The Tour de France continues its rugged opening week! The peloton heads to Brittany on Friday—and a return to one of the race’s most explosive climbs.
Stage 7 travels 194km inland from Saint-Malo to Guerlédan, across a rolling route that features the infamous Mur de Bretagne. And the lads don’t go up it once—but twice! The short, steep climb is back after a four-year absence and is expected to play a decisive role in both the stage result and the general classification.
The Côte du Village de Mur-de-Bretagne (1.6km at 4.1 per cent) serves as an appetizer before the first of two full ascents of the Mur itself—2km at a punishing 6.9 per cent. The first summit comes 20 km from the finish, with the second forming the day’s uphill finale.
It’s terrain that suits the punchier riders—those with the legs to explode out of a reduced bunch—but it’s also hard enough to tempt the general classification contenders.
That includes Tadej Pogačar, of course. The world champ has already picked off two stages and has shown he’s in sparkling form. But the man to watch might once again be Mathieu Van der Poel.
The Dutch rider claimed a memorable win on this circuit in 2021 and now returns wearing yellow after taking the jersey on Stage 6 Although the Alpecin – Deceunick rider was definitely tired at the end of Thursday’s race, he still snagged yellow by a second. Irishman Ben Healy rode away to a spectacular victory. MvdP will do his best to follow all the moves so he keeps his maillot jaune another day.
Of course…wherever Van der Poel and Pogačar go, Jonas Vingegaard is rarely far behind. While the punchy finale could favour the Classics stars, Stage 7 might also become a key GC day if the big names decide to go all in.
You can catch the action on FloBikes.com at 7:00 a.m. EDT. And be sure to check back on Canadian Cycling Magazine for reports and photos afterward. It’s already been a week of racing!
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