The longest stage at this year’s Le Tour de France is scheduled today. It will be a hard day in the saddle, especially because the course has a hilly finale. Nevertheless, Jens Debusschere is quite certain that today’s outcome will be another sprint.

“Yesterday’s second place was a disappointment as the finish was really close," he said. "Despite the defeat, I’m very happy that André [Greipel] is able to sprint for the victory. If he was unable to finish in the top ten, that would have been something different.

"Today, we ride towards Limoges and we have a lot of confidence in our leader. First of all, it will be important that the break doesn’t consist of too many riders. The second part of this very long stage is hilly so a large front group might have the ability to avoid a sprint. We’ll try to set up our sprint train as good as possible to position André perfectly as we enter the finale. The final 500 metres go seriously uphill. But the peloton will be launched so in my opinion, the sprinters will be able to survive.”