Will Stage 7’s Individual Time Trial Be a Major GC Battle?
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Stage 7 - Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin ITT (25.3km) - Friday, July 5
Friday’s Stage 7 brings the first individual time trial of the 2024 Tour de France, a 25.3km race against the clock through the vineyards of Burgundy, one France’s most famous wine regions.
The stage begins in Nuits-Saint-Georges, a winemaking town in the heart of Burgundy that’s known for the Pinot Noir grapes grown in the hills north of the village. After leaving the town, the road slowly begins to drag upwards as riders head into the hills and toward the first time check at Messanges, 8.6km into the stage.
Once through this first time check, the road really kicks up as the riders ascend the Côte de Curtil-Vergy on their way to the second time check in Curley, the highest point in the stage. From here the road descends for about 5km before passing through the third and final time check in Morey-Saint-Denis, 5.4km from the finish in Gevrey-Chambertin. This final section is straight and flat, with just a few corners inside the final 2km as the riders approach the line. Riders who paced themselves on the first, uphill half of the stage should have an advantage on the run-in to the finish.
The weather will be cloudy, with temperatures in the 70s and a slight wind coming from the south. This should give the riders a light tailwind as they climb up to the second time check during the first half of the stage–and again as they power their way along the flat road from the third time check toward the finish in Gevrey-Chambertin.
Riders to Watch
Stage 7 could prove to be one of the most important first week battlegrounds for the Tour’s overall contenders–perhaps even more decisive than Tuesday’s trip over the Col du Galibier.
It’s the perfect course for the Tour’s top-3 riders: Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). All three are among the best in the world in the discipline, and Stage 7 will be our first chance to see them race against one another in a Tour de France time trial.
For Pogačar, who finished first and second in the Giro d’Italia’s two individual time trials in May, it’s a chance to extend his lead on the Tour’s General Classification and continue asserting himself as the Tour’s top rider. Since he wears the maillot jaune, he’ll be the last rider to start the stage, so he’ll have the advantage of knowing everyone else’s time checks as they pass through ahead of him.
And holding onto the yellow jersey comes with an added bonus for the Slovenian: the order of cars in the caravan that follows the race is determined by the General Classification, which means Pogačar’s team car will be first in line on Sunday’s gravel stage around Troyes if he keeps the yellow jersey. With mishaps more likely as the riders race on the white gravel roads through the region's champagne vineyards, having a car at the front of the caravan means faster service and less time lost if things go pear-shaped for Pogačar or his teammates.
Evenepoel might be the biggest threat to the Slovenian. The Belgian is the current world time trial champion, and he won a 34.4km time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné in early-June. The Tour rookie has ridden a near-perfect race so far and enters Stage 7 just 45 seconds behind the yellow jersey, and even if he does defeat Pogačar, we wonder if the stage will be long enough for him to gain back the time he needs to take the maillot jaune. Doing so would be a fantastic achievement for the Belgian, who comes from a nation that hasn’t produced a Tour de France champion in 38 years.
While Stage 7 will be an important day for Pogačar and Evenepoel, it’s absolutely critical for Vingegaard, who crushed Pogačar in the only time trial in last year’s Tour de France. Vingegaard came to the Tour with lots of questions about his form after missing almost two months of racing and training due to a terrible crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in early-April, but the Dane has impressed everyone so far with his performance in this year’s Tour.
But Stage 7 will be the first true test of Vingegaard’s fitness, and a chance to see how he measures up–pedal stroke by pedal stroke–to Pogačar. If he’s able to pick-up where he left off at the end of last year’s Tour, he can regain some (or all) of the time he lost to Pogačar on the Galibier at the end of Stage 4 and erase all of the questions we had about the Dane’s chances of winning a third consecutive Tour de France.
Last but not least, Stage 7 might be the last chance for Slovenia’s Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) to remain in the yellow jersey conversation. Roglič–who enters the day fifth overall, 1:14 behind Pogačar–is also an accomplished time trialist, but at 34-years-old he seems to have lost a step compared to Pogačar, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard.
For example, Evenepoel put 39 seconds into Roglič at the Dauphiné and defeated him in two ITTs at last year’s Giro d’Italia. If he’s to remain in the podium conversation, Roglič has to record a time that’s on par with the others. If he doesn’t, his dream of winning the 2024 Tour de France might be over.
How to Watch Stage 7 of the Tour de France
You can stream Stage 7 of the 2024 Tour de France on NBC’s Peacock ($5.99/month or $59.99/year). If you’re looking for ad-free coverage, you’ll need a subscription to Peacock Premium Plus, which runs $11.99 per month or $119.99 for the year.
We expect one of the Tour’s GC contenders to win the stage–and even if one doesn’t, the battle between them will still be the most exciting thing to watch on Friday.
The final wave of riders will roll down the starting ramp in 2-minute intervals, with Roglič starting the stage at 10:52 a.m. EDT, Vingegaard at 10:56 a.m. EDT, Evenepoel at 10:58 a.m. EDT, and Pogačar–the last rider to start the stage–at 11:00 a.m. EDT. Thanks to the expected tailwind, the top riders should complete the course in about 25 minutes, so expect the stage to wrap-up by 11:30 a.m. EDT.
How to Watch Stage 7 of the Tour de France in the Canada
If you live in Canada, you can catch all the action on FloBikes. An annual subscription will cost you $29.99/month or $150/year.
How to Watch Stage 7 of the Tour de France in the U.K.
UK viewers can watch the Tour de France on ITV4, Eurosport, and Discovery+.
A standard Discovery+ subscription, featuring Eurosport’s cycling coverage, costs £6.99 monthly or £59.99 annually. The premium subscription, which includes all this plus TNT Sports, is available for an extra £29.99 per month.
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