14 DAY TRIAL // We are past the second rest day and into the final week of Le Tour de France 2011 heading towards the fearsome climbs of the Alps, ready to decide who wins the various jerseys and preparing to see who is able to take the final win.
The stage to Gap is an interesting one because it finishes on the downhill, with the riders coming back down to lower altitudes after going up the Second Category climb of Cold de Manse.
This means that the normal sprinters will not make the cut and that the win might be contested by a well-timed break or by the favorites, with the ones who can descent best, cutting corners and tucked behind the handlebars of their bikes, being the favorites.
Such a fast descent can also mean crashes, injuries and problems later on, so I plan to keep by Yellow Jersey wearer as safe as possible while not allowing rivals to gain time.
Thankfully, the stage was run without incidents and it seems that overall Pro Cycling Manager 2011 has much less crashing than the real world of cycling, where at least four major favorites managed to have tough encounters with the asphalt during a rather easy stage four this year.
And the climb of the stage proved to be less than formidable, with many of the riders reaching the top together and just Sylvain Chavanel managing to once again use his non-favorite status to get away and then ride himself to a solo win.
Andy Schleck and Gerdemman found themselves in the leading group of riders on the descent and although my leader tried to go on the attack he could gain no time on Contador and finished in the now-customary second position.
Here's how the final kilometers of the climb and the downhill played on in Pro Cycling Manager 2011: