06 July 2012

Sagan Wins Stage 6!

Peter Sagan of Slovakia won his third stage of this year's Tour de France with a performance faster than we predicted. Below are the results.
  • Stage 6:  4h 37' 00" (actual), 4h 57' 12" (prediction), 20' 12" slow (7.29% error)
I usually don't mind having errors under 8%, but I was surprised how fast this stage turned out to be.  Check out Sagan's average speed below.
  • Stage 6:  12.49 m/s (44.95 km/hr or 27.93 mph)
Excluding the average speed of the individual time trial that was the Prologue, the above average speed for the winner of Stage 6 is the greatest so far.  Sagan's average speed was 7.2% greater than what Mark Cavendish had in winning Stage 2, a stage that was the same length as today's Stage 6.  Those cyclists are amazing athletes!

Tomorrow's Stage 7 is the first of two straight medium-mountain stages before Stage 9's individual time trial.  After that time trial, riders will enjoy their first of two rest days on Tuesday, 10 July.  Stage 7 begins in the commune of Tomblaine and takes riders 199.0 km (123.7 miles) southeast to the ski station at La Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges Mountains.  Besides having a great climb during the middle of Stage 7, the stage ends with the climb to the ski station, which is at an elevation of 1035 m (3396 feet) above sea level.  Below is our prediction.
  • Stage 7:  5h 13' 07" (prediction)
Cyclists surprised us a little with today's speed.  Will they be able to surprise us tomorrow with a fast final climb?

2 comments:

  1. Hey Eric, I think this stage will be a little slower. With Robert Gesink over 4 minutes behind, I see his teammate, Luis-Leon Sanchez winning the stage in a time of 5h19m3'38". I love the Spanish riders when the roads go uphill.

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  2. Bob,

    It was Team Sky's day today! You and I might have thought the stage would have been slower, but the cyclists didn't share our thoughts! Wow, I didn't think Stage 7 would be won under five hours.

    Eric

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