Cycling: Tomorrow is the 15th stage of the Tour de France before the second rest day. This is classified as a hill stage, which is why the escapees should have a good chance. But will the classification drivers also show themselves? Fabio Aru (Astana) has on the today's stage lost his yellow jersey to Chris Froome (Sky). Can he fight back?
Best chance for breakaways
Tomorrow's stage will cover 189,5 kilometers from Laissac-Sévérac l'Église to Le Puy-en-Velay. After about 20 kilometers, the first mountain of the first category is on the program. After that, flat passages keep coming up to the riders. But at the latest when it goes up the Col de Peyra Taillade, the specialists for the mountains will present themselves in front. The summit of this 8,3-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 7,3 percent is reached 31,5 kilometers from the finish. After that, skills when descending are particularly important. Due to the long distance to the finish, it is not to be expected that there will be gaps at the very top of the overall standings tomorrow. The members of the breakaway group should have the best chance of a stage win.
Our tip: Lotto Soudal will make a lot of steam tomorrow
We expect a relatively large breakaway group to break away tomorrow. In the peloton it will be difficult to find a team that wants to catch up. Therefore, the escape group has the best chance of arriving at the finish line ahead of the classification drivers. Riders like Steve Cummings (Dimension Data), Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) and Diego Ulissi (UAE) are made for stages like this. Team Lotto Soudal is still waiting for sprinter André Greipel to win. So it's up to the outliers to fix it. For tomorrow they have some candidates in the team: Tim Wells, Thomas De Gendt and Tony Gallopin can be expected to be successful in any case. However, we will choose a driver for tomorrow who is a little less well-known. Tiesj Benoot has already proven itself in one-day classics this year. Now he also surprises with strong performances in the Tour de France. If Lotto Soudal sends two or three men into the group tomorrow, the young Belgian will definitely be there.
*** Tiesj Benoot
** Diego Ulissi, Tony Gallopin
* Steve Cummings, Philippe Gilbert, Tim Wellens
Tour de France preview: Those were the Velomotion predictions
| Stage | Route | stage winner | Velomotion tip | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st stage | Düsseldorf | Geraint Thomas (Sky) | Tony Martin (Katusha Alpecin) | |
| 2st stage | Dusseldorf – Liège | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | |
| 3st stage | Verviers-Longwy | Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) | Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) | |
| 4st stage | Mondorf-les-Bains-Vittel | Arnaud Demare (FDJ) | Arnaud Demare (FDJ) | |
| 5st stage | Vittel-La Planche des Belles Filles | Fabio Aru (Astana) | Fabio Aru (Astana) | |
| 6st stage | Vesoul-Troyes | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | |
| 7st stage | Troyes - Nuits Saint Georges | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | |
| 8st stage | Dole - Station des Rousses | Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energy) | Diego Ulissi (UAE) | |
| 9st stage | Nantua-Chambery | Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) | Chris FroomeSky | |
| 10st stage | Perigueux-Bergerac | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | |
| 11st stage | Eymet-Pau | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | |
| 12st stage | Pau-Peyragudes | Romain Bardet (Ag2r) | Guillaume Martin (Wanty Groupe Gobert) | |
| 13st stage | Saint Girons - Foix | Warren Barguil (Sunweb) | Simon Yates (Orica Scott) | |
| 14st stage | Blagnac-Rodez | Michael Matthews (Sunweb) | Daniel Martin (Quick Step Floors) | |
| 15st stage | Laissac-Sévérac l'Église - Le Puy-en-Velay | Bauke Mollema (Trek Segafredo) | Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) | |
| 16st stage | Le Puy-en-Velay – Romans-sur-Isere | Michael Matthews (Sunweb) | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | |
| 17st stage | La Mure - Serre Chevalier | Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) | Simon Yates (Orica Scott) | |
| 18st stage | Briançon-Izoard | Warren Barguil (Sunweb) | Chris FroomeSky | |
| 19st stage | Embrun-Salon de Provence | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | |
| 20st stage | Marseille | Maciej Bodnar (Bora-hansgrohe) | Chris FroomeSky | |
21st stage | Montgeron – Paris/Champs-Elysées | André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) |
The current overall ranking of the 2017 Tour de France after 14 of 21 stages
| PLATZ | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chris Froome | Great Britain | Sky | 59:52:09 |
| 2. | Fabio Arau | Italy | Astana | + 0: 19 |
| 3. | Romain Bardet | France | Ag2r | + 0: 23 |
| 4. | Rigoberto Urán | Colombia | Cannondale Drapac | + 0: 29 |
| 5. | Mikel Landa | Spain | Sky | + 1: 17 |
| 6. | Daniel Martin | Ireland | Quick Step Floors | + 1: 26 |
| 7. | Simon yates | Great Britain | Orica Scott | + 2: 02 |
| 8. | Nairo Quintana | Colombia | Movistar | + 2: 22 |
| 9. | louis meintjes | South Africa | UAE | + 5: 09 |
| 10. | Alberto counter | Spain | Trek-Segafredo | + 5: 37 |