Pmu's French bookmakers see Vincenzo Nibali as the number one favorite for tomorrow's Pyrenean stage which, after today's rest, will take the Tour from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon after 197 km through hills that made the legend of cycling : Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde. Names that recall the great rides of Coppi and Bartali, of Bobet and Anquetil, of Merckx and Hinault, of Indurain and Pantani. On these ascents, an authentic heritage of the Tour and of cycling humanity, Nibali, third in the standings at 2'23” from Wiggins, should show off his climbing skills combined with his undisputed ability as a downhill skier. It is the best chance, if not the last, to attack “Wiggo” and Froome's battleship Sky.
His victory is given to 5. Behind him is Cadel Evans quoted 8. The winner of last year's Tour, who went into crisis in La Toussuire, accuses a delay of 3'19” in the standings. So far he has only made a few more demonstrative than convincing extensions, too little to win the Tour again. The Belgian Jurgen Van den Broeck (fifth at 10'4”) and the young French Pierre Rolland (ninth at 48'8) are given for tomorrow at 31 "). Despite being nicknamed the "locomotive of Morkhoven, the town near Antwerp where he was born in 1983, Van den Broeck has so far won almost nothing in his career, finishing fourth in the 2010 Tour won by Andy Schleck after Contador's disqualification. In this year's Tour, where so far very little has happened, the Belgian lost minutes mainly due to falls. If he's not on the podium, he can go close. Rolland certainly has more future, ambitious promise of transalpine cycling, climber of race, triumphant in 2011 at Alpe d'Huez and this year at La Toussuire, two feats with which the twenty-two year old French is a candidate to be increasingly protagonist in the coming years .
Bradley Wiggins, who without much effort was driven through the streets of France up to Pau by his powerful squires from Team Sky, is expected to have another test more probative than the Alpine one on mountains hors catégorie such as Aubisque and Tourmalet. The finish 18km after the Peyresourde brow still leaves room for recovery downhill where, however, "Wiggo" is less daring than Nibali. His victory in the Pyrenean stage is listed as 20. Wiggins' side is always the penultimate time trial stage of 53 km, a distance over which he can inflict significant gaps on the Italian and his most formidable rivals. In Bagnères-de-Luchon, however, it will be possible to learn more about the multi-purpose thickness of this athlete, a pistard for a long time, who at the age of 32 decided to win the Tour. More popular than Wiggins for the stage victory is his lieutenant, Christopher Froome, given at 18. A rating that if the orders and hierarchies of the team weren't involved, could be even better considering that Froome, winner of La Planche des Belles Filles (almost 6 km of authentic climb, one of the few truly hard hitherto faced by the Tour), has shown, even with lese-majeste sprint on the ramps of La Toussuire, that he is stronger than Wiggins when the road rears up. If Nibali, the Sicilian "shark", is the favorite on the eve, Froome will certainly be the special guest of tomorrow's big stage. On which he relies heavily throughout the Tour to wake up after dozing (or almost) for two weeks. A little fought Tour so far but agitated once again on the rest day by another case of doping: after Remy De Gregorio, who also left the scene for extra-Tour facts dating back to a year ago, the fish that fell into the network of controls has a high-sounding name, Frank Schleck, tested positive for a diuretic, a substance that is usually used to mask other prohibited drugs, even if in reality this specific molecule does not appear on the red list. Although no disqualification has yet been triggered by the UCI, the Luxembourger has decided to withdraw from the race which has always seen him on the sidelines, an expected but never received protagonist, as indeed happened in the last Giro. Schleck was 12th at 9'45” from Wiggins.
