Preview: 2014 Tour de France — Stage 9

Gérardmer to Mulhouse (170km)

Sunday, July 13th 7:20 a.m. – 11:23 a.m. EDT

What will be the situation when we set out from Gérardmer? One would have to be very clever to predict how the GC will look by the start of stage 9. The peloton will have encountered Yorkshire’s hills, the cobbles, and perhaps even echelons around Verdun. This could mean that some significant GC contenders will already be well off the pace. Will they fancy joining the attackers, who won’t want to miss the opportunity to put their noses in the wind on this stage? Tour organizers ASO have mapped out a stage that’s very typical of the Vosges, with climbs that are long, rather than steep. One day before the Tour’s first major climbing stage, this stage should produce some interesting insight into who the strongest riders are.