Plout, sprinters or backpackers in Toulouse? The day after a day of saving rest that allowed the peloton to recharge the batteries after a first week exhausting and before attacking the Pyrenees, theA 11th stage of Tour de France disputed this Wednesday on 156.8 km around the Pink City promises an undecided and suspense scenario. If on paper the route looks relatively flat with “only” 1750m of elevation, the last 50 kilometers actually offer a hilly relief with four listed bumps, including the terrible coast of Pech David (800m to 12.4%), a wall whose summit is only 8 km from the finish. “”There are some who will be surprised by this difficult and technical final“, The premises told us Quentin pacher (Groupama-FDJ) a few days ago before the big departure.
Video – Cyrille Guimard on Cyclism'Actu before this 11th stage
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A small committee sprint or a breakaway in Toulouse?
The most likely scenario remains a sprint in a more or less restricted committee depending on whether or not some harm, but a breakaway could also go to the end if no team wants to assume the responsibility for the prosecution all day, especially on the eve of the first big arrival at the top in Hautacam. Training EF Education-EasyPost yellow jersey Ben Healy must carefully filter the composition of a breakaway which will certainly be very disputed.
In view of the route, it is difficult to name only a few names among the favorites, especially if a breakaway goes to the end, in which case a very large part of the peloton could have its chance. But if the victory is played out between strong and after a beautiful battle in the coast of Pech David, fast punchers like Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-DECEUNINCK), Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor pro cycling team) or Axel Laurance (Grenadier ineos) can be a favorite, even if it will be necessary to get rid of sprinters passing the bumps well as Kaden Groves (Alpecin – Deceuninck), Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic postnl), Arnaud de Lie (Lotto), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) or even a Biniam Girmay (Intermarché – Wanty) of the big days.
The 11th stage course
– Wednesday July 16 – STEP 11 : Toulouse – Toulouse / 156.8 km
