Classics specialists look set to battle out finish in Rodez

ITV4 & Eurosport 1, 12.20pm Saturday

Bigger is not always better.

It may have been the shortest stage of this year’s Tour de France at 101km, but stage 13 was fast, frenetic and one of the most action-packed of this year’s race.

After losing the yellow jersey on Thursday, Team Sky tried every tactic possible to oust race leader Fabio Aru on the route from Saint-Girons to Foix, sending Mikel Landa up the road to force the Italian into action on the climbs before Chris Froome attacked on the lengthy final descent.

To his credit Aru would not yield to Sky’s exacting examination of his credentials, finishing alongside closest rivals Froome, Romain Bardet and Rigoberto Uran.

However, Spaniard Landa could offer Sky a valuable trump card after he gained one minute 46 seconds on the race leader which thrusted him into fifth place overall, just 69 seconds behind Aru, by finishing fourth on the stage.

Away from the GC race, it was a day to remember for Frenchman Warren Barguil who extended his lead in the King of the Mountains competition and took the stage victory on Bastille Day.

The peloton leave the high mountains behind for one day at least on stage 14, with a rolling 181.5km route from Blagnac to Rodez ideally suited to the puncheurs.

After the hellish ascents conquered over the last few days, the prospect of tackling just two category-three climbs along the route will come as relief for many of the riders remaining.

Neither the Code du viaduc du Viaur (2.3km at seven per cent) nor the Cote de Centres (2.3km at around eight per cent) are too taxing in isolation but the constantly rolling terrain and a punishing finish make stage 14 a demanding test in its own right.

After a largely downhill final 15km, the riders are faced with one last 570m challenge, the Cote de Sant-Pierre, which, at an average of 9.6 per cent, will decide who takes stage honours.

It’s not quite the Mur de Huy – the infamous finale of La Fleche Wallonne – but it will have a similar bearing on the race with spring classics specialists ideally suited to the challenge.

Olympic road race champion Greg van Avermaet reigned supreme in this year’s one-day races, claiming victory at the prestigious Paris-Roubaix, Omloop Hen Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem, so it is understandable to see him handed the favourite’s tag by bookmakers, especially with Peter Sagan out of the race.

Rodez holds fond memories for the Belgian rider as it was there in 2015 that he outsprinted world champion Sagan on these very roads to claim a first Tour de France stage victory.

Not much has gone right for Van Avermaet’s BMC team at the this year’s Tour with leader, and yellow-jersey hope, Richie Porte crashing out on the descent of the Mont du Chat last Sunday, but a stage win would offer a small consolation prize.

Such has been Marcel Kittel’s dominance on the flat stages, Australian Michael Matthews has seen his chances of winning the green jersey fade away in the second week.

Matthews lies 128 adrift of the points classification leader with only injury or illness likely to thwart the German superstar.

It is unlikely Kittel will be contesting the finish but the same cannot be said about Matthews who has looked in great form throughout the Tour without gaining the success he perhaps deserves.

He was outstanding in the mountains on stage nine to gain an unlikely victory in the intermediate sprint and was a fast-finishing second on the uphill drag into Longwy on stage three.

Backing both him and Van Avermaet against the field looks the wisest play on a course that should play to their strengths.

Recommendations
G van Avermaet
2pts 11-4 Betfair, Paddy Power

M Matthews
1pt e-w 7-1 Betfair, Paddy Power