14 DAY TRIAL // The first real stage of Le Tour de France is usually flat and the entire first week of most Grand Tours is designed to allow the fast men of the peloton to show their skills and rack up wins for those teams that might lack a solid rider for the Yellow Jersey battle.
The ride is 198 km long and takes riders from Liege, where the time trial took place, on an almost circular route back to Seraing, in the industrial heartland of Belgium.
It’s a hilly stage with 4 Category 4 climbs and the final consists of a small climb, 2.4km long at 4.7 percent gradient, specifically designed to give home boy Gilbert a chance at a win and maybe the lead of the race.
My tactics for the race involved maybe putting one of my men in the breakaway, so that I had a chance to pick up Mountain Points and then, if it stayed away, fight for the stage win.
If the break was caught, then I saw Frank Schleck as a possible contender, although in PCM 2012 he lacks the punch of Peter Sagan or Gilbert, the hilly classics specialist from BMC.
My attempt to put someone in the group that got away failed, even though I tried with both Tony Gallopin and Oliver Zaugg, so I had to settle for helping with the chase and preparing the final attack.
I protected Frank all day long and got him towards the front of the group with about 8 km to go.
But I mistimed my attack and my rider ran out of gas 2 km from the end of the stage, allowing Simon Gerrans to take the stage.
Unfortunately, due to technical issues I cannot deliver a video of the final kilometers.
My prediction for today’s real-world stage win: Mark Cavendish after a full-fledged sprint.