Details: Published on Monday, 17 February 2014 00:26

Tour Méditerranéen - Overall & Stages

13th - 16th February

The Tour Mèditerranéan see the European season kick off in earnest when it starts on the 13th of February. The race skirts along the Med in the south of France and the cooler temperatures will make a change for riders who have been prepping in the heat of Australia, Argentina or the Middle East!

Thor Hushovd Tour Mediterraneen

Last Ten Winners of Tour Méditerranéen

2013 Thomas Löfkvist (SWE) IAM Cycling

2012 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GBR) Endura

2011 David Moncoutié (FRA) Cofidis

2010 Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA) Ag2r-La Mondiale

2009 Luis León Sánchez (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne

2008 Alexandre Botcharov (RUS) Crédit Agricole

2007 Iván Gutiérrez (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne

2006 Cyril Dessel (FRA) AG2R Prévoyance

2005 Jens Voigt (GER) Team CSC

2004 Jörg Jaksche (GER) Team CSC

A look at the past winners (see right) show that this is a race generally won by a puncheur or climber type, with recent winners including Thomas Lovkvist, Jonathan Tiernan Locke, Luis Leon Sanchez and David Moncoutié. It probably will be no different this year with a lumpy course facing the riders once again.

The race is often decided by the foray up to the mountain summit finish of Mont Faron over Toulon. This year it is the final act of the race on Sunday after a long 192kms in the saddle. But the contenders will also have to contend with a hilly 18km time trial around St Remy de Provence on Saturday afternoon, which follows a short and sharp stage of 63kms on Saturday morning.

The rest of the race has its ups and downs too but you'd expect that stages 1, 2 and 3 should give the sprinters an opportunity to take something out of the race before the TT men and the climbers take over from Saturday afternoon.

A reasonable looking field is taking to the starting line once again with some riders who have featured prominently in the early season showdowns looking to carry their form through or just to try to find some form and continue their spring preparations.

Ben Hermans and Taylor Phinney are there for BMC, fresh from strong showings in the TDU and Dubai respectively. 2009 winner Luis Leon Sanchez rides for his new Caja Rural team, as does Sylvain Chavanel for his new IAM Cycling Team. 2010 winner Nocentini, Peraud and Betancur are there for AG2R La Mondiale, FDJ have Fedrigo, Roy and Roux and Europcar have Rolland and Sicard. Add to that a whole host of Continental teams (Including the powerful Colombia squad of Rubiano, Chalapud, Duarte and Duque) and there are plenty of riders who can make it an interesting race over the four days including the likes of John Degenkolb for the sprint finishes - there isn't a great deal of sprinting competition for him.

The Route and Stage Predictions

The 21 teams of 8 riders face a very mixed bunch of stages over the four days, with long, short, flat, bumpy, hilly stages and an 18km TT thrown in as well. Here's a little teaser video from the organisers (sorry, may not play on mobile devices..)

Click on each tab to read stage previews and recommendations.

Stage 1 - Argeles Sur Mer to Montagnac, 223.5km

Thursday 13th February

The race kicks off with it's longest stage and it includes quite a few lumps and bumps along the way including two Category 3 climbs inside the first 80kms as it passes west of Perpignon. It settles down a bit after that as it heads in a north-easterly direction just north of Narbonne and Beziers. It has a jagged profile still for the last 80km or so and then they hit the 12km circuit around Montagnac which takes them up over the little hill of Lieudite La Montade twice before the charge down to the finish line.

It's the kind of finish that the likes of Sylvain Chavanel will probably like, an attack up the climb on the last lap and a fast descent down the twisty, narrow descent to the finish.

Tour Med St1 profile

Stage 2 - Cadolive to Rousset, 170.6km

Friday 14th February

Friday's stage sees the riders tackle a slightly shorter stage of 170.6km but it is still going to be a tough day in the saddle with two Cat 3 climbs and the HC climb up to the Col Petit Galibier. There is sure to be a selection on the second 3rd Cat climb (which bizarrely, according to the official race guide has no name - just 'Col') and that selection will probably be reduced even further to maybe decide the winner of the stage on the Petit Galibier.

There is 26km still to go from the summit though, so it may regroup somewhat in the fast run-in to the finish in Rousset. Should be a day for the likes of LL Sanchez, Chavanel, Barguil, Betancur and some of the Colombians if it is lit up on the Petite Galibier, but if it comes back together you can't see past yesterday's winner John Degenkolb as he has few rivals who can match his pace in a sprint finish.

Tour Med St2 profile

Stage 3 - Lambesc to St Remy de Provence, 63km

Saturday 15th February (morning)

Stage 3 is quite a strange stage for a professional race, as they are only racing over 63kms - it could be finished in 90 minutes! But this is because they will be doing a time trial in the afternoon over 18kms. Still, the racing should be fast and furious and it should give lower ranked riders a chance to get away for stage glory if the GC men and the TT'ers hold back for the afternoon. They will have two Cat 2 climbs to contend with along the way, the first of which starts more of less from the flag drop and peaks out after only 2.6km!

The second Cat 2 climb starts right after the sprint after 49kms and climbs for 6km - there is then only 8km to go to the finish and the last two kilometres kick up again so it's not a straight forward day for any sprinters. Will be a punchy type rider like Chavanel, Nocentini, Hermans or possibly even Degenkolb if he can hang in there and the hill isn't too steep.

Tour Med St3 profile

Stage 4 - St Remy de Provence to St Remy de Provence, 18.2km

Saturday 15th February (afternoon)

Stage 4 takes place on the Saturday afternoon following the short 63km stage in the morning. It is a relatively short TT at just over 18km but with two hills to get over in the first 10kms it's not going to be easy. I'd like to say what sort of gradient and height those hills are but the official race book is appallingly bad for details and no profile map has any information on heights or gradients.. If I find more details over the next few days I'll add them here though.

Expect Taylor Phinney to put in a big ride in light of his big showing in San Luis and Dubai, but will it be a little too hilly for him? He has said about his chances "The time trial there is definitely a big goal. It is supposed to be a bit hilly, but I will give it my all regardless and hopefully come away with another big result." Others who should go well are Chavanel, LL Sanchez, Pirazzi and Löfkvist.

Tour Med St4 profile

Tour Med St4 map

Stage 5 - Bandol to Toulon (Mont Faron), 192.7kms

Sunday 16th February

If the TT will have shaken things up in the GC on Stage 4, Stage 5 will definitely have a major effect on the GC and possibly the overall winner. The climb up to Mont Faron comes at the end of a hard 192.7kms which includes a Cat 2 and 3 climb along the way. But it's the last 15kms or so of this stage that can have a major impact on the GC for many riders - there is first of all that little hill, La Vallette with 179km to go and then with just 5.5kms to go the climb up to the HC summit finish at Mont Faron.

mont faron

This will be the big battle of the week with the 5.5kms averaging a nasty 9%, with kilometre 1-2 averaging over 11%. It doesn't ease up to the line at all, in fact it is still 9% average for the last kilometre. This is a stage for the like of the Colombians - Duarte, Chalapud, Duque, Chalapud of the Colombia squad and Betancur of AG2R La Mondiale, Fedrigo of FDJ and possibly even the likes of Nocentini, Chavanel and Sanchez. There are sure to be a few wildcards in the mix though given the early point in the season, but it's sure to be an exciting finish to the race.

**Update - 15/02/2014, 22.30** Steve Cummings put in a superb performance today to win the hilly 18km TT in the afternoon after John Degenkolb had completed a hat-trick of victories in the mornings 63km stage 3. Cummings beat the Austrian neo-pro Riccardo Zoidl by 4" and Sylvain Chavanel by 10" to take the leaders jersey in to the final, pivotal stage which finishes on the summit of Mont Faron over Toulon.

Cummings victory proved that he is in fantastic shape so early in the season, having followed team-mate Taylor Phinney home in the TT in Dubai, which pushed in to 2nd place on the GC, a position he held until the end. Chavanel pushed him close, but the other likely challenger Luis Leon Sanchez could only finish in 13th, 53" back. There were also very good rides by Jean-Christophe Peruad of AG2R who finished just 15" behind the British rider and Eduardo Sepúlveda who took 5th 34" back.

It is all set up nicely then for the final stage and the final climb - with three riders within 15" of Cummings he can expect to be attacked on all sides as it gets towards the last 5kms. In fact there are 15 riders within a minute of the lead, but you would have to think the winner will most likely come from the first 5, unless someone pulls off an extraordinary ride.

So can Cummings hang on? I thought from the start Chavanel and Peraud were two of the hot favourites for this and they are still most definitely in with a chance. Cummings climbing skills wouldn't be one of his strong points and he will be under pressure very early on from IAM, Trek and AG2R. Riccardo Zoidl though is in a fantastic position to take his first stage race as a professional, following some incredible results in 2013. And make no mistake about it, the boy can climb - some of his best results last year were when the roads pointed upwards - 5th in stage 2 of Settimana Coppi e Bartolli behind Ulissi, Rubiano and Cunego, winner of races such as the hilly stage 2 of the Circuit des Ardennes, stage in the Oberösterreichrundfahrt and some great performances in the hills while on the way to overall victory in the Österreich-Rundfahrt-Tour of Austria.

jcp JC Peraud though won this stage by 19" in 2012 on the way to taking 2nd in the overall behind Löfkvist so he clearly likes the climb. Sylvain Chavanel is only 10" back and is capable of riding with the best climbers on his day but I fear that when it gets really agressive and fast towards the climax he may not have the form in his legs to hang on. An interesting candidate waiting in the wings though is Sepúlveda who although 34" back isn't out of it either - it will require him to go early and hard though to try to pull that sort of time back and I don't think his climbing is good enough to have a chance of doing it.

So it should be a fascinating battle for the GC, but right now if I was to pick the most likely winner, it would be a coin toss between Peraud and Zoidl, with Zoidl shading it slightly because of his 11" lead over Peraud. He may just be able to hang on to Peraud's wheel and take overall victory. Peraud can win the stage and take 2nd overall, Chavanel might just hold on for 3rd ahead of Ludvigsson. Cummings could lose 30"+ tomorrow, but he may also pull out the performance of his life with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, but unfortunately for him I can't see it happening.

Tour Med St5 profile

Overall Contenders and Favourites

As I was finishing this preview on Wed night there still wasn't a single bookmaker offering any odds on the race, so I have decided to keep the overall contenders and predictions brief as there isn't much point in spending lots of time on picking someone out if I can't back them!

phinney hat It is a tricky race to call though as it could be decided on the very last climb on the last day, but the TT the day before will also have a key bearing on the outcome. Of course there could also be a long breakaway on stage 1 or 2 that could build up a big lead, but the most likely scenario is that the main protagonists will be quite close going in to the Time Trial. Taylor Phinney may well win it and then it'll come down to a battle between Phinney and BMC and the opposition to see if they can break him and battle for the GC.

Phinney has been in sensational form this year so far and is starting to show what a superstar I think he is going to be. He has been up in sprints, winning TT's and winning GCs. The problem though for him is that his climbing lets him down - in San Luis he lost over 4mins on the first mountain stage which had a similar profile to the finish at Mont Faron, in fact the average there was only 6.7% vs 9% on Mont Faron. So I expect him to lose similar time once the goats take off.

So who can win it? Well, it's stick a pin in it time - What time triallist can put in enough time in to his climber rivals and then maybe stay very close to them on the climb? Well former winner Luis Leon Sanchez fits the bill there - a rolling time trial like that will suit him and he should be capable of a top 10 or even top 5 placing, and then he is capable also of staying with most of the best climbers. He may even have take time on Stage 1 or 2 if he gets away.

Sylvain-Chavanel-2014 Sylvain Chavanel will surely fancy his chances too, Stage 1 is a nice stage for him, he should be capable of a top 10 in the time trial and may be able to hang on or pretty close to the best climbers on the final climb. He has a good team from IAM Cycling with him and he'll be looking to impress on his first rides for his new team.

FDJ have Anthony Roux, Jeremy Roy, Alexandre Geniez and Pierrick Fedrigo but Roux may be their best chance - he was going very well this time last year, winning the 9.7km TT in the Etoile de Besseges before finishing 3rd overall. He then followed that with 3rd place in the 24km TT in the Tour Méditerranéen but lost time on the stage up to Mont Faron before a DNF on stage 5. Going on his result there last year, he may lose too much time though on the final climb. His team-mate Geniez fared much better on Mont Faron though, finishing in 4th place, just 27" behind stage winner Jean-Christophe Peraud and he will be right in the hunt on the final stage too I would think.

Speaking of JC Peraud, that performance last year on Mont Faron sets the benchmark for this year's contenders. He soloed away from a quality chasing pack that included Mollema, Lofkvist, Pinot, Roche and Voeckler. He went on to finish 2nd in the GC with the same time as the winner Lofkvist. He should be very involved in the final shake up again this year.

Stefano Pirazzi of Bardiani-CSF could also go well, he finished 14th in the Etoile de Besseges last week and is capable of good rides on the hillier stages, especially the final stage up to Mont Faron, he was KOM in last year's Giro after all. 2010 winner Rinaldo Nocentini is also in with a shout, he won the GC that year after a superb ride up to Mont Faron where he finished 2nd officially (Valverde was struck from the record..) on the stage. There was no TT that year though and he isn't the best against the clock so that will probably count against his chances.

Finally, we must consider the chances of the Colombian climbers bearing in mind the type of finish - Rubiano rode well in the Tour de San Luis, taking 12th place overall, but they also have Chalapud, Duarte and Duque who could light up the final stage. Chances are though that they will not be good enough in the TT to be close enough.

So it's one to watch with a more relaxed approach as there will be no money riding on it, and the final stage on Sunday should be worth watching.

No real recommendations, but if I was forced to name 3 to watch I would pick Chavanel, LL Sanchez and JC Peraud.