Cirvunvalación > Cirvunvalación 112.2km
It’s the final stage in San Juan and it looks like another chance for the sprinters, but some will hope the breakaway has its day. We have seven laps of the downtown circuit, and it’s going to be over quickly as the stage is only 112km in length.
Weather
Cloudy sun and temperatures will be around 30 degrees.
Finale
Nice and easy, with a gentle bend in the road. This finish has been used before, it’s on a wide highway, which usually makes for a messy sprint.
Tactics
The opening kilometres will be interesting, some will sense a chance for the break. The key is the attitude of the world tour teams, will they ride for a sprint or allow their domestiques a chance to attack? Bora, QuickStep, Movistar, and DSM all have a sprint win, I would like to see them giving freedom to some of their workers.
Medellin will need to be careful at the start of the stage. There’s a group of riders sitting within 2 minutes of López, and some will happily ride aggressively in the opening minutes. I sense a tense opening section of the race, by the time the break forms, there could only be a couple of hours of racing left.
Once the break does go, we’ll see what the peloton will want. It looks like a boring sprint stage but looks can be deceiving.
Contenders
Fabio Jakobsen – looked to be in a great position last night, but when he tried to accelerate, he didn’t have his usual punch. All the other teams are riding a clever race, they’re not even trying to compete when Remco goes to the front. You can see them all hanging off the back of Jakobsen, just waiting for Remco to pull off. When this happens, then they surge to the front. It’s a clever tactic, and it worked a treat for DSM. The key for Jakobsen is Mørkøv, he needs to be at his best to hold off the rushing van Poppel and co.
Sam Bennett – nearly took his second win last night, but it wasn’t to be. I see Bora trying to repeat what happened, but they’ll obviously be wanting to take the win. Van Poppel has been brilliant in this race, when he gets up a head of steam, he’s a hard man to stop. As it’s the last stage in the race, I wonder if Bora will allow van Poppel a little freedom to go for it himself.
Fernando Gaviria – has enjoyed the race, it’s been the perfect way to start his Movistar career. The likely messy sprint will help him to challenge for the win. Of the big sprinters here, he’s got the worst sprint train, winning isn’t easy.
Sam Welsford – took a brilliant win last night, hitting close to 1800 watts in the process. The big Aussie crashed in the second stage, but now that he’s recovered, he’s hitting some form. As a former track and crit rider, he’ll be at home in this stage, he’ll be confident of taking another win.
Elia Viviani – another who normally does well in a messy sprint. He’ll need some luck but having track smarts is good for this type of finish.
Max Richeze – his last race before retirement. He’s still got the legs required to take the win, but he knows he won’t win a bunch sprint. Look for Richeze to use all his experience to carve out a chance to end his career on a high.
Pieter Serry – the bottle of champagne is still in the fridge.
Prediction Time
I see a messy sprint and a win for Fernando Gaviria.
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