Preview - Tour de France 2022 stage 7

On the seventh day of the race the Tour de France reaches the mountains. There will only be one day in the Vosges this year, but as is traditional the Planche des Belles Filles will be climbed – once again. It is a 176-kilometer stage that will be a “one-effort day” and should thin down the riders that will be fighting for the top places in the race, as it’s the first real climbing test.

The first half of the stage is in it’s grand majority flat, without much of an opportunity for there to be spectacle. The intermediate sprint will come just after the 100-kilometer mark, and a sequence of hilltops will follow as the riders enter the rugged terrain.

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The riders will be focusing all their efforts on the final climb. The leadout into the ascent should be furious so the effort will be a little longer, and once the riders enter the hairpins the gradients will bite. The climb is 6.9 kilometers long, it has a tough beginning with some sharp gradients allowing for attacks to be dealt.

However the finish will be in the ski area above, the “Super Planche”, and so besides the tough ramp that used to take the riders into the finish line, the riders will – like in 2019 – ride into a gravel sector and ride the excruciating gradients into the finish.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:

**** Tadej Pogacar

*** Jonas Vingegaard, Aleksandr Vlasov

** Adam Yates, Daniel Martínez, Primoz Roglic

* David Gaudu, Geraint Thomas, Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana