Doping: there is light at the end of the tunnel

Yesterday I talked to a friend while waiting for Mrs. Cyclopunk to emerge from the supermarket, where she had become distracted by shiny things and was taking her time. As is usual at this time of year, I can't think about anything other than ridiculously fit young men in skin tight Lycra and, as is also usual, I'm boring my non-cycling friends rigid with Tour talk in a language all but incomprehensible to them. As I tried to impress upon him the sheer enormity of the race and what those who take part in it do, he said the exact same thing that all non-cyclists do when you talk about the distances and climbs involved: "Well, they're all on drugs, aren't they?"

Astana-Würth had to abandon the Tour de France in 2006 after five of its nine riders were caught in anti-doping tests. The company that owned the team had its UCI ProTour licence revoked later in the same year.

It's annoying, that. However, much as we'd all like to think otherwise it's easy to see why those not in the know believe it to be the case. Over the last ten or so years, almost all of the news stories to have made it from the cycling world out into the wider public attention have been about doping - scandals, bans, is-he-or-isn't-he, Festina, Puerto, Contador, Armstrong, Millar... the list goes on. It has, categorically, not been a good ten years for our sport and until very recently it looked as though professional cycling was in real danger of changing beyond all recognition when the big businesses upon which teams rely for sponsorship began to run a mile from anything connected to it, even if the team in question was one of those that was doing all it could (as all of them are now doing) to assist the UCI in their quest to stamp out doping altogether, because there were no 100% clean teams. All had been affected by at least one rider who resorted to unfair help from the needle.

This year's Tour looks set to once again be ridden under a dark cloud as favourite Alberto Contador faces suspicions over the miniscule amount of a banned substance found in a sample he gave last year, and even though there is no evidence to suggest he's lying when he claims he was an inadvertent victim of food contamination there are many who have already decided he's guilty, despite the fact that we need to wait until at least August for a final verdict. Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong is back in the news. As it happens, he's not being accused of doping this time but is in a spot of bother after apparently "accosting" ex-team mate Tyler Hamilton, who accused Armstrong of doping, in a Texas restaurant. That's not good at all for cycling, because Lance is the one cyclist that everyone has heard of and, having never been caught doping, should be the shining example that he truly is. The problem is that the non-cyclists of the world won't bother to read the story. They'll just see "Lance Armstrong," "doping" and "FBI" and fill in the rest according to what they think they know. "Ah, I knew it," they tell themselves, "They ARE all at it!"

Lance Armstrong has never tested positive for any banned substance. Yet even in retirement, he is under constant suspicion simply due to his unprecedented success. Things shouldn't be this way.

There has always been doping in cycling. The sheer hardship of competing at professional level in the sport is such that there will always be those who seek to gain a little unfair advantage, and there will always be those who are simply unable to do what Armstrong, Schleck, Wiggins and - we'll lay our cards on the table here - Contador can do. That's no fault on their part, because the tiny minority who can ride at Armstrong's level are supermen while the vast majority of riders are mere mortal men. We're at a stage now when, finally, it's beginning to look as though doping can be halted once and for all - the tests have progressed to such a state that it's virtually impossible for a doper to escape detection and vast sums of cash have been poured into the anti-doping coffers. Nowadays it's no longer a case of whether or not a cyclist has the luck to get away with it, as it was when Tom Simpson drugged himself up to the eyeballs and paid the ultimate price on Mont Ventoux in 1967 - it's when they'll get caught, and they will, sooner rather than later.

Tom Simpson paid the ultimate price for doping on the slopes of Mount Ventoux.

If that means that racing becomes slower the so be it. That won't mean that cycling has taken a step backward, it'll just mean that we'll return to the days before everything went mad in 1998, the year that Willy Voet was arrested with a car full of drugs on the French border and the Festina Affair exploded way beyond the usual boundaries of cycling news. At least one of cycling's opinion-makers agrees - Jean-René Bernaudeau, himself a critic of anti-doping controls in the past.

"We need to wipe out ten years because we have lost our reference points," says the 54-year-old directeur sportif of Europcar, who are fielding an all-French team in this year's Tour. Some of the results in the last ten years are simply meaningless. There are riders who make sense to me: Hushovd, for example, hasn't come from nowhere. Bradley Wiggins has been fast since he was 18 or 19. You can't wipe out ten years of the sport, but in my mind I don't use those years as a measure of reference.

"We are on the right road. We are seeing things that make sense again," he continues. "You can see the riders grimacing as they ride up the mountains. I don't like seeing riders climbing mountains with their mouths closed, or the same guys riding super-strong on the flat and in the mountains."

The peloton has been passing through a very long and very dark tunnel, but the light at the end can be seen.

Marianne Vos at work in the Netherlands

NK wielrennen op de weg 2010 dames by tedvdw

Marianne Vos racing in the Netherlands. If this was a men's race, there'd be spectators everywhere. Watch the speed through the corners and give me one reason why women's racing doesn't attract as much attention as the men's does.

End of the road for Highroad?

HTC-Highroad owner Bob Stapleton has warned that his team will no longer exist come the end of the year because of difficulties in finding a sponsor - and he blames doping scandals for those difficulties.

"We have a lot to offer," he told Road.cc, "but we have to shout that story out over the controversy that seems to surround the sport." Although none of the team's riders have been caught doping since Highroad grew out of the scandal-rocked T-Mobile in 2007, cycling in general has earned a reputation for being riddled with widespread doping among the public and that shady image makes potential sponsors nervous about committing the sort of money - around 10 million euros - that a team needs to enter the three Grand Tours.

Highroad has long provided an opportunity for
young talents like 21-year-old Leigh Howard to
learn from the big-hitters on the team and thus
realise their full potential.

Even if HTC does withdraw support and Highroad can find a replacement, Stapleton may find himself without any riders. Reports are flying around the Internet and cycling press that Mark Cavendish will be leaving the team for Team Sky, with many people expecting confirmation once riders are permitted to discuss such matters come August - any degree of uncertainty will see other members, including Tony Martin and Tejay van Garderen, making exploratory approaches to other teams and they may receive more tempting offers.

Highroad have been one of the most successful teams in cycling with their male and female riders achieving an astonishing 462 victories between them since 2008. Stapleton has long had a policy of supporting young talent, giving several younger riders who might have had difficulties getting a place on other teams the opportunity to realise their potential and for that reason alone the organisation's demise would be detrimental to the sport.
.

Clean or not, Contador's presence in the Tour will not be an embarrassment

British hopeful Bradley Wiggins, who recently won the Critérium du Dauphiné and in doing so proved himself back to the form he displayed when he came fourth in the 2009 Tour de France, has said that "it is not a good thing [for cycling] that a bloke who tested positive four times is in the race" in reference to Alberto Contador who tested positive for the banned bronchodilator Clenbuterol during last year's Tour.

Contador, like any professional cyclist at the top of his game, is no stranger to the murky world of doping. In 2006 he became caught up in the notorious Operation Puerto which followed Jesus Manzano's exposure of widespread doping in his team and the shady practices of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, but was subsequently cleared of all charges by the Spanish courts and by the UCI. He was questioned again in connection with the case in December and rather inadvisably refused to submit to a DNA sample which would have either proved or disproved links to nearly a hundred bags of blood plasma - each with a cheeky shot of EPO for an added kick - that had been recovered by police during their investigation. In doing so, he probably did his career more harm than a conviction would have done - had he have been linked to it, he'd have received a suspension and once it had passed he could have returned to the sport. By refusing, he ensured that there was always going to be a great big question mark hanging over him. However, anyone who has ever found themselves the target of false charges will be well aware that once you're cleared you want to move on and continue with your life - Contador may regret refusing the DNA test now, but at the time he must have been heartily sick of the entire case and hoped to hear the last of it.

Contador is almost unique among climbers in that he can also perform at a very high level in time trials, a factor that has contributed to his success.

That question mark haunted him in the 2009 Tour when, following a spectacular climb up Verbier - the fastest in Tour history - in Stage 15, Greg LeMond wrote in a column for the Le Monde newspaper that Contador would have needed an oxygen transport rate in excess of that achieved "by any athlete in any sport" and demanded that he proved he was capable of such a feat "without falling back to the use of performance-enhancing products" and likened his victory to that of "a Mercedes sedan winning on a Formula 1 circuit." During a press conference the next day, Contador once again unwisely decided to side-step the issue, increasing suspicions further. LeMond had based his accusation on figures calculated by Antoine Vayer, the trainer of the rival Festina team, which were called into doubt by physiologists including the highly-respected Andrew Coggan. Vayer assumed that Contador would have needed to maintain an average power output of 490 watts which, in a man weighing 83kg, would equate to 99.5ml per hour per kg - which would be unusually high. Coggan criticised Vayer's calculations which he termed sloppy and noted several areas which could contribute to false results, such as failing to take in decreased air resistance at altitude. Furthermore, virtually all the top riders had climbed Verbier in record times that day - including Andy Schleck and Lance Armstrong, neither of whom have ever been proven to be involved in doping despite countless accusations and investigations in the case of Armstrong - suggesting that conditions on the mountain were simply conducive to high-speed cycling. He also noted an inconsistency between Vayer's given length of the climb, 8.6km, and the official length as given by the Tour de France organisers, 8.8km, more than sufficient to skew the results. Coggan concluded that the rider's average power would in fact have been more like 450 watts, equating to an oxygen transport rate of 80ml per hour per kg which could be expected for a man of his build and level of fitness.

As we all know, Contador gave a urine sample in September 2010 which tested positive for a drug called Clenbuterol, a sympathomimetic steroid and bronchodilator prescribed to asthmatics to ease breathing - thus enabling more oxygen to be absorbed into the blood - and the cycling press leapt on the case like starving wolves, in some cases predicting the end of his career. Once again, it was only a matter of time before doubts arose - what had at first seemed to be a case of an athlete being caught red-handed in the act of cheating turned out be rather more complicated. First of all, Contador failed one test only - his sample was declared clear in other tests to which it was subjected. Various people involved in cycling went on record stating that Clenbuterol is of little use as a performance-enhancer, especially in the miniscule amounts suggested by Contador's sample which were 40 times lower than would be required for any noticeable effect and Dr. Douwe van Boer (Contador's scientific advisor) claimed that it would have to be administered in amounts 180 times that discovered in the sample to have any chance of giving the recipient a competitive edge, supporting Contador's explanation that he had not deliberately taken the drug and that it had entered his system via contaminated food, most likely beef - it was used by veterinary surgeons to relax the uterus in cows and can be used illegally to promote the growth of lean meat in livestock destined to become food, which appears to add some credence, as does the support for the explanation given by Dr. Don Catlin, a highly-respected scientist and one of the driving forces behind modern anti-doping measures.

If he can repeat his 2008 Vuelta
success, Contador will be the
only cyclist to have won all
three Grand Tours in a single
season.

The incident led to the Spanish Cycling Federation proposing a one year ban for the cyclist but, following an appeal, all charges were subsequently dropped in early 2011 and he returned to professional racing in February. The independent World Anti-Doping Agency and UCI both appealed the Spanish decision to the Court for Arbitration in Sport in March and a hearing was scheduled for June but later put back after Contador's lawyers requested more time to prepare. It is now scheduled for early August later this year, until which time Contador is legally free to ride in professional events. If that's the case, there should be no reason that he should be singled out for a crime that in view of his current cleared status he should be considered not to have committed and banned from taking part in this year's Tour de France - during which he will doubtless be subjected to a barrage of tests and will, if he cheats, be found out. Bearing that in mind, the decision to enter the race if he is/has been doping would seem extraordinarily stupid because a positive test will ruin his chances with the Court.

The UCI supports this view, stating that until the Court finds him guilty, should it do so, Contador "has the right to be treated like every other rider who takes part in the Tour de France." Reporting on the case, Republican American says that his participation in the race could do great damage to the sport and compares it to Lance Armstrong's return from retirement in 2009. However, the opposite is more likely to be the case - if Contador consistently produces clean samples this year, his status as one of cycling's true heroes and an all-time great will be cemented and will pave the way for him to attempt victory in the Vuelta a Espana, which would make him the only cyclist ever to have won all three Grand Tours in a single season and which would generate enormous publicity for the sport. If he cheats and is found out - and there's little doubt he would be - then professional cycling can be shown to have got its act together following the scandals of a few years ago and the sport's reputation cane be repaired once the world is aware that those who obtain an unfair advantage by using performance-enhancing drugs will be caught and will be stripped of their titles.

"It is also bad for those teams that are fighting to be clean, as is the case with my team, Sky," says Wiggins, who has become Britain's best-ever hope of a Tour winner. If that's the case, he should welcome Contador's chance to prove that he too is clean, because if an athlete can perform in the way he does without resorting to drugs then that's one of the strongest arguments against doping anyone could ever want.

Tour de Suisse debriefing

Well, how damn good was the 2011 Tour de Suisse? There was more action, fun and drama rammed into those nine stages than in an average year's Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana combined - it had a bit of everything: sudden comebacks, questionable tactics, blistering speeds, tempers, no clear favourite until the end of the final stage, the emergence of new heroes and stunning scenery. In other words, it was everything the Grand Tours try to be - and for those of us who follow the sport from this sceptred isle of staffordshire bull terriers and all-pervasive CCTV, some impressive efforts by British riders.

The race was marred
by the horrific
accident that has
left Mauricio
Soler in a coma.

The entire event was marred by a horrific crash in Stage 6 during which Columbian Mauricio Soler, who had won the stage on the previous day, hit a raised kerb while descending at high speed. He lost control and subsequently hit a spectator, who was not injured, and was then thrown against a rigid metal fence taking the full force of the impact. Once the Movistar rider had been airlifted to the nearest hospital, doctors discovered he was suffering from serious brain injuries and placed him into a medically-induced coma. His condition is improving but remains serious.

Covering 1245km of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria, the parcours took in some of the finest regions the Alps have to offer with the mountain stages being worthy of particular note, especially the high altitude Hors-Categorie finish on Trisenberg for Stage 7 (1600m) and the ascent of HC  Flüelapass which at 2383m is 268m higher than the well-known Col du Tourmalet, highest point of several Tours de France. Lower-lying features were equally as good, the Rheinfall being a spectacular highlight, and the villages offering every aesthetic quality expected from Alpine villages - half-timbered cottages that stay just the right side of nauseatingly twee, spotless roads and typically litter-free Swiss roadsides.

One of the biggest surprises of the race was some of the people who didn't dominate. Among them were Mark Cavendish, despite some sprint sections, some flat (for Switzerland) stages and a flat finish in Stage 8 only managed a disappointing 127th place overall. However, going by his attitude and quirky quips (including humourously accusing TeamSky of using up all the available bandwidth to download porn when he was unable to get online after one stage), we're led to suspect that he was taking things easy and treating this Tour as a training ride in preparation for the Tour de France which starts in two weeks' time. Another rider who seemed content to languish at the back of the class was Andy Schleck. A problem with his chain - Andy's least favourite part of the bike by now, you would think - saw the Luxembourger take 147th place in the prologue time trial, with this result not helped by time trialing being the discipline at which he least excels. Talk among Andyfans for much of the earlier stages was then devoted to trying to guess what he was up to, because that was the last we saw of him for a while: was he sandbagging to lull arch-rival Alberto Contador into a false sense of security before the French Tour, could he just not be bothered to put in the effort or was he genuinely showing bad form? He even only took 57th in Stage 6, where the 1132m climb over the final 12.8km should have suited him well. Finally, in Stage 7 he woke up and climbed the Flüelapass like a squirrel on amphetamines, winning himself the green jersey - which he keeps in the overall King of the Mountains competition - in the process and spending most of the rest of the day near the front end of the race in breakaway groups too. He was just pipped to the post, following another impressive Category 1 climb of 549m towards the finish, by Christian Vande Velde; but even Andy will agree Christian rode well and deserved to win in the end.

Levi Leipheimer, one of the nicest guys in cycling, took overall victory after forging ahead in the final time trial.

One rider really stood out, despite coming 50th overall - Peter Sagan, who despite being just 21 years old put the wind up many riders in their prime and won Stages 3 and 8. Sagan, who when 19 was described by team doctors as the strongest rider of his age they'd ever seen, will in all likelihood be the man that Mark Cavendish - often said to be the fastest man on two wheels - needs to keep a wary eye on during the sprint sections of next month's Tour. Another young rider who will now be able to improve his cv is TeamSky's Ben Swift: the 23-year-old British rider took 10th in Stage 5 and a very impressive 3rd in Stage 8. The force is strong in this one, and in three years when Cav and Bradley Wiggins are thinking of signing off it may well be Swift who takes on the mantle of Great British Hope. The most successful British rider was Wiggo and Swifty's team mate ex-mountain biker Chris Froome who although somewhat out of the limelight kept plugging away and racking up the pointeroonies. 8th place in Stage 8 gave him what he needed to take 47th overall with a total time of 42h 30'.

21-year-old Sagan, who once
entered and won a Slovak
Cup race on a supermarket
bike borrowed from his sister,
represented himself very well.

Climbing and classics specialist Damiano "il Piccolo Principe" Cunego was most people's favourite to win from halfway through the race up until the Stage 9 time trial - the diminutive Italian held top place overall through six stages. However, with a lead of just 1'36" it would have been foolish to place any large bets and in the end he lost out to American Levi Leipheimer who beat him by 4 seconds in Stage 9, taking the 2011 yellow jersey. Leipheimer, who at 37 will probably be thinking of retiring so he can devote his time to the animal sanctuary he and his wife Odessa Gunn (also a professional cyclist) have set up in California, adds this victory to a swathe of others won in a selection of road racing disciplines, making him one of the greatest roleurs of all time.

Top Threes
General Classification: Levi Leipheimer (Radioshack) 31h 45' 02"; Damiano Cunego (Lampre ISD) +0' 04"; Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +1' 02".

King of the Mountains: Andy Schleck (LeopardTrek) 44pts; Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) 35pts; Damiano Cunego (Lampre ISD) 30pts.

Sprints: Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r-Mondiale) 27pts; Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) 12pts; Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep) 11pts.

Points: Peter Sagan (Liquigas) 86pts; Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) 50pts; Tejay van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) 44pts.

Full Stage 9 and General Classification results are here.

As is traditional with the Tour de Suisse, next year's route was announced on the final day of this year's race. Stage 1, a time trial, will once again be held in Lugano; Stage 2 will start in Verbania over the border in Italy and end in Verbier; Stage 3 starts in Martigny and ends in Aarberg; Stage 4 Aarberg to Trimbach/Olten; Stage 5 Trimbach/Olten to Kanton Aargau; Stage 6 Kanton Aargau to Bischofszell; Stage 7 Gossau-Gossau TT; Stage 8 Bischofszell to Arosa; Stage 9 Näfels/Lintharena to Sörenberg.

Lake Lucerne

The race will run from the 9th to the 17 of July and although route details are not yet available, it looks set to offer more flat sections with some very testing climbs mixed in beginning right from Stage 2 - the route into Verbier features a series of switchbacks up to the village at 1500m. The terrain between Martigny and Aarberg is flatter but the route will probably pass Lake Geneva, Aarberg to Trimbach and on to Argau is similar with several forested regions. Stage 6, though flat, is very long with Bischofszell far to the east near Lake Constance. Following the time trial, the route heads back into the hills with stage finish Arosa located at an altitude of 1775m. Näfels, at 437m, is fairly low, but nearby Rautispitz rises to 2283m so climbs are a distinct possibility in the early stages of the stage. The terrain to the finish line at Sörenberg is rolling and winds around the lakes Obersee, Zug and Lucerne with its 1200m cliffs, so expect some of the finest Swiss scenery. I can't wait. We'll have a closer look at possible 2012 routes sometime soon.

Tour de Suisse Stage 9

Incredibly, it's the last stage of the Tour de Suisse already and it's been an excellent event this year - I'm not the only Twitterer to have found it more interesting than the Giro d'Italia. Were it not for the fact that hosting a three-week event in a country the size of Switzerland would be extremely tricky, this would deserve reorganisation and an upgrade to Grand Tour status.

As anyone who knows anything about Switzerland and her Alpine neighbours would expect, the scenery has been as pleasing to look at as David Cameron with a black eye. Today will be much the same - Schaffhausen is one of the most beautiful towns in the region and Dörflingen at the 8.2km point is deservedly on the list of Swiss Heritage sites. Thayngen at 13.5km is impressive, too.

Dörflingen

Today's route takes in 32km of both Austria and Switzerland, to be completed in individual time trial stylee - but it's a time trial with a steep 182m climb over 3.8km thrown in for good measure which means the sprinters and those TT riders who don't do so well on the hills won't have it all their own way. Expect some of the climbers who can also keep up the pace in the flatlands to do alright today... we're thinking Frank Schleck might enjoy a good ride. Meanwhile, Cavendish sounds confident on Twitter: "TourDeSuisse is going to feel like a training ride. I hope," he says. However, you never can predict the outcome of a time trial, especially when it comes at the end of a major stage race.

Stetten is everything a Swiss village should be.

The climb, at Opfertshofner, isn't huge when compared to some of those earlier on in the event when the riders tackled a few of Europe's highest mountain passes, but with a highest point of 658m it's sufficient to get the old knees aching and offer good views of the surrounding countryside. The descent takes in Stetten, everything a Swiss village should be, and then enters the more-or-less flat final stage back into Schaffhausen which should encourage some high speed action.


The weather forecast looks good for the late morning and early afternoon, which means good TT conditions for the first riders out, but light showers around 3pm could make things slippery for those departing or arriving back at Schaffhausen at this time. Temperatures should be comfortable in the dry, ranging between 13-16 C, but may feel chilly during rain.


You know who we think is going to shine today? Young Ben Swift from TeamSky. Although he's a sprinter rather than a TT specialist, his fantastic 3rd place yesterday demonstrated that he has the ability to keep to a high pace over a long stage before switching on the afterburners for the final dash. He might not take the best time, but he'll do well. Damiano Cunego needs to ride hard if he wants to hang onto the yellow jersey - with a lead of 1'23" over second place Steven Kruijskijk, he should be able to do so (that climb shouldn't give him any trouble, he's an excellent grimpeur) provided he stays free of accidents/mechanical problems.

Route du Sud Stage 3 results

Anthony Charteau couldn't repeat the success he had yesterday, but Davide Rebellin rode extremely well and took another third place. Not bad at all for a man his age!

1  Jurgen Van Goolen (Veranda's Willems-Accent)
2  Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky                       + 1'36"
3  Davide Rebellin (Miche-Guerciotti 
4  Sébastien Joly (Saur-Sojasun)
5  Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ)
6  Thomas DeGand (Veranda's Willems-Accent)
7  José Herrada Lopez (Caja Rujal)
8  Sandy Casar (FDJ)
9  Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ)
10 Maxime Mederel (BigMat-Auber93)
11 Vasil Kiryenka (Movistar)
12 Sergio Pardilla (Movistar)
13 John Gadret (AG2R-La Mondiale)

Overall classification
1  Vasil Kiryenka (Movistar)
2  Davide Rebellin (Miche-Guerciotti               + 43"
3  Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky                        + 45"
4  Sébastien Joly (Saur-Sojasun                    + 51"
5  Thomas Degand (Veranda's Willems-Accent)
6  José Herrada Lopez (Caja Rujal)
7  Sandy Casar (FDJ)
8  Maxime Mederel (BigMat-Auber93)
9  Jean-Marc Marino (Saur-Sojasun)
10 Anthony Charteau (Team Europcar) 

Early breakaway in the Tour de Suisse

Dammit, wish I could predict stage winners as accurately as I predicted the first breakaway. I said earlier that we might see a breakaway in the early parts of today's Stage 8 of the Tour de Suisse in the flat section before Romanshorn - and you can bugger me with an angry tomcat if that isn't exactly what happened when Marycz, Paolini, Barta and Ventoso decided they'd all had more than enough of plodding along in the rain and that they'd try to up the pace a bit. The four of them shot off in front and are now doing the business some 6'23" ahead of the peloton. It can't last, however - the gap's gradually being reduced as the main group reel them back in.

Now, if I can just apply the same prediction skill to stage and race winners and set up a few spread bets, I ought to be watching the Tour from my personal helicopter before dining on pate de dinosaur and gold at my Alpine mansion. Wonder of Kate Winslet would like to join me...?

Route du Sud

With the Dauphine just finished, the Tour de Suisse in its penultimate stage and the Tour de France just around the corner it's easy to forget there are other races in progress at this time of the year. That's a pity because it can mean missing out of the Route du Sud which since inauguration in 1977 has seen some top quality racing in the Pyrenees and across Southern France, often offering a glimpse at what weaponry the teams will be touting when the Tour de France hits town two weeks later.

This year is no different with four days of racing, 720km total distance and guest appearances by those popular cycling stars Col d'Aspin and big, bad Col du Tourmalet in Stage 2. Port de Bales, as featured in the 2007 and 2010 Tours is also a feature and at 1755m will test the mettle of those who take it on in today's Stage 3.

Houses along the Agout. Lovely, but I bet rats are a problem

Stage 1 took in 203km of rolling terrain between Castres, where the houses along the Agout river surpass anything Venice has to offer for old world charm, and Samatan where the stage was won this year by Dutchman Stefan van Dijk riding for Veranda's Willems-Accent . Stage 2 wound its way into the mountains with 150 of its 177km in the Haute Pyrenees, A few tasty climbs of a couple of hundred metres or so blew away the cobwebs before the riders found themselves with 1489m Col d'Aspin, a road that has formed part of 66 Tours de France - almost as respectable as its neighbour Tourmalet, which has been in 75, and which at 2115m is both the highest point in this Route and the highest road in the entire Pyrenees. Near the summit stands a statue of Jacques Goddet who directed the Tour for 41 years until 1987. Anthony Charteau of Europcar was both first over the top and first across the finish line this year, just keeping ahead of Movistar's Vasil Kiriyienka but not without some extreme effort.

Today's Stage 3 is far less mountainous with little fluctuation in altitude before Col du Mente and an ascent not far short of 1000m. As the road to the top of Port de Bales begins at a higher point, the ascent is once again around 1000m, but being so much higher than Col du Mente the effects of altitude are greater and make it a harder climb. Charteau may prove to be the right man for the job once again in this section, but Kiriyienka won't give him an easy time of it. Davide Rebellin, back from his suspension after failing a dope test and rapidly approaching 40 years of age, took third place yesterday and there's every reason for him to do the same today.

Stage 4 is a different matter entirely, being downhill almost all the way of its 143km to Pau, declared by poet Alphonse de Lamartine to have "the world's most beautiful view of the Earth." The sprinters will seize their chance to shake up the overall standings over this stage, which makes it very difficult to even guess who might be declared the race's eventual winner.

Tour de Suisse Stage 8

It's the penultimate day of what has been a great Tour de Suisse - we honestly can't see why this race doesn't get the attention the Vuelta and Giro do - and the sprinters will be glad that Stage 8 is completely different to Stage 8 and its vast climbs. Today is all about speed with long, flat sections around 400m above sea level, a couple of uncategorised 200m ascents and one C4 and a manageable C3 towards the end of the 167km parcour.

Mark Cavendish comments sarcastically about the rain in Tübach but is chipper on Twitter, saying "Lovely day for a bike race! Upside, should be a bunch sprint." British fans will be hoping to see the Manx Missile demonstrate the capability that earned him his nickname today and the flat finish at Schaffhausen should be to his liking. However, he's got to deal with those hills first and they're just big enough to spoil the fun.

Romanshorn, despite lying at an altitude of more than 400m in a landlocked country, as the feel of a seaside town due to the docks on Lake Constance where fishing vessels provide an important source of food and income.

The first climb comes just 1.8km after the start and though not huge, with an ascent of 196m in under 5km the mountain specialists and all-rounders will take up the lead for a while. Once topped, it's a long downhill run over 32.2km which should spread out the pack a bit. It's still early days at this point, but anyone who feels up to it may start putting on the pressure with a breakaway attempt before reaching the second respectable uncategorised climb of 200m up to Romanshorn on the banks of Lake Constance. Then there's a quick bit of descending and, but for a brief blip at Altnau where remains of a Neolithic culture dating to 5500 years old have been discovered, it's a flat run all the way to the food station at 94.2km.

It's much the same all the way for the next 32km until the first of the day's visits to Schaffhausen, but with a few hazards in the form of level crossings, narrow roads and an undefined hazard at 105.2km it's not a section to be taken lightly - especially when traveling at the high rate the Tourists will be maintaining. Schaffhausen was an independent city state during the Medieval period and despite accidental bombing by the USAF on April Fool's Day 1944 (oh, how the locals laughed) has retained many very fine old buildings in the traditional Swiss Alpine style. If you're watching on television, make the most of any local interest to catch the cameraman's eye because they'll be concentrating on the rider at the front next time the Tour hits town.

Schaffhausen

More flatlands, narrow roads and another hazard bring us up to sharp bend into Rheinfall, the largest waterfall in Europe and quite possibly the most spectacular too, which brings holidaymakers and their wallets in droves to the area. Then it's a short climb followed by a couple of fast sprints (at 132.7km and 142.3km) before the first proper climb of the day, the 177m Category 3 Oberhallau. An equally steep descent affords little let-up before Cat 4 Siblingerhöh at 560m. The actual ascent is just 89m, but after spending so much of the last 154km trying to keep up with the sprinters few of the climbers will make it to the top without at least minor suffering. Once back down, the real sprinting will start - it's flat all the way over the final 11.7km back to Schaffhausen on a road with few complications other than a tight bend 0.4km from the finish line. This is where we may see Cavendish prove why he's got such a formidable reputation and, with a bit of luck, take the stage winner honours. However, the thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon in the region may mess things up a bit.

On average, 700 cubic metres of water flow over the Rheinfall every second in summer.

The weather looks set to be fairly horrible for most of the day, with heavy rain in Tübach and thunderstorms likely to leave the roads slippery around Schaffhausen even if they've died out by the latter part of the afternoon.


Predictions: we were even less accurate yesterday than the day before, but it's that unpredictability that keeps stage racing interesting. We thought the top five would be Cunego, Kruijswijk, Frank Schleck, Mollema and finally ten Dam in fifth. As it turned out, none of them were even in the top ten; somewhat surprisingly as each of them is a strong climber who should have performed well on a course dominated by the vast Flüelapass - we did at least have a Schleck in there, though - the high altitude horror brought the expert mountain man Andy Schleck out of hiding and he took an opportunity to show everyone what Contador will have to contend with in the Tour de France.

Will Cavendish show us why he's called the Missile today?

Now, this is just a hunch and may be down to wishful patriotic thinking rather than studious examination of form, but we think Mark Cavendish will shine today, and we think that as a result he's going to be the first over the line. We'll hope for Ben Swift of Team Sky to make a top ten appearance too, but this is less likely. Second place is a difficult one to describe because so many riders will be after it. Oscar Freire may be one of the older riders, but he managed second in Stage 5 which was, broadly, a similar one to today; but Peter Sagan, Tejay Van Garderen, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Marco Marcato (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in Stage 5) are all going to be jostling for a piece of the action too. Then again, at this late stage in the Tour, some of the sprinters further down the ranks might be wanting to have a go on the podium too. Oh well - we'll have a stab at it: Cavendish for 1st, Marcato for 2nd, Freire for 3rd, Linus Gerdemann for 4th (perhaps encouraged by team mate Schleck's success) and Van Garderen for fifth.


We were correct in our guess that yesterday would see abandonments: Daniel Sesma, Mirco Lorenzetto, Danilo Di Luca, Jeffry Louder and Philip Deignan all fell by the wayside. Provided there's no accidents or illness today, there's every chance that everyone who sets out will make it to the end today.

Tour de Suisse Stage 7 results

What a stage! Today had everything a cycling fan could want - the kind of scenery only Switzerland and Austria can provide, a few bits for the sprinters, a few pointy bits for the climbers and a massive great mountain slap bang in the middle to let everyone know who's the boss.

Andy Schleck pulled his finger out
today and was the first man up the
Flüelapass

A rather unexpected boss emerged: who should come riding up from the back of the pack where he's been all week since breaking his chain in the prologue...? Andy Schleck! He was first over the Flüelapass, which must have got Alberto Contador worried; it's been looking like next month's Tour de France was as good as his so far, but with Andy back in the zone he'll know he's going to have to work even harder than he did last year. So, was Schleck the Younger sandbagging in the hope of lulling Bertie into a false sense of security or has he genuinely been lacking good form? Only time will tell; but he got up the hill quicker than a fat bloke gets to Greg's when the pasties are BOGOF, so we're guessin' he was bluffin'. Or maybe he was just sulkin' - after all, chains have cost him a lot in the past.


He either couldn't or didn't want to win the stage, though, coming in a close second behind Thomas de Gendt who rode like a mountain-munching grimpeur today - honestly, how do the Benelux countries repeatedly turn out climbers of this calibre? Asked if he'd been aware it was Schleck chasing him up the last hill, he replied: "I was thinking he was going to catch me in the end." Another indication that ol' Schlecky knows what he's about, and more encouragement for Bertie to train hard over the next two weeks.


Third place went to Jose Joaquin Rojas, fourth to Christian Vande Velde, fifth to Alberto Losada, sixth to Sergey Lagutin, seventh to Jan "Pitbull" Bakelants who seems to have spent most of this Tour attacking anything that comes near him, eighth to to that little Italian munchkin Marco Marcato, a very impressive ninth to veteran George Hincapie who turns 38 at the end of this month and tenth to Manuele Boaro who as a result may now get a Wikipedia page written about him. Andy took a very well deserved green jersey for King of the Mountains, and that counts for a lot on a stage like this one.

Thomas de Gendt was first over the finish, and he earned it. Mrs. Cyclopunk says he's cute.

Overall leadership stays much the same with Damiano Cunego, Bauke Mollema and Steven Kruijswijk holding onto first, second and third. The next couple of stages, apart from a few lumps, are going to see the controls handed back to the sprinters so this arrangement probably won't change dramatically before the race ends on Sunday and it's looking increasingly like Cunego's our man.

Tour de Suisse Stage 7

Stage 6 may have considerately allowed the sprinters a chance to strut their funky stuff yesterday, but Stage 7 is just going to hurt them because it's gradients all the way in a parcours du combattant that will punish all but the very fittest of the mountain specialists and which looks set to be the toughest stage of this year's event.


Extending over 223km in the decidedly spiky east of the nation, the route takes in the Flüelapass (46°45′01″N 9°56′52″E - worth a look on Google Earth) which, with an elevation of 2383m, is the fifth highest pass in Switzerland. Unlike the rolling terrain to the first climb in Stage 6, there's no easy build-up today either - it's uphill all the way for the first 65km from the start at Vaduz in Liechtenstein. Then it gets tough.

Flüelapass. At 2383m, riders are going to suffer.

75-95km sees the first real climbing of the day: though uncategorised, this short section ascends 701m from Thusis at 720m and Wiesen at 1421m. There's then a relatively flat section, but when you're one-and-a-half thousand metres up riding on pancake-flat terrain is still tiring - this is, after all, higher than the highest point in the British Isles - so the food station positioned at 105km is going to be a welcome sight. They're going to need an extra energy bar or two in the musettes too, because from here it's 10km to Flüelapass and a steep 841m climb up to the top which will sort out the superhumans from the merely super fit. And there's still almost 100km to go!


There's no let-up even after the teams crest the mountain because although the following 50km are downhill all (well, most) of the way, another climb is waiting in the shape of Catgory 2 Norbertshöhe with an average gradient of 6.4%. There's then another 30km of knee relief down to under 1000m prior to the day's final climb, Category 1 Serfaus which like yesterday marks another finish point outside Switzerland, this time in the Austrian Tyrol. The village of Serfaus is notable in being entirely car-free, made possible by its diminutive subway system in which a single train runs on a cushion of air rather like an underground hovercraft. The riders won't be afforded that sort of comfort, however, because they need to climb 477m over 5km to get there.

Serfaus, proving how pretty a town can look if it bans cars. If only everywhere else had underground hovercrafts and a network of ski lifts to rely on for local transport too! Looks a nice spot for a holiday - unless you happen to be Jewish.

Weather: Vaduz will reach highs of around 26C, creating the possibility of thunderstorms and at least a 60% chance of rain. There's every possibility that this won't happen until after the stage is well under way, but ominous clouds on the horizon (or around the mountaintops, you don't get to see the horizon very often in Liechtenstein) will remind the riders that there are other ominous natural phenomena ahead and do nothing at all to raise spirits. Arrival in Serfaus doesn't look much better with a 70% chance of rain.


Predictions: How wrong were we yesterday? Very, basically. We didn't even include stage winner Steven Kruijswijk, a complete oversight on our behalf because the Dutch grimpeur was an obvious contender. Nor did we rate Levi Leipheimer who, with second place, showed us all that being 37 years old doesn't necessarily mean a rider no longer has what it takes. Not if that rider is Leipheimer at any rate - but then, like all professional cyclists, what applies to mere mortals doesn't apply to him. We raised doubts that Little Prince Damiano Cunego had the physical strength required to do battle with the likes of Frank Schleck and Laurens ten Dam on Triesenberg: in fact, he beat them both and hangs onto his top place in the overall classification with a lead of 1'23" after he was 4th over the line. We did put Bauke Mollema in the top five and got that one right as he achieved fourth, whereas we'd never even heard of Katusha's Giampaolo Caruso until he crossed  in fifth place on Mollema's back wheel. We reckoned Frank Schleck would take his first stage win, but in reality he finished in 6th. Ten Dam, our choice for 2nd, managed 8th. We were right about the overall classification, predicting a shake-up, but we really wish we hadn't been - the horrific crash which has left 3rd place Mauricio Soler in intensive care sees the other riders move up one place.


Today, we expect Cunego to deliver the goods and at this point in the proceedings we're also going to mark him as favourite for overall victory on Sunday when the race ends. We're going for Kruijswijk in 2nd, and since we're still gunning for the older Schleck brother we hope to see him take 3rd. We think Mollema will repeat his placing of yesterday and manage another 4th, followed by ten Dam in 5th. Let's just hope there's no further injuries, but we won't be surprised if anyone drops out and abandons the race today - this is a stage as hard as anything in the Grand Tours.

Mauricio Soler update

Mauricio Soler is described as being in a stable but serious condition in hospital today following the horrific crash 11km into yesterday's Tour de Suisse Stage 6, in which he is believed to have lost control after hitting a kerb, coming over the handlebars and hitting street furniture. A spectator, hit by either Soler or his bike, is also believed to have been injured.

Soler, an excellent climber, had been tipped for a successful season in 2011. A series of injuries have prevented the promising talent from achieving his potential so far.

The 28-year-old Columbian, who dedicated his Stage 2 win last Sunday to team mate Xavier Tondo who was killed earlier this year in a tragic accident when he became trapped between his car and automatic garage door, had been tipped for a good result in this year's Tour de France after  series of injuries which have prevented him from taking part in his first full tour since 2007, when he came 11th overall and won the King of the Mountains competition. He was forced to miss last year's event due to a knee injury sustained in the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Soler, a respected mountain stage specialist, was in the running for victory yesterday in a stage featuring the fearsome 1000m ascent of Triesenberg. Doctors say that it is at present impossible to comment on his chances of a full recovery due to the severity of his injuries which include multiple fractures, haematomas and bleeding of the brain. This is the second serious accident in professional cycling so far this year following the horrific crash on the Passo del Bocco in last month's Giro d'Italia which caused the death of promising QuickStep rider Wouter Weylandt, bringing demands for safety regulations to be tightened up in the sport.

Manx Missile to join Team Sky?

Ace sprinter Mark Cavendish, winner of an incredible five flat stages in last year's Tour de France, may be about to sign up to Team Sky according to various reports.

Cavendish is widely believed to be the fastest cyclist in the sport today.

His contract with HTC-Highroad expires at the end of the season, and though nothing is yet confirmed there's every reason to assume Sky would want to take him aboard - with Cav riding alongside Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas they'd have the basic building blocks of what would undoubtedly be a dream team in professional cycling and the strongest British team ever seen in the sport. Wiggins rode with Cavendish in Team Columbia back in 2008 but left after saying he didn't want to be a part of what he called "the Cav show." Since then, having gained fourth place overall in the 2009 Tour and winning this year's Dauphine, he's got a high enough profile to ensure equal footing in what would be the "Cav and Wiggo show."

This would be a great moment for British cycling - let's hope it happens!

Tour de Suisse Stage 6

It's the last chance for the sprinters to show their stuff today, and they'll no doubt want to make the most of the first rolling 90 of today's total 158km in order to collect a few points while the opportunity's still there. However, a few points is all they'll be getting because after that comes a couple of tasty Category 3s and then, once they're feeling the burn, Triesenberg - 14.4km at an average gradient of 8.6%, which translates to a vertical kilometre.

The stage begins at Tobel-Tägerschen where, following a brief climb, the riders can look forward to a short downhill cruise before coming to a couple of small lumpy bits with the biggest climb in the first half being just 91m over 15km, an incline so gentle the sprinters will still be at play. It's then downhill all the way to the food station at the 80km point where the climbers are going to want to hit the energy gel hard in preparation for their chance to shine later on.

Freire fans will be seeing the last of the great sprinter today, because the race is all about climbing for the next couple of stages.

5km on from the food station comes the day's first categorised climb, the C3 Kerenzerberg Pass. Although the altitude is relatively low at 743m and the total climb a manageable 311m, it's a steep one with a maximum gradient of 10% and the sprinters, realising the game's up for them for the next couple of days, may well wish they were allowed to use the A3 Autobahn tunnel that passes under the mountain instead. The route back down again is about the same gradient, so expect high speeds.


Freire and friends get one last chance in the coming 35km, a gentle uphill incline rising less than 100m, and then the reins are handed over to the riders with the scary thigh muscles at the start of the St. Luzisteig Pass where the road climbs 198m in around 2km - an average gradient of 9.9% and a maximum gradient of 12% - and where the riders will pass an 18th Century fort still in use by the Swiss Army. If any sprinters have over-egged it today, there's a chance of someone abandoning here. Once again, the road back down is just as steep and wise riders will use it to build up some speed in an attempt to carry them through the 5km section between Luzisteig and Triesenberg during which they'll cross the border into the tiny and stupendously wealthy Principality of Liechtenstein - only Qatar has a higher GDP.


If nobody abandons on Luzisteig, expect at least one of two on Horse-Categorie Triesenberg which is the harshest, hardest climb of this year's Tour. Pay attention because the form displayed by the grimpeurs will be extremely helpful in making predictions for next month's Tour de France which this year will favour the climbers even more than ever. Contador isn't here, but you can be certain he's going to be watching to see how Andy Schleck handles the last 15km - and we should too, because if he looks like he's in trouble you might as well go out and put a bet on Bertie because it'll mean he's a definite for first place in the overall Tour de France classification. On the other hand, if Schleck looks good, Contador needs to start praying to god of snapped chains.

A village as pretty as Malbun would be a welcome sight to any traveler, let alone who has just ridden up a 1km high mountain in the rain.

Predictions - the overall classification, unchanged for the last few stages, will look very different by the end of today as those who have been on top drop away down the list. We don't think Andy Schleck will win today because following his problems in Stage 1 he's just too far down the chart for it to be worth the effort - instead, he'll concentrate on honing his technique and making sure his bike is able to cope with the hard time he'll be giving it in just over two weeks' time - but older brother Frank will probably want to give it a go, which is why he's our tip for first over the line. Then there's Laurens ten Dam, the Dutch climber with a string of Mountain Classification including in the 2009 Swiss Tour de Romandie - second place for today, we reckon. Damiano Cunego, in first place overall, will undoubtedly represent himself well but we wonder of il Piccolo Principe ("the Little Prince") has the strength to go into combat with Schleck and ten Dam. Mauricio Soler on the other hand is a big strapping lad and cut his teeth on the Andes of his native Columbia, where the mountains are higher and harsher than anything the Swiss Alps have to offer - he took King of the Mountains in the 2009 Tour de France too. Bauke Mollema is in the running too, another example of the powerful climbers that the Dutch trainers seem to be able to turn out these days in even greater quantities than the Dutch hippies can roll spliffs. That's five highly capable grimpeurs, all of them in the top ten overall and all in with a chance of taking Stage 6, so expect some close and aggressive racing on the mountain.


The weather's looking good around Tobel-Tägerschen, temperatures staying reasonable until later on (by which time the riders will be long gone) when highs of 27 C are forecast. It's not looking so good for Triesenberg, however - the rain's predicted to remain light until this evening when it'll turn heavy; but we all know how quickly weather changes, invariably for the worse, in the mountains. For anyone who doesn't really want to be there, this won't improve matters at all.

Tour de Suisse Stage 5 results (make benefit glorious nation Slovenia)

(Originally published 15th of June 2011)

Oooh, we were close with our race tips today! While we didn't give an actual prediction, we reckoned that Thor Hushovd, Peter Sagan, Marco Marcato and Oscar Freire would be battling to be first over the finish and in all likelhood coming in in very quick succession.

We were close, too. The actual sequence was Borut Bozic in first (OK, we didn't see him coming), Freire in second, Sagan third, Tejay van Garderen in fourth, Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil fifth and Marcato sixth with so little space between them that they all recorded the same time. Not bad, we reckon - and to make it even sweeter, Team Sky's Tom Swift came in in tenth place which is the best result for a British rider in the Tour so far.

Borut Bozic takes Stage 5. Very nice!

We also said that the top ten overall leadership would most likely remain little changed, as has proved to be the case with Damiano Cunego retaining the top spot, followed by Juan Mauricio Soler with +54" and then Bauke Mollema with +16" on him.

Tomorrow will be different. Following a reasonably flat first 145km, punctuated only by a couple of Category 3 climbs and a smattering of uncategorised hills, the riders will have to contend with the enormous Triesenberg just over the border in Liechtenstein for the final 15km, climbing a vertical kilometre to reach the stage finish at Malbun. The sprinters may have their fun in the earlier part of the day, but Stage 6 will be all about the climbers.

Brit woman wins Tour Series

You think cycling is ignored by British TV? Well, how about women's cycling? Did you even know that there are professional female cyclists? Many people don't, because the women's cycling world gets even less attention that men's cycling, despite the fact that there's a number of British women who are among the best cyclists in the world. But then, when even the undoubtedly TV-friendly face of Victoria Pendleton can't get the sport the exposure it deserves, what hope does sheer skill and ability have of getting it on the box?

Professional Kona rider Helen Wyman adds another trophy to her collection - will she be on the news tonight?

One of those women is Helen Wyman, professional rider for the Kona Factory Racing team and rides in both road racing and cyclocross, holding the British Champion title for the last five years. Wyman's cabinet is groaning under the weight of at least 34 other trophies, which is a damn sight more than any British male rider can claim, and she's just added another in the shape of the Women's GP tour series after beating challenger Lucy Garner (who doesn't even have a Wikipedia page) who trailed Wyman by a mere three points in the overall classification despite Garner beating her across the finish line in the final stage of the event which took place in Woking.

Is she going to be on the news tonight like Bradley Wiggins was when he won the Critérium du Dauphiné the other day? With 99.9% certainty, no. Why? She's a hero!

Tour de Suisse Stage 5

(Originally published Wednesday 15th of June 2011)


It's another day for the sprinters today with a long, flat(ish) course of 204km. However, this being Switzerland, even the flat stages are peppered with a few respectable climbs to make sure the rider's knees take the abuse that all cyclists know and love and Stage 5 is no different - there's a Category 3 and three Category 4 climbs lurking out there today ready to catch those who expend too much energy of maintaining a high pace as well as four uncategorised climbs of reasonable size. One, in fact, is very nearly as high as the Cat 3 and with just 20km from summit to summit will no doubt catch a few people out. Like yesterday the stage finishes with a circuit, looping for 40km or so around Tobel-Tägerschen but at least keeping to a steady altitude rather than the climbs and descents that must have tortured the leaders fighting for the finish in Stage 4.

Staffelegg Pass - doesn't look like much, does it? That sign reads 621m, though!

Starting where yesterday left off at Huttwil, the route travels downhill for 25km before a small climb at the 35km mark then 10km on the flat before reaching the first proper climb in the form of the Cat 3 Staffelegg Pass at an altitude of 621m and featuring a dangerous intersection at the summit, scene of many accidents when the Pass is open to traffic. There'll only be bike traffic as the Tour passes through, of course, but even the terrifyingly efficient Swiss clean-up crews can't be guaranteed to get every spot of oil and broken glass.


Next comes a fast descent into the village of Hornussen, designated in its entirety a Swiss Heritage Site and not to be confused with the peculiar Swiss sport of the same name which resembles a cross between golf and baseball and which takes its name not from the village but from the noise made by the puck which, traveling at up to 300kmph after being hit with a wooden bat, creates a buzzing sound said to sound like a hornuss (hornet). It no doubt stings like one too if you don't get out of the way fast enough. The route then takes in an uncategorised climb of around 133m (bigger than both of the upcoming Cat 4s) up to Mönthal, site of a Bronze Age fortress and a few still-standing Middle Ages houses dating from the 14th Century. There follows a reasonably flat section of some 50km, with the day's first Cat 4 - a short but steep climb of 103m  thrown in for good measure. There's a couple of climbs up to almost the same altitude later on but with much gentler gradients, so this ought to be where the same sprinters who made the most of Stage 4 can shine once they've picked up bidons and musettes at the 100km mark. There's an Hors-Categorie climb of 803m in the last 25km of tomorrow's Stage 6 and then the 2383m Flüela Pass to contend with on Friday, so they may as well grab whatever glory they can right now!

Hornusson in winter.

A Cat 4 climb of 153m marks Freudenberg before the riders hit Tobel-Tägerschen for the first time and embark on a 40km circuit taking in a very steep Cat 4 climb at Eschlikon, a plateau at 600m around Balterwil and the final 15km back to Tobel-Tägerschen.


The weather for Huttwil looks set to be bright, sunny and warm at 20 C with light wind, Tobel-Tägerschen later on this afternoon ought to be much the same with a little more cloud, but little chance of rain. The forecast is thunder and rain tomorrow which, when combined with that killer of an HC climb at the end of the stage, ought to make it a truly horrible experience for the riders. So that's a must-watch then.

There's a high probability we'll see a Hushovd v. Sagan battle again today.

Predictions for today? Sprinters again. We suspect the overall classification will change little, but the stage winners' board may get shaken up a bit. Thor Hushovd will no doubt fancy another go at victory, but whether or not he can beat Peter Sagan for the second day in a row is hard to say. Marco Marcato will fancy another good result but when you have Óscar Freire, at 35 still one of the world's most feared sprinters, right behind you (Marcato and Freire finished in a group yesterday, thus recording the same time with Marcato just crossing the line first) you really need to work hard.