After an incursion into the reliefs of Auvergne, the Tour de France peloton finds the flat thanks to the eleventh stage, 180 kilometers long, between Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) and Moulins (Allier). The flat or almost, because the route of the day still has three difficulties listed: the coast of Chaptuzat-Haut (1.9 kilometers at 5%, 4th category), the coast of Mercurol (2.9 kilometers at 4.6 %, 4th category) and the Côte de la Croix-Blanche (1.6 kilometers at 5.4%, 4th category).
“Although the roads of the Allier impose an insidious wear on the calves with repetitions of “breaking” climbs, the last straight line of 1,300 meters in the heart of the city will be offered to sprinters, “predicts Christian Prudhomme, the boss of the test. After his successes in Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Nogaro (Gers) and Bordeaux (Gironde), will Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) continue his raid? Will Wout van Aert finally get his hands on a win? Will the other sprinters, including Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal Quick-Step), shine? Answers to come around 5:20 p.m.
