AFP, Blagnac :
With three of five mountain ranges behind them, the Tour de France peloton will head towards the Massif Central on Saturday with opportunity in the air.
The Vosges, Jura and Pyrenees have been and gone meaning that just the Massif Central and Alps remain but Saturday will likely offer a quieter day for the overall contenders including race leader Fabio Aru and reigning champion Chris Froome.
Not so for Bastille Day hero Warren Barguil, though.
The 25-year-old delighted the French crowd in Foix on Friday by winning his maiden Tour stage, on France’s national holiday to boot.
But he will have little time to celebrate on Saturday as he returns to team duties.
“The next stage is already tomorrow (Saturday) for Michael (Matthews) because there’s going to be a sprint,” he said after his victory.
The race moves from the yellow jersey battle which raged on Friday to the green jersey one on Saturday and a chance for Australian Matthews to make up some much needed ground.
German Marcel Kittel has dominated that competition so far on the back of five stage wins but Matthews has a chance of closing his 128-point deficit if he can make the most of the next three days over lumpy terrain.
