Tour de France 2014: Favourites stage 15

Tour de France 2014: Favourites stage 15 - King Kittel again…?

No less than 222 kilometres between Tallard and Nîmes today. Quite a large portion of that is descending so the riders will take the chance to ease off a bit. The terrain is suited for a break away but the sprinters teams mightn't agree. (Slideshow route/profile)

The first half of the race is on rolling terrain with the second half mainly downhill with a flat finish. The sprinters teams should control things comfortably. The wind may be a factor though and a good tailwind could get the breaks hopes up.

Like all sprint stages in the 2014 Tour, the name Kittel is the first to spring to mind. André Greipel won’t be far away either. It is not a given that these 2 will mop up all stages however. See stage 2 in this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico for example, the first Cav/Kittel/Greipel-clash in 2014 was won by Italian Matteo Pelucchi (see details).

Mark Renshaw would love to be ‘the Pelucchi’ this time around, it would be his first triumph in a Tour de France stage. Same story for 22-year old Arnaud Démare (image) is another French hope. The newly crowned French champion would love to show his jersey off at the front of the field.

John Degenkolb is the perfect stand-in for Kittel should anything go wrong with the undoubted leader. The Giant team is built for sprints and quite likely the fastest team over flat ground.