Tour De France / Tobias Gourlay / 13 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Revived by yesterday's rest-day, Tobias Gourlay is fighting fit as Le Tour approaches the halfway mark.

Today's stage from Limoges to Issoudon is the first of three consecutive flat ones that take the riders up to the mountains of Vosges. It is highly unlikely that such a gentle stage will have any impact on the GC, so Rinaldo Nocentini is [1.13] to hang on to the yellow jersey for at least one more day.

Mark Cavendish, who won a sprint finish just up the road in Chateauroux last year, is a strong favourite to win his third stage of this year's Tour, ahead of the rivals he has dominated so far (Oscar Freire is [18.0] and Thor Hushovd, the points leader, is [18.5]).

Struggles in the Pyrenees notwithstanding, the reason Cavendish is as long as [2.40] is that 14 July is Bastille Day, which commemorates the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison, an act that was symbolic of the uprising of modern France. Thus it is that any half-decent baroudeur from the host nation will be looking to go off the front of the peloton at some point. Sylvain Chavanel, who has been mentioned here before, is the [23.0] fourth-favourite to win today. Local breakaway artists could be helped by the day-long experimental ban on team radios, which might allow them to slip away just a little bit more easily. A special market offers [4.2] on there being a French winner, of which there have been three in the nine Bastille Day stages this century.

However, the sprinters' teams have been stung by Thomas Voeckler's win in Stage Five and refreshed by yesterday's rest day, and the sprinters themselves will be keen to banish memories of riding the 'autobus' through the Pyrenees. Cavendish's Team Columbia know how to lead-out their man better than anyone, and the Manxman, who has stage victories as his top priority, is the recommendation.