Stage 9 Preview

Stage 9
Start: Morzine-Avoriaz
End: Saint-Jean de Maurienne
Length: 204.5 km
Difficulty Profile (1-10): 8

I actually have no clue what to expect from tomorrow's stage. The profile indicates that it may be a day for attacks in the mountains and the leaders to again put on a show for the field, but I'm not sure I'm sold. The field was ravaged these last few stages and huge time gaps have already opened, so I'm not sure it will be that important for the leaders to attack. They will certainly mark each other and not let fellow contenders to get free, but I do not believe we will see the same kind of pace as Sunday. If I had to make a guess, I believe that a breakaway will succeed tomorrow and many of the leaders stay put. Maybe a rider like Jurgen Van Den Broeck or Samuel Sanchez might make a push for yellow, but I think Evans, Schleck, Contador, Leipheimer, Basso, Kreuzinger, Wiggins, Menchov, Gesink, Sastre, and Rogers manage to stay together and wait for the Pyrenees to make their final moves. Watch and find out, though, because nobody knows for sure just what to expect from this tricky little stage (even though it is not little at all at 204 km).