Zavod Miru U23: Mühlberger masters Praded, wins overall

With essentially a live media blackout, the 2015 Zavod Miru U23, or U23 Peace Race for those not good with Czech, went by rather uneventfully as there was rarely any news before the race was done for nearly an hour. Not exactly the way the UCI should be handling these types of races as U23 racing should be getting healthy coverage as they are the stars of tomorrow. Not like the UCI cares much if races get proper live coverage anyways.

Stage 1

Kicking the race off Friday was a short stage from Jesenik to Rymarov with just 122 kilometers on the docket. Jeremy Maison (France), freshed off his strong performance at the Ronde de l'Isard, got away with Evgeny Zherkov (Russia) early in the stage. The duo worked well together with Zherkov gaining the maximum KOM points to take the mountains jersey for stage 2. Once they got into Rymarov, the race came back together and it wasn't until the 2nd of the three local circuits around Rymarov that a move got together. Daniel Turek (Czech Republic) got away with Gabriel Cullaigh (GB), German Chavez Torres (Colombia) and Marko Pavlic (Slovenia). Turek attempted a last kilometer attack but Cullaigh came back and sprinted for the win with Pavlic and Turek in 3rd. Rok Korosec (Slovenia) won the sprint for 5th followed by my pick for the win Frantisek Sisr (Czech Republic) and Lucas Gaday (Argentina).

If I had to pick 10 riders that I thought could win the opening stage of the 2015 U23 Zavod Miru, or Peace Race for those that aren't good with Czech, I would not have picked Gabrial Cullaigh (GB).

We're as pleased as @GabzCullaigh is after his #CourseDeLaPaix stage win! http://t.co/PuOLNVZrXl Well done that man! pic.twitter.com/teyxaAxwT5

— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) May 29, 2015

Cullaigh is a first year U23 and came from a track background as a junior. He got three medals at the European junior track championships with 3rd in the Points Race as well as 2nd in Scratch and Team Pursuit. This year, Cullaigh has continued with the British Development Program by splitting his time between the National Team and the 100% ME team, which British Development riders ride with in amateur races in Belgium and such. He got a win in the Esplechin kermesse in a two-man breakaway and after riding the Tour de Yorkshire, Tour de Berlin and Paris-Arras Tour, Cullaigh came in with some form.

Stage 2

Starting on the border town of Glucholazy, Poland, the 2nd stage was quickly back into the Czech Republic with 113 kilometers that finished with a summit of Praded, the highest tallest mountain in the Hruby Jesenik range and 5th highest in all of the Czech Republic at nearly 1,500 meters.

Once again, it was Zherkov who took off but this time it was with Colin Joyce (USA). Zherkov, in search of mountains points, got the maximum points and got the most aggressive rider of the day prize. The duo got a maximum gap of 3 minutes but coming into the final climb of Praded, they were brought back by a group of roughly 20 riders.

The race split up gradually as they went up the climb and near the top, it was a group of 4 including Gregor Mühlberger, Laurens De Plus, Loïc Vliegen and Odd Eiking.



As you can see, Mühlberger was able pull away from De Plus and won by 2 seconds on top of Praded while Eiking and Vliegen came in 7 seconds down. A group of 5 came in 14 seconds down led in by my pick for the stage win Ildar Arslanov then Lennard Kamna, Matvey Mamykin, Mark Padun and Gianni Moscon. Mühlberger took the leader's jersey to the final day for a long circuit around Jesenik.

Stage 3

The final stage was a hilly one that really didn't have any true breakaway get away. Basically the race stayed together with small groups trying to get away but with no success. Heading into the finale, a group of 5 favorites split off the front in front of the Hotel Preissnitz.

In the finale, my pick for the win Loïc Vliegen (Belgium) came good with my promises and took the win in his 2nd to last U23 race ahead of Odd Eiking, Gianni Moscon (Italy), race leader Gregor Mühlberger and first year U23 Lennard Kamna (Germany). Josef Cerny (Czech Republic) led the chasing group in for 6th.

Mühlberger held off Vliegen and won the GC on stage countback with Odd Eiking in 3rd overall followed with Laurens De Plus and Gianni Moscon.

Mühlberger took the points classification while Zherkov handily took the KOM classification.

-Mühlberger took his 3rd win of the year here. He was a stagiaire with NetApp-Endura last year and it is entirely plausible that he could join Bora-Argon 18 this year, especially since they are focusing on German speaking riders.

-First year U23 riders that made an impact this year include German Lennard Kamna and Ukranian Mark Padun. Kamna was the World Junior TT Champ last year and finished 13th in the Bayern Rundfahrt before coming to the Zavod Miru. Padun is a bit of an unknown but was the Ukranian Junior TT Champ last year and seems to have a good motor under him.

-This is the 2nd stage race in a row where Loïc Vliegen won the final stage but finished 2nd overall.

-Denmark has taken a commanding lead on the U23 Nations Cup with a 10 point leave on Norway and 13 points on France. After Great Britain in 5th place at 41 points, it is a long way down until Russia at 6th place at 22 points.

Course de la Paix U23: Czech 1, Czech 2

Why are we still using a French title for this race when it takes place in the Czech Republic? Sorry, I will go by the proper Czech name, Závod Miru. With that note taken care of, the Zavod Miru U23 is upon us. If you do not know that meaning then I'm sure you have heard it used as the Peace Race. While the historic Peace Race died out in 2006 due to lack of funds, the Zavod Miru U23 began in 2013. Toms Skujins won a thriller in 2013 while Sam Spokes took two stages in a row to win the 2014 edition. For 2015, the race joins the U23 Nations Cup and instead of an amalgam of trade and national teams coming, every invited nation is brining a stacked team as this can affect their Tour de l'Avenir selection as well as the U23 Worlds selections.

Stages

The race itself is fairly identical to the 2014 edition with 3 stages more or less centered around Jesenik, Czech Republic. Jesenik sits in the northern bit of the Olomouc region that is just a stone's throw from Poland. The city itself was originally called Freiwaldau ("free from the woods") but after World War II, the purge of German elements occurred and the town renamed to Jesenik after the nearby Hruby Jesenik mountain range.

The first stage travels from Jesenik to Rymarov, just a short distances south. It is only 122 kilometers and while it has three KOM points, it is a fairly flat stage that will benefit either the sprinters in the race or the guys with the biggest set of balls that want to give it a try. It would last year as a two-man move stayed away til the end and won by 9 seconds.

Praded (Wiki Commons)

Saturday's 2nd stage starts in the southern Polish town of Glucholazy, which straddles the Polish-Czech border and is a sister city of Jesenik. The main focus of the stage is the summit finish on Praded, the Grandfather. The 5th highest mountain in the Czech Republic and highest in the Hruby Jesenik range and Moravia, Praded sits just under 1500 meters in elevation (the highest paved road in Czech Republic) and the area around the summit is protected with cars not allowed near the top, which caused issues last year.

The stage itself is just 113 kilometers but the first 80 kilometers will be fierce before the first KOM climb, which is summited 32 kilometers before the finish. A small descent happens before heading up the big climb, which is around 17 kilometers in length. The KOM line is actually 3.5 kilometers before the proper summit, which is where the team cars will have to pull over, but those that are GC focus will blow past it to the weather station at the top.

Race finish will be at the lovely Hotel Preissnitz (czechy.pl)

The final stage is a big loop that starts and finishes around Jesenik. It sort of looks like an upside down New Jersey with a little hook at the top. The most difficult circuit of the race will see the racers go up 5 climbs including a step little kicker in the final kilometer that averages around 10% where the races finishes at the Hotel Preissnitz, a spa resort over looking Jesenik.

Miscellaneous

-The Race Book

-The Race Website

Contenders

Start list

The only surprise here is that Australia had to pull out due to too many injuries with their riders.

Doing a cursory look of the list I do see some favorites including:

-Loïc Vliegen (Belgium)
-Scott Davies (GB)
-Alexey Vermeulen (USA)
-Gianni Moscon (Italy)
-Gregor Mühlberger (Austria)
-Odd Eiking (Norway)
-Alexander Kamp (Denmark)
-Guillaume Martin (France)
-Jhonathan Restrepo (Colombia)

My wild out of my ass pick for the GC win: Jeremy Maison (France)

Espoirs Central's KOM winner: Patryk Stosz (Poland)

Stage 1 Pick: Frantisek Sisr (Czech Republic)

Stage 2 Pick: Ildar Arslanov (Russia)

Stage 3 Pick: Loïc Vliegen (Belgium)

Ronde de l'Isard Roundup

Just like that, the Ronde de l'Isard is over and the roads of the Ariege will barely be touched by any bike race for another year. If it is one thing that I can really complain about this race is that it is so short and once the first stage is done, I'm already looking for more.

Regarding the race, I really do wish there was a stronger start list for this event. It is one of the best U23 stage races and yet half of the teams are French amateur squads. Why can't Axeon, BMC Development, Rabobank and all of the big national programs have a team here? If you want to see Rob Power go head to head with anyone on Plateau de Beille then why not? At the very least, this race should join an expanded U23 calendar that holds greater importance to development teams so we can see the best talent going up against one another. But I've discussed that ad nauseum before.

Simone Petilli

The Italian with Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani took the race by the throat after a dominating ride on stage 1 and proceeded to defend the next three stages. The only chink he showed was in stage 2 when Jeremy Maison and Laurens De Plus gained time on him on Plateau de Beille but he had a strong team behind him. This win in l'Isard was the first by an Italian since Graziano Gasparre in 1999 and it would be the first leg of a historic treble if Petilli starts the Giro della Valle d'Aosta and the Tour de l'Avenir.

Petilli was a strong junior with many results in Italy but at just 20, he won the KOM jersey in the Giro della Valle d'Aosta. He joined Area Zero for 2014 and had a trial by fire. He was 11th overall and best youth in the Settimana Coppi e Bartali and after a solid first half of the year, he made it through the end of the Vuelta a Colombia, which is like trying to compete in a Moto GP on a 600cc engine.

Petilli joined the somewhat new Unieuro Wilier Trevigiani for this year and has been all over the top 10 this year in one day races and won the best youth in the Coppi e Bartali for the 2nd year running but his win on the first stage of the Ronde de l'Isard was his first ever UCI win. He definitely could be in line for a stagiaire role near the end of the season but watch him in Valle d'Aosta and l'Avenir but he definitely won't have a cake walk.

Laurens De Plus

The Lotto-Soudal U23 climber was perhaps the bigger revelation of the week as he was the only rider able to keep and sometimes make Petilli work for his win. De Plus won the points jersey and finished in 2nd place by just 10 seconds. While Petilli had some more experience on his side as well as more experienced teammates, De Plus had strongman Brecht Ruyters as well as two first year U23s in Steff Cras and Steff Hermans.

De Plus is still just 19 years old and as a junior, we was going against the likes of Rob Power, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Scott Davies and Mathieu van der Poel. After a quiet 2014 finding his feet, De Plus came out striking early with a solo win in the later winter race Gent-Staden. He followed this up with 11th in the Trofeo PIVA and 5th in the Fleche Ardennaise, which was less than a fortnight before l'Isard.

De Plus still has a couple of U23 years on him so this is only a primer of what he could potentially do. He seems to have a decent kick on him for a climber and could see more success this year depending on where his Lotto-Soudal team sends him to.

CC Etupes

While they are a French amateur team, they could go up against any continental development team. CC Etupes had a fantastic week in the Ariege. Liege-Bastogne-Liege U23 winner Guillaume Martin flew the flag for the team on the first stage with a 3rd place finish on the summit finish at Goulier-Neige while teammate Jeremy Maison finished 7th. The following day, Maison flew away from everyone to take a brilliant win on Plateau de Beille while Martin finished 3rd again. They ended the race with Leo Vincent winning a two-up sprint to take the final stage.

The team won two stages, finished 3rd & 4th on the overall and was 3rd on the team GC. Not too shabby.

First year U23s

The class of '96 had a strong l'Isard performance that was headlined by Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Chambery CF). A standout junior that won the Tour of Istria last year, Paret-Peintre has already slotted in well with the Ag2r development team with 2 wins and strong performances in UCI one-day races such as the Trofeo PIVA and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege U23. Paret-Peintre wasn't the strongest climber of the race but got better as the race progressed and on the final stage, he was hanging with Simone Petilli and Laurens De Plus on the Col de la Core. Paret-Peintre finished 6th overall but definitely underlined his bright future.

David Gaudu (Cotes d'Armor) came out swinging with a 4th on the opening stage to Goulier-Neige but that seemed to put him in a whole for the remainder of the race. He still hung on to 11th overall.

Will Barta (USA) got into breakaways on the first two stages and was pretty insastiable in his quest to make an impact.

Steff Cras and Steff Hermans (both Lotto-Soudal) were key helpers for De Plus' GC hopes. Cras ended up 10th overall for his troubles.

Vendee U

...was a bit disappointing. They were there but at the same time they weren't. This is probably the strongest overall French development team but they were fairly anonymous for such a big time French race. Loic Bouchereau put in a good ride for 8th overall and Paul Ourselin had a good ride on stage 3 but just seemed under expectations. Maybe it is just me.

Alexey Vermeulen

Vermeulen was an absolute wunderkind and has been trying to his niche in the U23 ranks. With 20 UCI racing days in the legs, Vermeulen went to the Ronde de l'Isard looking for a result after not having one yet in the 2015 season. While he was a bit back on the first stage to Goulier-Neige, he stayed steady on Plateau de Beille after attacking on the lower slopes and he finished 7th overall, which is the same as his overall finish.

I'll be interested to see where Vermeulen gets starts the rest of the year because he seems to get better with age. I would like to see him have a crack at the U23 Peace Race again this year to see if he can improve on his 6th overall from last year.

Ronde de l'Isard: Petilli secures overall

While the last stage of the 2015 Ronde de l'Isard appeared to be daunting with 3 big Pyreneean ascent, the cream of the crop stayed together for the most part and the podium remained status quo.

The day started off with a large breakaway that was spearheaded by American TJ Eisenhart, who was trying to make up for some off days earlier in the race. Eisenhart got away on the lower slopes of the Col de Port and was joined shortly after by Paul Sauvage (CR4C Roanne), who has shown himself to be a fiesty rider that was in and out of breakaways all week. Sauvage would take enough points to secure the KOM jersey.

The duo worked well together and made it up the majority of the Col d'Agnes until shortly before the summit, they were joined by a group of 4 others including Dries Van Gestel (Lotto-Soudal), Leo Vincent (CC Etupes), Loic Bouchereau (Vendee U) and Mathias Le Turnier (Oceane Top 16). The sextet went ovet the summit together and plunged back down into the valley in pursuit of the final climb, the Col de la Core.

At the bottom of the climb, Van Gestel started to push the pace and Eisenhart, fatigued from his early efforts, was distanced. The breakaway slowly broke apart as Van Gestel and Vincent showed themselves as the strongest two climbers. While the duo worked well together, riders were throwing in attacks in the yellow jersey group to try and break things up. David Gaudu (Cotes d'Armor) was trying to make up for an off stage 2 and did his best to attempt a bridge on the Col de la Core but was stuck in no man's land for the majority of the climb. Race leader Simone Petilli and 2nd place Laurens De Plus (Lotto-Soudal) were comfortably the best two climbers in the race as they distanced everyone else when the pace kicked up. The only exception here was impressive first year U23 Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Chambery CF), who made contact with the duo and stayed with them for the remained of the race.

Up front, it was Vincent who bombed the descent and put time into Van Gestel but the Belgian was able to claw his was back up front. Roughly a minute behind was Bouchereau, who was trying his best to come to terms but he would spend the remainder of his race in no-man's land. The two came into the sprint and it was Vincent who took out the sprint and capped off an impressive week for CC Etupes. Bouchereau clawed back nearly all of the deficit but came in 6 seconds down on the leading two. Laurens De Plus led in the yellow jersey group to wrap up the points jersey.

For more analysis, hold on for a Ronde de l'Isard wrap-up post that will be coming in the next day or so.

Ronde de l'Isard Stages 2 & 3: Maison wins big on Plateau de Beille; Petilli clings to lead

The past two days have seen the GC battle get even closer with some spectacular rides in the mountains as well as a chance for outsiders to get a bit of glory.

Stage 2 - Salies du Salat to Plateau de Beille

The Break (via directvelo.com)

The stage itself was more or less flat for the first 100 something kilometers saw a lot of attacks with Will Barta (USA) getting into yet another attack with about 9 others after 50 kilometers. For about the next 70 kilometers, the break rode out front but once it got lumpy out on the road, Barta flew the coop with roughly 30 kilometers left to go. Thomas Alfonso (Midi-Pyrenees) briefly bridged up to Barta while Paul Sauvage (CR4C Roanne) hopped out of the peloton and bridged and then passed the duo and was the leader on the road once the race hit Plateau de Beille.

Just before the beginning of the climb, 2nd place Laurens De Plus had a mechanical and missed the split but once the lead group of 17 was formed on the lower slopes of the climb, the Lotto-Soudal Belgian was back in the fold. While the initial racing was controlled, an attack by Guillaume Martin (CC Etupes) lit the paper and soon after, his teammate Jeremy Maison attacked with roughly 9 kilometers to go. De Plus and leader Simone Petilli still had multiple riders around them initially but in only a few kilometers, it was De Plus, Petilli and Martin chasing the flying Maison, who had 30 seconds on them.

Maison flying up Plateau de Beille (via Ronde de l'Isard)

The chase behind was disorganized at best with Martin running cover for his teammate up the road while Petilli had to be concerned with every passing second that went by. The chase was so lackluster at one point that first year U23 rider Aurelien Paret-Peintre and Lucas Papillon were able to come back briefly before De Plus launched an attack to try and get some seconds back.

Jérémy MAISON remporte la deuxième étape, au Plateau de Beille http://t.co/Vf1LPclrPX pic.twitter.com/F8YbTpJywV

— Ronde de l'Isard (@RondeIsard) May 22, 2015

In the end, Maison just battered the chasers and even with a more concerted effort at the end, the CC Etupes rider pulled out 1'05" on the chasing trio that was led in by Laurens De Plus. Papillon and Paret-Peintre came in within 2 minutes while Pinckey, Michigan product Alexey Vermeulen (USA) put in a very impressive ride with 7th place after being stuck in no-man's land for a while on the climb.

The GC race got even tigher as Petilli's lead was reduced to just 10 seconds on De Plus while Maison's bravery got him within 23 seconds of the lead.

Stage 3 Auterive - Boulogne-sur-Gesse

After the GC turbulence on the big mountain on Friday, Petilli and his Unieuro-Wilier teammates were content to let a group go that would soak up the sprint bonuses and allow the big boys some rest. A breakaway of 5 got a gap within a few kilometers and that was all the race wrote.

The breakaway consisted of Xabier San Sebastian (Euskadi), Benoit Cosnefroy (Chambery CF), Paul Ourselin (Vendeé U), Stéphen Géuvel (Côtes d'Armor) and Valentin Deverchère (CR4C Roanne) and their gap went up to nearly 10 minutes within 30 kilometers. That would mean a combination of them having the accelerator jammed open and the peloton basically pulling over to get a gap that big in such a short period.

The action came quite late in the stage when San Sebastian and Cosnefroy attacked with roughly 3 kilometers to go and the others seemingly had no impetus to chase. Euskadi v. Chambery CF sprint showdown after 160 kilometers of lumpy terrain? Thrilling stuff for certain.

Xabier San Sebastian Lasa @FundaCiclisEusk s'impose d'un rien devant Benoit Cosnefroy @ChamberyCF #rondeisard pic.twitter.com/dZpqa0cUY0

— RADIOVELO (@radiovelo31) May 23, 2015

As you can see, Xabi San Sebastian was able to take a thrilling win ahead of Cosnefroy to give Euskadi a nice UCI win for the season. It was San Sebastian's 2nd win of the season with the other being a stunner in the 7th round of the Copa de Espana where he held off a speeding peloton to take the win. The remnants of the break came in 20 seconds later while the peloton, led it by Michael Bresciani (Roth-Skoda), didn't come in for another 4'30" minutes.

The GC situation stayed stagnant for the big showdown over 3 massive cols to the downhill finish in St. Girons. Simone Petilli is only up by 10 seconds on a very strong looking Laurens De Plus, who along with his team are leading every other classification, while Jeremy Maison lurks just 23 seconds back and is very dangerous after his exploits on Plateau de Beille. Can Guillaume Martin seemingly come back from a minute plus deficit to steal the jersey? Follow the live ticker on directvelo to see!

Ronde de l'Isard Ariege: Petilli romps on Goulier-Neige

It has been 15 years since Graziano Gasparre went through his banner U23 year when he won the European U23 RR, the Giro della Regioni and the Ronde de l'Isard overall. An Italian hasn't been close to the Ariege region since and no Italians have been on the podium of the Ronde de l'Isard since Gasparre's triumph.

It looks like the long draught might be coming to an end soon. Simone Petilli (UniEuro-Wilier) is still a U23 but has been swinging with the pros this season with 15th overall in the Coppi e Bartali and top 20 finishes scattered all over his racing calendar. Petilli broke away from Belgian Laurens De Plus (Lotto-Soudal U23) roughly halfway up the finishing climb of Goulier-Neige and was able to keep a small lead on the fiesty Belgian all the way up the climb to take the opening stage win of the Ronde de l'Isard by 12 seconds.

The duo has broked away near the bottom of the climb but it was Petilli who separated from De Plus while riders such as Guillaume Martin (CC Etupes) and Lorenzo Rota (UniEuro) tried but failed to make any dent in the gap. Martin was able to come across 3rd but was 1'03" back at the finish. First year U23s David Gaudu and Aurelien Paret-Peintre came across together in 4th and 5th at 1'25" with Marco Tecchio (UniEuro).

More Later...

Ronde de l'Isard Preview: Pyrenean Playground

In just one short week, riders will be descending on the Ariège department for what is one of the most consistently difficult U23 stage races on the calendar, the Ronde de l'Isard. Nestled in the heart of the Pyrenees, the Ariège is one of the most unspoiled regions of France with a fairly sparse population and with 40% of the region being dedicated as a national park. With plains, foothills and full blown mountains, the region is an incredible and demanding location for a bike race and the Ronde de l'Isard, which is in its 38th edition now, will see even the best riders crack and salivate for a ride in the team car.

The race itself first appeared in 1977 as a French regional race before slowly gaining prestige throughout the next few decades. In 1998, it became a race just for U23 racers and the palmares become a bit more familiar. '98 saw Denis Menchov win and he was followed by the likes of Jamie Burrow, Graziano Gasparre, Christophe Le Mevel and Markus Fothen. Names that many know dot the podiums from the 00s including a strong American contingent in Mike Creed (2x 3rd), Pat McCarty (1st in 2003), Saul Raisin (2nd and 3rd) and John Devine (2007) as well as others including Ignatas Konovalovas, Philip Deignan, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Ben Hermans, Francis De Greef, Blel Kadri, Maxime Bouet and more.

While in the 00s many of the winners varier between climbers and rouleurs, the majority of winners in the last few years have been pure climbers except for Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier. These winners include Alex Geniez, Yannick Eijssen, Kenny Elissonde, Juan Chamorro and Louis Vervaeke.

Perhaps the only thing holding this race back is its start list but because of the U23 requirement and the intense parcours, it is understandable that the majority of the teams are just French amateur teams with some foreign teams scattered in for good measure.

For the teams for the 2015 edition, visit the race website that includes all of the riders and numbers.

An interesting note is that just days before the race is beginning, it was announced that Team Ecuador would be participating. With no Colombian team in this year's edition, it is a good sight to see some South American participation.

Parcours

Stage 1

Mirepoix to Goulier Neige (143 kilometers)

Kicking off the race is a swift kick in the pants. Starting from Mirepoix, situated in the Hers Valley, the race is fairly flat for the first 120 kilometers with only a small climb to handle during that time. I'm certain a breakaway will get time here because the last 25 kilometers will see all of the big hitters in the peloton going for it.

The climb to Goulier Neige doesn't start until the turn at Vicdessos and then for the next 9.5 kilometers, the climb averages a stout 8%. With 15 kilometers of false flat before the climb even begins, there will be some tired legs before the climb even starts.

This climb was used on the finish of stage 1 last year and only 3 riders finished within a minute of winner Alexander Foliforov. There is a good chance the race will be won or lost here so if anyone wants to have a shot, they better be on their A game.

Stage 2

Salies du Salat to Plateau de Beille (139.9 kilometers)

Nothing like having a mountain top finish one right after another. This stage is very similar to stage 1 in that for the first 100 kilometers, it is fairly straightforward with only 1 climb to speak of and the rest involving valley riding.

The climb itself is relentless with nearly 15 kilometers of 8%+ average gradient before leveling off at the end. If people were not hurting on Goulier Neige then they will be asking for their parents to take them home on Plateau de Beille. This isn't a climb that is necessarily steady either. They have kilometer long sections that go up to 9 or 10% average and the climb winds up at nearly 1800 meters in elevation.

Will over at cyclingchallenge.com cycled it so you can read his words on the climb. If GC isn't done and dusted by this stage then something is wrong.

Stage 3

Auterive to Boulogne-sur-Gesse (157.6 kilometers)

After two consecutive mountain top finishes, this will either result in a mass bunch sprint or a breakaway over the up and down terrain. Boulogne-sur-Gesse hosted a stage finish last year that saw Loic Chetout take a small group sprint out of a group of 6 and something very similar could happen on Saturday.

Stage 4

Foix to St. Girons (130.4 kilometers)

A carbon copy of the final stage from the 2014 edition. Following work on the Port de Lers, the race substituted the Col de Latrape for the Col de Port and just went with last year's stage. Within roughly 80 kilometers, the race takes on the Col de Port, the Col d'Agnes and the Col de la Core.

The peloton will be sorted at will be most likely a small group coming of the de la Core with 30 kilometers of downhill for the finish in St. Girons. If it is anything like last year, the group will be small but together perhaps a solo rider out front.

For the complete guide book with the full route, go here. I will try to get another post about the riders out before Thursday.