave solo effort.
FAVORITES: With the GC split apart by the Alps, a long-distance breakaway by riders out of contention is almost certain.
Maybe a rider like Frenchman Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole), while other “head bangers” with a chance include Norway’s Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC) and Germany’s Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner).
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