Cycling: The eleventh stage of the Tour de France will go to the breakaway riders - at least that's our prediction. The section is perfect for a large breakaway group. At the finish, a brave soloist can finally celebrate the day's victory. But what are the general classification riders up to?
Excitement in the last quarter of the race
The professionals have to overcome six mountain classifications on the 211-kilometer stage from Évaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran. Mouilloux Coast and the Côte de Larodde belong to the fourth or third category and must be completed in the first third of the race. They will have no effect on the race result, but will go to the breakaway group that has already formed. This group will try to Col de Néronne and the Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol to gain a big lead in order to have a chance of winning the day. The GC candidates will then be Col de Pertus and the Col de Font de Cère fight for valuable seconds. The day's victory could already be gone, unless a strong team can be found that does not allow the breakaway group a large lead throughout the day.
Velomotion forecast: Too easy for the GC riders
The profile of the eleventh stage of the 2024 Tour de France is actually made for a Tadej Pogacar. The short, sometimes steep climbs are easy for the Slovenian. But the stage is too easy overall to really create time gaps. It is much more likely that the GC riders will reach the finish together. But the day's victory will go to the breakaway group. The easy start and the challenging finale with the many descents are perfect for Matej Mohoric. He could sneak into the breakaway group just like Ben Healy, Paul Lapeira or Mathieu Burgaudeau. The German hopes rest on Simon Geschke and Georg Zimmermann.
* * * Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious)
** Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon – Ag2r World Cup)
* Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies), Romain Gregory (Groupama – FDJ), Clement Champoussin (Arkea – B&B Hotels)