Stage 7 Preview

Stage 7
Start: Tournus
End: Station des Rousses
Length: 165.5 km
Difficulty Profile (1-10): 6

Ok, the sprinters have had their fun, but now its time for the "big boys" to have a go at it. This will be the first real action we will see centered around the Tour favorites like Armstrong, Contador, Schleck, Basso and others. It is not the most treacherous of the mountain stages, but it is enough that the non-climbers will have difficulty. This is when the field will begin to thin out, and many of the riders in the top 10 will fall out. I can't see Cancellara keeping his yellow, as there are great climbers like Schleck and Contador that are within a minute of him. Expect most attacks to happen in the final 2 climbs (Col de la Serra and Cote de Lamoura), both category 2. The Cote de Lamoura will be the final climb of the day, and it is not far to the finish line from there. If I had to take a guess, I would guess that many of the leaders will scramble early to mark each other and end up in one or two big groups. This stage won't determine the Tour winner, but it will start to thin out the field.