The final procession, the final sprint, the final chance of glory for the sprinters. For some, today's TT was brutally hard as they were racing for placings on the stage and in the GC. For others though, they had a nice easy day, rolling in at their leisure with tomorrow's stage in mind!
The second and third steps on the podium are still up for grabs and it should be a fascinating conclusion to the Tour for fans of Pinot, Peraud and Valverde. A 54km, lumpy individual Time Trial awaits them on this stage and there's going to be some tremendous battles out there on the road to Périgieux.
After some massive days in the mountains and some memorable performances from Tinkoff-Saxo and Nibali, the peloton finally gets some respite as the riders face a relatively easy day heading north out of Maubourguet Pays de pal d'Adour up to Bergerac.
Pau and Hautacam. Two names synonymous with the Tour de France. Pau being a frequently visited town when the race is in this corner of France, and Hautacam as one of the iconic climbs of the Tour's history. Throw in the Tourmalet along the way and you have the makings of an epic stage.
I was out on Tuesday night at a work event and my 10 year old called me on the phone. I jokingly asked him to do my preview for me as I was going to be home late. When I got home around 10.30pm, there was a word doc open on my laptop. Here is what he wrote... Enjoy!
So after the longest stage of the race we get the shortest stage of the race at just 124kms. On a normal day, this would take them less than 3 hours, but this isn't a normal day! The short distance of the course means that the time limit is going to be very tight and we could find a bunch of the non-climbers battling just to stay in the race.
It's all over bar the shouting as they say. Vincenzo was magnificent again today, extending the lead over his rivals even more and it's now the best part of five minutes to the chasing pack. Once again it was his trademark acceleration that did the damage and once again none of his rivals were able to even get out the saddle to go after him.
We hit the Haute-Alpes with this absolute beast of a stage. 177kms which contains two Cat 1 climbs and a HC ascent, there could be some big time gaps open up by the end of today. First up are the legendary climbs of the Col du Lautaret and the Col d'Izoard and is finished off by a new climb to the Tour, the Risoul.
After the transition stages of the previous days, we finally start to head in to the 'big mountains'.. They may only be hitting the western edges, but with a Cat 1 and a HC climb within the last 60kms of the stage they will certainly know they've reached the Alps. The final pull up to Chamrousse is sure to be a killer, with a peloton already very tired and beaten after two very hard weeks of racing.
Another transition stage on the way to the Alps which looks quite similar to the previous days rolling profile as they head to Saint-Étienne and the eastern fringes of the Massif Centrale. It looks like a perfect day for a breakaway with the HC mountain coming up the next day.
Well.. I had started my rest day review on Sunday, taking about how eventful the race had been up until now, and that it was all set up nicely for a duel in the high mountains over the coming weeks. That was well and truly ripped up after Monday's events with another shocking abandonment.
We may have seen Contador fire a shot across the bows of Nibali with his peformance in the last kilometre of stage 8, but today will be the first all-out war for the GC.. The summit finish to the Planche des Belles Filles comes at the end of a very hard day in the saddle and we may well see the end of all hopes for some with only just over a week gone.
Blel Kadri won a fantastic victory for AG2R after shedding his breakaway companions along the way to La Mauselaine. Behind though the action was dramatic. Tinkoff-Saxo drove hard at the front inside the last 10kms and when Nico Roche hit the front he blew things to pieces and set it up for Contador to press on to the finish.
We may have had a lumpy stage 2 through the Yorkshire countryside, but this is where we may see the first signs of who has good climbing legs or not with three climbs packed in to the last 27kms. The three climbs are back to back and give very little recovery time between each one before finishing on the summit of the Gérardmer La Mauselaine.
This should be an interesting stage and a break from the sprint outcomes we have had on all of the flat stages so far. The reason being is that this looks like a day for a breakaway, with a challenging last 30kms that includes two Cat 4 climbs and another uncategorised lump just before them on the run-in that could act as a springboard for a final solo attack.
Where do you even begin to sum up today's stage. It's been described already as being "Epic", "Legendary" and the like - but it will be remembered for three things in particular - the sad loss of Chris Froome to a crash, Nibali's stunning performance and Lars Boom's sensational stage victory..
This could be one of the most significant and important stages of the entire race. It may only be 155kms long and it may be almost totally flat, but this stage is going to be a beast. 9 sections of the Paris-Roubaix cobbles over the last 67kms. There could be carnage in this stage and the GC men need to be on their guard throughout.
After three brilliant days in front of millions of fans, the Tour returns back across the Manche. When the riders were being warned that it was going to be tough here I don't think they expected a day quite as hard as stage 2. There were broken men coming past us with 20kms still to go, don't think many of them expected to be so far down the GC after just three stages.
After two fantastic stages oop North, the Tour heads south towards the capital. The locals in Essex will be well jel as the tanned pros whizz through their neighbourhoods and past the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf and on the City of London. It's going to be a spectacular and special day and I personally can't wait!
Stage 2 should be an excellent days racing - I hope to see some quality attacking action on possibly either Oughtibridge or Bradfield inside the last 25kms as I am heading up that neck of the woods for the weekend. The stage has been described in many places as being like Liege-Bastogne-Liege, let's hope for a day of classics-like racing!
Twenty two teams, 9 riders a team - 198 nervous riders will take to the start line next Saturday morning in Leeds as the TDF 2014 Grand Départ gets under way. The teams of course are made up of different kinds of riders, each with their special jobs to do.
These are just some of the myriad of betting opportunities that are available on the Tour de France. It's unlike any other race of the year from a betting point of view as it is almost bewildering the amount of different markets to choose from. I just wish that the bookies would put in such an effort for all other big races during the year!
Last year we saw Nairo Quintana swoop on the penultimate stage to steal the mountains Jersey from the shoulders of Chris Froome with a brilliant stage win to add it to the white jersey he was wearing for best young rider. Sagan comfortably won the green points Jersey, he was 1/10 for it after just a week!
Here we go then! Stage one, in Yorkshire - the long awaited Grand Depart! A stage that on paper is supposedly one for Mark Cavendish to write the fairytale headlines for the TDF's venture across Le Manche. Mark Cavendish wins the stage in the town where his mother used to live and dons the yellow jersey for the first time in his career! If only it was as straightforward and simple as that!
The betting for the winner of the TDF has ebbed and flowed over the last 12 months, but one constant has remained strong - Chris Froome as the overall favourite. He was odds on for a 2nd success as soon as the champagne corks had been swept up last July and remains close to that mark as we are about to start in Leeds on Saturday.
It's the big one. La Grand Boucle. The warm-ups and preps have been done, the form is starting to show and all the signs are that we will have a battle royale over three weeks in July. Froome is looking vulnerable, Contador is looking the best he has been in a long time, Nibali has work to do and Talansky, Valverde and others will have their part to play.
