14 DAY TRIAL // The last mountain stage of the competition is again filled with difficult climbs and a sense of history as the riders are asked to cover close to 150 kilometers that cover both the classic Col de Tourmalet, which is one of the most used in Le Tour, and the Hautacam, which features leg breaking ramps.
The two climbs and the descent that separates them offer an interesting set of choices for teams: do they try to gain position on the General Classification or do they use a capable rider who does not pose a threat to take an try the stage win?
In the real world the favorites are already pretty tired and they still face a time trial test on Saturday, which means that some of them might choose to ride entirely defensively.
In the world of Pro Cycling Manager 2014 the leaders are also pretty tired and there seems to be a small chance that a surprise change at the top will take place, which probably means that a good climber from a smaller team has a big chance to secure a prestigious win.
I plan to watch and see how the race shapes up before deciding how I want to commit my limited resources and I will try to rest Fabian Cancellara as much as possible, because he can play a big role on Saturday.
An early break once more managed to get away as soon as the stage started and I set about protecting my riders as we approached the Tourmalet, on which I expected the big favorites to try and create a smaller group because it tends to be easier to control.
To my surprise they never did and the peloton still numbered more than 70 cyclists by the time we started the descent, where once again I had some small issue with supplying my riders with the water they required.
This meant that the start of the Hautacam caught me almost by surprise and I was little out of place when Quintana, Froome and Cintador once again jumped away.
Kiserlovski tried and failed to follow them but Frank Schleck once again approached the problem using the individual effort bar and managed to get within 30 seconds of the leading group before they once again accelerated in order to battle for the stage win.
Froome managed to get some more seconds back and my leader now sits in tenth place ahead of the final stages.
