Two years ago, Olympic Champion Greg Van Avermaet outsprinted World Champion Peter Sagan on the steep uphill arrival on Rodez. Probably more or less the same with strong punchers eyeing up the stage win. Except for Sagan and Van Avermaet the likes of Michael Mathews, Alejandro Valverde and Philippe Gilbert will be wide awake, too.
The Blagnac-Rodez stage is marked by a flat opening before the last 100 kilometres of the race are played out on more rolling territory. No inhumanly steep ramps however, although two intermediate KOM climbs are averaging 7% and 7.7% – yet, the Côte du viaduc du Viaur and Côte de Centrès both amount to merely 2.3 kilometres.
The end of the stage is something else, though – simply because it is the end of the stage. The Côte de Saint-Pierre is short too – 570 metres -, while it is averaging 9.6%. Two years ago Kelderman was the last attacker to be reeled in halfway up the climb before the race came down to a Van Avermaet/Sagan clash with the other riders more than 3 seconds in arrears.
By the way, the last 10 kilometres of today’s stage are played out on exactly the same roads as in 2015.
The first three riders on the line take time bonuses at 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Read also: results/race report 14th stage 2017 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2017 stage 14: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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Profile final kilometres 14th stage
Route final kilometres
Route and profile final 58 km
Details finish 14th stage
I never comment on anything but JURY YOU GOT THIS ONE WRONG. Look at all the times Mark did the same thing and WORSE. I’m sorry he got hurt and so is Peter BUT BE CONSISTANT. I’ve seen Mark fight and bully his way dozens of times AND SO HAVE YOU. You can’t put Peter back in the Tour now and there is no way to make up for this bad decision on your part. I wish there was some way to let Peter read this so he would know at least one person knows he got a BAD call from the Jury. I think the Jury should Publicly make a statement saying after further review we believe we made the wrong call to remove Sagan from the Tour. My Dad would have been 99 years old this Saturday and he always taught me if you make a mistake FESS UP.