Stage 5 today is a guaranteed Traditional Bunch Kick. It is in the mold of the traditional early week flat stages of the Tour from years gone by.
It is a 197km shot across the northeast of France, coincidentally passing very close to where the Australian WW1 cemetery at Villers-Brettoneux is located.
A very moving place.
The final kilometre today (moving right along after a mildly random digression) includes a 30m climb and a very sharp left hand turn, so despite the stage itself being a bunch kick, the winner is anything but a foregone conclusion!
The corner being so sharp and so late in the race means that there will be a virtual race by the teams with leadout trains to get to that corner first, meaning Lotto Bellisol for Greipel and Orica GreenEdge for Gossy will be battling it out.
The only man thus far able to double down on his wins is Peter Sagan, and I think that statistic will remain the same as Greipel is noted for struggling to hold his position when the sprint is hectic.
For that reason, I’m plumping for Gossy to win it (biased? Moi?) with Cav to bop a second place and Sagan rounding it out for third in a Traditional Bunch Kick.
Catch more of Toby on his site.
