“On paper, it shouldn't be a day when things get out of hand,” said the race leader Bradley Wiggins about stage 14. “But I think it's a day for the breakaway again and we'll just marshal everything on the last climb but it's a long way to the finish after that.” Given what we've seen of the Sky team's ability to control the peloton so far this year, it's fair to say that only the truly bold would even consider trying to steal the yellow jersey off the Brit on a day when the top of the second two category-one climbs is 38.5km from the finish. But Vincenzo Nibali has also demonstrated that he can't resist the temptation to attack descents and he's not alone amongst the GC men who need to make up time on Wiggins any way they can. Jurgen van den Broeck and Cadel Evans have also tried pinching time in any situation: uphill, downhill, or even on the flat...
With bigger mountains on the horizon, it's likely the GC battle will wait until after the second rest day. The race to Foix should be one for the opportunists but the list of potential candidates is shrinking every day... Sylvain Chavanel, Luis Léon Sanchez, Thomas Voeckler have all been aggressive so far this year and they may be getting tired. Jérémy Roy would surely like to avenge his loss in Lourdes last year and perhaps this is his best chance...