Riders take on longest stage, 230km to Chalon-sur-SaôneTour de France 2019: stage-by-stage guideEmail Barry here or tweet @bglendenning 10.52am BST 223km to go: With the peloton dawdling along at a snail’s pace, Several EF Education First riders hit the deck and Tejay van Garderentakes a while to get to his feet and back on his bike before getting going again. He’s got a cut under his left eye and has clearly clattered his left knee too. He pedals away looking very sorry for himself after hitting the ground hard. 10.49am BST 223km to go: We have our breakaway and it’s a reluctant two-man kamikaze mission b eing carried out by Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Gobert) and Stephane Rosetto (Cofidis). They have opened a gap of 1min 57sec on the bunch. 10.45am BST 229km to go: Cofidis rider Stephane Rossetto shoots off into the distance, somewhat reluctantly if the way he’s jabbering into his radio is anything to go by.Behind him, Wanty-Gobert rider Yoann Offredo bridges the gap with all the enthusiasm of a condemned man walking to the gallows. He’s obviously under orders from his directeur sportif and keeps looking behind him in something approaching desperation to see if anyone else is coming with him. There are no takers. 10.39am BST 230km to go: No, really. There are 230km to go. 10.34am BST A point to ponder: Ahead of this stage, the riders will have spent 20 minutes or so warming up on their rollers by the team coaches. They’re now engaged in what is ostensibly another 10-kilometre warm-up before the signal to start racing is given. And once that signal is given, the vast majority of the field will find themselves on what is ostensibly yet another warm-up – one that is 200 kilometres in length - before it’s time for them to start getting their ducks in a row ahead of the inevitable sprint finish.And what do you know? Once that’s done with and the stage is over . it’s back to the rollers by the team buses for a warm-down!!!!!!! It all seems rather unecessary to me. I suspect Dave Brailsford, Sky and their small margins have an awful lot to answer for - and I don’t mean the kind of questions they fielded so unconvincingly when called before a government select committee. 10.24am BST The roll-out has begun: THe ridfers on their way out of Belfort, going at a gentle pace before the signal to start racing is given by race director Christian Prudhomme. Once he waves his flag, a breakaway group will get away and cycle along on their own for several hours, before getting caught by the bunch ahead of a sprint finish in Chalon-sur-Saone. 10.21am BST 10.19am BST Schedule: Today’s stage is due to start in 15 minutes or so. At 230 kilometres in length over a largely flat parcours, the Tour organisers have dubbed it “The Longest Day” - metaphorically and existentially, as well as liteally, one presumes. Barring accidents, police intervention or very strong crosswinds, it’s likely to be an utterly forgettable day’s racing. Don’t touch that dial!!! 10.15am BST The Move podcast: Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie and JD look back at stage six in the podcast many cycling and Tour de France aficionados can’t quite decide whether or not it’s OK to like. 10.15am BST Jeremy Whittle was at La Planche Les Belles Filles to see defending champion Geraint Thomas throw down a marker, as Belgium’s Dylan Teuns won the stage. Related: Tour de France: Thomas makes statement but Ciccone takes yellow 10.14am BST Giulio Ciccone came up agonisingly short on yesterday’s brutal summit finish, but earned himself a day – and possibly more – in yellow by way of consolation. 10.14am BST 9.42am BST William Fotheringham: The longest stage of the Tour follows one of the toughest, but will give the flat-road sprinters another chance. It’s a hilly start, but a very flat run over the final 80km, plus there is a good chance that one of the favourites will have taken yellow the previous day which will lend some structure to the race. The pressure will be felt the most by the older sprinters, led by André Greipel, who moved to the small French team Arkéa-Samsic over the winter but hasn’t produced much, and Cofidis’s Nacer Bouhanni, who has never shone in the Tour. Continue readingread full article
