Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal) is no stranger to today's road. He remembers the Puy Mary as the place where he successfully defended the yellow jersey of the 2005 Tour de l'Avenir from Aurillac to Aurillac, helped by a rookie named Andy Schleck, the day when experts realized that stage winner Bradley Wiggins was also a climber: “Yes, I have great memories from here”, the Dane told letour.com prior to the start. “I looked at the map this morning and it's almost the same stage isn't it? I remember Wiggins won the stage. But I can tell you something. I'm not going to take the yellow jersey today. I have six broken ribs with fifteen fractures actually. But it's getting better and better. The doctor said he had never seen a thing like this. It's a good stage for my team-mate Tony Gallopin, I hope he'll win it at the end of the day.”
Lars Bak had an accident five weeks ago during the conclusive stage of the Giro d'Italia from Cuneo to Turin. He convinced Lotto-Soudal's team manager Marc Sergeant that he would still be helpful at the Tour de France. In fact, he's been seen riding hard at the front of the peloton for André Greipel in stages dedicated to sprinters.
