Froome expecting attacks on finish in Mende

Chris Froome is bracing himself for attacks on Saturday's 178.5km 14th stage of the Tour de France from Rodez to Mende.

The race leader admitted to being surprised at how hectic the end of Friday's 13th stage became due to a short 570m climb to the finish.

The line in Mende comes after a 3km climb that at a 10.1 percent average gradient is even steeper than Friday's, which saw some notable time gaps develop, even though the overall contenders all came home together.

"I do expect the guys to try (to attack)," said Froome. "It looked like a few guys were even trying on (Friday's) finish.

"Up Mende it's a lot tougher than (Friday's) finish. I expect someone to try. On my side, the legs feel good, I'm looking forward to it and I hope it's another day I can get through without any problems."

Froome finished sixth on Friday's stage, followed closely by Alberto Contadcor, Vincenzo Nibali, Tejay Van Garderen and Nairo Quintana, with even the likes of Tony Gallopin and Robert Gessink hanging on grimly.

What surprised Froome was how fast the approach to Friday's final climb got as both the sprinters and punchers' teams jostled for position with those of the overall favourites.

"In a stage like (Friday's) when it's not necessarily a bunch sprint or GC (general classification) day, everyone wants to be up there," said the 30-year-old Team Sky leader.

"It just felt like chaos, it was almost a free-for-all into the bottom of the final climb there.

"Speaking from a GC rider's point of view, we try to stay out of the way of the sprinters and their lead-out guys, but with (potential) time gaps (at the finish), you have to stay up there and you only have to see one GC guy up there and they all want to be up there."

Saturday's stage is fairly similar to Friday's in that it favours a breakaway with four low category climbs along the way.

However, the finish in Mende favours a puncher such as Joaquim Rodriguez, already a winner of two stages on the this Tour, and he has earmarked the 14th stage as one where he could take another victory.

"However, it will be difficult to get into the right breakaway," admitted the 36-year-old Spaniard.

It would be no surprise, though, to see his Katusha team pushing the pace in the final 50km should he not make it into the break.

Others who will have earmarked this stage are Ireland's Dan Martin, already second on two stages, world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, stage eight winner Alexis Vuillermoz or Alejandro Valverde, currently fourth overall but wit a kick that could see him gain a few seconds on Froome in the run-in to the finish.
Source: AFP