The Pyrenees are one day away, so Tour de France organizers will give sprinters one more logical day to strut their collect explosive stuff Saturday, July 12 in stage 8.
The riders will negotiate 172.5 kilometers (107.1 miles) from Figeac to Toulouse, the fourth-largest city in France.
The stage will likely end in a massive sprint. But by no means will it be a lazy day for the peloton while teams just wait to set up their respective speedsters.
The stage has four categorized climbs, all in the first 45 miles (two category 4 and two category 3 efforts). And the rest of the route also has a good share of small, nagging hills on a winding route en route to the finish at another of the Tour’s original seven cities in 1903.
Despite the early hills and some late-stage testers, the waning miles are situated on wide, straight roads on course to the city center, thus an ideal profile for a massive sprint.
Toulouse has now been part of the Tour nearly 30 times, including two-dozen stage finishes, dating to 1903 where Frenchman Hippolyte Aucouturier won one of his two stages.
The city also gets its share of notoriety via the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He was actually born in Albi, France.
Nonetheless, Toulouse is etched in Tour de France lore. Five years ago, it arguably got its greatest share of notoriety via the actions of Spanish rider Juan Antonio Flecha.
It was in 2003, the last time the Tour finished in Toulouse, when Flecha (whose family name mean “arrow,”) escaped from a small breakaway group and was victorious in a solo effort on an airfield just east of the city.
As Flecha crossed the finish line, he performed among the most unique victory salutes in Tour de France history: he pantomimed releasing an arrow from a bow.
Now a ninth-year pro, Flecha is a one-day specialist. He finished second in the 2007 Paris Roubaix, and he’s riding in his sixth Tour de France this year in his second season with the Dutch team, Rabobank.
So, while the eighth stage will likely end in a sprint, Flecha would be a sentimental choice to repeat his performance of five years ago.