Tour Stage 7: Moving South

With an appointment in the Jura over the weekend, this is a classic transition stage of the tour, heading south from Troyes to Nuits-Saint Georges. There’s a sprintermediate and a cat 4 hill, but little else of excitement and you’d expect to see a bunch sprint. Still, we’ve said that before and had nothing but chaos.

Carte

Profil de l’étape

AmyBC’s Wine of the Day – Claire Naudin Myosotis Hautes Cotes de Nuits Rouge 2013

Why hello Burgundy, aren't you elegant.

The domain covers about 22 hectares of vineyard, some prestigious parcels in Aloxe, Ladoix, Echezeaux, Nuit St Georges, and 80% in regional appellations.

Did you know?

Although the stage is heading south, and on the flat, there’s a feeling that we’re moving “up” through stage 7, as the riders hug the Seine for much of the day. They’re heading South for the Jura and beyond while the Seine, of course, aims for Paris and the Channel. You’ve got to love any river that is known for nourishing both vines and nuclear power stations.

Troyes is the start of stage 7, and was also the birthplace of Jacques Pantaleon, who became better known as Pope Urban IV. He initiated construction of the massive Basillica that will feature heavily at the depart fictive and which is known in his name as the Basilique Saint-Urbain de Troyes. After reading about the area to write this, I am properly keen to visit Troyes.

What’s at stake?

I’ve written two “don’t worry, it is only a sprint” previews before. Neither of them has ended up straightforward, and stage four was downright controversial. So it is with trepidation that I say we are due our second consecutive ordinary sprint stage. For the GC boys, this is a stage to stay out of trouble, get to the 3km mark in the bunch, and keep the rubber facing downwards.

Demare has a stranglehold on green if he can keep finishing close to Kittel and leave himself the chance to pick up points on some of the tougher stages. Still, there are no tactics here – the fast guys will go for the stage win and let the points fall where they may.

Who’s going to win?

Marcel Kittel is going to win, because he’s the fastest man in the field and there's no good reason to expect stage 7 to be any different from stage 6.