This year’s Tour de France will again visit Northern France, where one of the stages will use cobbled sectors from Paris-Roubaix. Following on from his impressive performance over the pavé last year, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) has been checking out the stage.
On Friday, Nibali rode the sectors to be used during the fourth stage of the Tour from Seraing to Cambrai. The 221-km stage will feature seven sectors of cobbles totaling 13 kilometres. Six of the sectors come within 30 kilometres of each other, with the last sector just 12 kilometres before the finish.
In last year’s race, Nibali gained over two minutes on the likes of Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde, whil Chris Froome crashed out of the race. Lars Boom had gone clear to take the stage win, while surprisingly, Nibali left many of the cobbled specialists behind to finish in 3rd place behind his team mate Jakob Fuglsang.
After his reconnaissance, Nibali told the press, “The sectors are also severe this year. In the finale, you will feel the fatigue.”
