Tour de France 2014's Stage 9 will be underway on Sunday. The last stage had a French victor in Biel Kadri of the Ag2r La Mondiale team.
Here the contestants will cover a distance of 170 kilometres between Gerardmer and Mulhouse. The riders will have to contend with a mostly mountainous stretch till the ending 20 kilometres from where flat territory will appear, reported CycleQuotes.com.
Contestants will be looking to make the most of this flat 20 kilometre stretch. This stretch provides them with a platform to emerge as winner and maybe add a few extra seconds to keep in the bank before the all-important Stage 10.
In the last stage the competition amongst the General Classification riders (GC) was rather intense. Spaniard Albert Contandor clipped off few seconds of yellow jersey holder Nibali in Stage 8. This did not seem to affect Nibali. The yellow jersey holder will be looking to consolidate his position as leader while Contandor and other GC riders will be looking to edge him out.
This stage, which mainly comprises of mountainous territory, a total number of six energy-sapping climbs lie ahead of the contestants although these mountains are not huge in size. Col de la Schlucht and Grand Ballon are two mountains before Stage 9's riders.
The start of this stage is expected to be a challenge. At the very beginning itself the contestants will ascend toward the Col de la Schlucht .Thereafter a plateau appears and from here on the contestants go downwards. They head toward Col du Weittstein. Another downward trail commences from here.
Cote des Cinq Chateau followed by Cote de Gueberscwhiwr come up next. After this the contestants face an intermediate sprint . Thereafter a very challenging foray into Le Markstein lies ahead of the riders. After Le Markstein the Grand Ballon appears.
In the end 4 roundabouts come the way of the contestants within the closing 6 kilometres. An exciting finish is on the cards, the ending 500 metres, completely flat without any turns, lead to the ending point Mulhouse.
Where to Watch --
Ten Sports Day 9
7-45 PM To 9-15 PM (IST)
France
Online Links
Ten Sports Day 9 HERE
