Typically I'm not much in to the sprint stages in the Tour de France races, actually in any race. They follow a predictable path.
- There is a breakaway
- It's caught in the last few km leaving everyone to wonder why it even happened
- Sprint to the finish and Cavendish takes it
At least that's how it's happened in the past. I don't think that the first 2 points will change this year, but who is going to take the bunch sprints? I think it's going to be Peter Sagan vs Mark Cavendish for the sprints.
If I had to go all in on someone it would be Peter Sagan this year. He has simply been on fire and that Liquigas-Cannondale lead out train is finely tuned. It seems to be in much better shape than the lead out train of Sky. Watching Sagan in the Amgen Tour of California was awesome. He road himself back in to the peleton after wheel changes, and simply dominated the whole field. Then add his stellar performance in the Tour de Suisse prologue, where he won by 4 seconds over former World Time Trial champ Fabian Cancellara, and you simply realize he is in top shape this season.
Sagan is going to be a hard one to beat this year.