Stage 7 of the 2017 Tour de France will look, and likely play out, quite similar to Stage 6, which gave the peloton a long, hot route with minimal climbs and a sprint finish.
The stage will depart from the French city of Troyes, where Stage 6 finished, before heading southeast to the commune of Nuits-Saint-Georges.
The first half of the 213.5 kilometer stage will gradually climb, before the riders reach the only intermediate sprint checkpoint along the way in the town of Chanceaux at the 108 km mark. The sprint at Chanceaux involves a punchy climb around 1.5 kilometers from the line, before it levels off in the last 500 meters.
Soon after the intermediate sprint at Chanceaux, the riders will begin a descent near Baulme-la-Roche, before a climb up the Cote d'Urcy 147.4 kilometers into the stage. The ride up the Cote d'Urcy is a category 4 climb, which will take the peloton up a 4.2% average gradient for 2.5 kilometers, is not a massive climb by any means, but could be a pivotal point to create separation by a breakaway group.
The final 65 kilometers will be almost entirely downhill or flat, setting up for a fast and chaotic finish to Stage 7.
After his second stage victory of the 2017 Tour de France on Stage 6, it is hard not to place Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) as the favorite to capture Stage 7. Stage 7 sets up almost identical to Stage 6, with a long and relatively flat route for the riders. Kittel has shown his ability to create unmatched separation on flat, straightaway sprints, and Stage 7 will likely set up with that exact finish.
While Marcel Kittel is the talk of the day after his victory on Stage 6, Arnaud Demare (FDJ) has been putting together an equally impressive campaign at this year's Tour de France. Demare emerged as the winner on a dangerous Stage 4, and still holds the green jersey as the points classification leader. Demare finished just behind Kittel in second place on Stage 6 as well, and should be eager to be out the German rider on Stage 7. Demare excels on flat sprints that require straight-line speed, and will undoubtedly challenge Kittel once again in Nuits-Saint-Georges.
Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) once again was unable to capture his first stage win at this year's Tour de France on Stage 6, but Stage 7 could prove to be his day. While the veteran German rider has surely felt disappointed to not take a stage to this point, Greipel has twice placed third in the sprint finishes at this year's Tour. Greipel has been unable to have everything go his way on a stage so far, but the Lotto Soudal rider has put himself in good position to win stages and currently sits 4th in the points classification standings. Greipel's Lotto Soudal teammates will be working on Stage 7 to once again put him in position to capture a stage victory, and with his experience and talent Greipel should be in the mix again when the sprinters reach Nuits-Saint-Georges.
Other riders to keep an eye on throughout the stage include Michael Matthew (Team Sunweb), Nacer Bouhani (Cofidis), Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin), and Dylan Groenewegen.
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