cycling: Tour de France stage #9 prediction: what happens on the queen stage?

Cycling: Today the time has come at the Tour de France: The king's stage is coming up! On the ninth stage, seven climbs have to be crossed, three of which belong to the highest category. Whoever has a bad day today loses the Tour de France. Who could win the stage and how will it affect the overall standings?

Tour de France 2017: Pyrenees? Alps? Law!

The king's stage of the 2017 Tour de France is surprisingly early on. It runs 181,5 kilometers from Nantua to Chambéry. On the way south, a total of 4.600 meters in altitude and seven climbs have to be completed. Since three of these seven mountain classifications belong to the highest category, it quickly becomes clear that this stage will be a decisive one - even though we are neither in the Pyrenees nor in the Alps. Even there hard climbs like this are rarely found. On the ninth stage, the tour entourage moves in the Jura and encounters unknown obstacles. The Col de la Biche and the Grand Colombier are about halfway through the stage. Therefore, they will probably only have a selective influence on the race. A few favorites for overall victory will probably not be able to pull away. After all, it's still a whopping 90,5 kilometers to the finish. But on a bad day, every rider could theoretically lose the Tour de France.

The Mont du Chat could decide the Tour de France 2017

The highlight of the stage begins around 40 kilometers after the summit of the Grand Colombier. The Mont du Chat has not been part of a Tour de France since 1974. It is one of the toughest mountains in France. With a length of 8,7 kilometers and an average incline of 10,3 percent, the wheat will be separated from the chaff here. There is an incline of around ten percent or even much more in phases for almost the entire mountain. The classification drivers have to be on their guard here. A large group will not arrive together at the summit. The opponents' weaknesses must be exploited here and now, even if this is only the ninth of 21 stages. Fabio Aru (Astana), for example, knows very well that he is weaker than Chris Froome (Sky) in the time trial. The ninth stage gives everything to get a cushion on the competitors.

The athletic directors play an important role

Of course, on this king's stage of the Tour de France, the riders' legs have to be extremely strong in order to be able to compete at the front. But the sports directors also play an important role on this day. The profile promises an enormous number of tactical possibilities. We can therefore strongly assume that the teams of the classification drivers will send various helpers to the escape group. Anyone who is already a long way behind in the overall standings could try the Grand Colombier. But it's a long way to the next climb. Therefore, two or three teammates would be quite helpful. Even those who first attack at Mont du Chat still have 26 kilometers to cover after the summit to the finish. A relay station could therefore bring the decisive advantage. Anyone who can break away at Mont du Chat and also has a relay station available could take the decisive step towards victory in the Tour. With a certain tactical finesse, a lot is possible on this ninth stage.

Our tip: Chris Froome and Sky play to their strengths

Chris Froome is a good climber, but the Brit is also known as a gifted downhill skier and strong time trialist. Furthermore, he can probably fall back on the best team in the peloton. All those skills could put him in an extremely comfortable position in the Tour de France today. We are assuming an extremely selective stage, so that only the strongest climbers will remain at the summit of Mont du Chat. Then it's downhill and flat to the finish. In any terrain, Chris Froome is very difficult to shake off. Even following him will not be an easy task for Fabio Aru, Richie Porte and Co. It wouldn't be the first time a descent is more crucial than the ascent. Richie Porte showed weaknesses downhill at the Critérium du Dauphiné. There could be a knockout for him today.

***Chris Froome
** Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet
* Richie Porte, Daniel Martin, Nairo Quintana

Tour de France preview: Those were the Velomotion predictions

The current overall ranking of the 2017 Tour de France after 8 of 21 stages