Peter Sagan missed out on his first of two big Corsican opportunities and is eager to take revenge in the final one when the peloton rolls out to tackle a very hilly and technical route along the Western coast. However, the nature of the route invites to attacks and we could even see some of the GC riders make a small test of themselves on the tough final climb. Starting at 1230, you can follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

The final Corsican stage is another hilly and short one as the riders travel from Ajaccio in the Southwestern corner to Calvi in the Northwestern corner and an early finish will allow the riders to head back to the European mainland shortly after the finish. Like stage 1, the stage mostly follows coastal roads but this time, the riders will make short trips into the interior of the island to tackle some tough climbs. The race will be off to a hard stage as the top of the category 4 Col de San Bastiano (3,4km, 4,6%) is located just 12km after the start. The descent is followed by a short undulating stretch before the riders tackle the category 3 climbs Col de San Martino (7,5km, 5,4%) and Cote de Porto (2km, 6,4%). Once again a section of undulating roads follow and these are extremely technical, thus making it hard to put up an organized chase.

In the final part, the roads are straight and more manageable and it is not unlikely that some of the sprinters have survived until now. That should, however, all change when the riders start to climb the category 2 Col de Marsolino (3,3km, 8,1%) whose top is located just 13,5km from the finish. A gradual, mostly non-technical descent follows and leads the riders to a difficult finish with two roundabouts inside the final 2km, the last one coming just 200m from the line.

Corsica will once again greet the riders with some beautiful weather as beautiful sunshine and 25-degree temperatures should turn it into a perfect day for a bike race. There will just be a light breeze coming from the west and while it will mostly be a crosswind, the weather should produce no drama.

The race's opportunists have all been looking forward to this stage as it will be extremely difficult to control. Many riders were surprised by the technical nature of the narrow, winding roads when they had their pre-race recon ad it will very hard to put up an organized chase. At the same time, the undulating terrain won't make it any easier for the peloton and the race should be off to a really aggressive start.

That will be all the more guaranteed by the tough opening stretch that leads to the top of the San Bastiano climb. The ascent is a perfect launch pad for attacks and the toughness make it all the more likely that it will be a strong group that emerges from the early action. At the same time, the fast pace could send some of the sprinters out the back very early in the race.

The day's intermediate sprint is located already at the 28,5km mark and if Cavendish has been left behind on the first climb, it could - on paper - be a good opportunity for Cannondale to keep it together for Sagan to extend his lead over the Manxman in the points competition. The Italian team will, however, need all their resources later in the stage and so is likely to skip the chance. On the other hand, it is not at all unlikely that the decisive break has not gone clear at that point and if the pace is really frantic, we could get all the way to the San Martino climb before a break is finally allowed to go.

Sagan missed out today and he will do whatever he can not to lose his final Corsican opportunity. Hence, we are likely to see Cannondale do a huge work to chase the day's early break but a number of factors speak in the breakaway's favour.

First of all, Cannondale won't get any help from Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Lotto-Belisol and Argos-Shimano tomorrow as their sprinters are extremely unlikely to survive the final climb. At the same time, Sagan's team did not impress at all in today's stage. It was always doubtful whether the squad would be strong enough to support the ambitions of its captain but it must have been a huge disappointment for the Slovakian to see that only Alessandro De Marchi, Moreno Moser, Maciej Bodnar and Kristijan Koren had survived the climbs at the midpoint of today's stage and that only Moser and De Marchi were left after the passage of the final ascent. The team had even been relieved for much of the chase work as FDJ had taken up the responsibility to tire out the sprinters on the climbs.

Bodnar and De Marchi both did a good job but it was a huge surprise not to see Moser hit the front in the final part of the stage to bring back Bakelants. Most of the team's riders will have to step up their game significantly if Sagan is to win tomorrow's stage.

What could play into Cannondale's hands is that the yellow jersey is still up for grabs and a couple of team's have set their sights on taking the coveted tunic after the team time trial. That was a clear objective for the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team at the start yesterday in Porto-Vecchio but with Tony Martin suffering from multiple injuries, the Belgian team is unlikely to chase yellow this time.

Instead, we could see Garmin chip in. The American team is eager to repeat its 2011 team time trial win and would like to get a few days in yellow as well. If a break stays clear, that opportunity could very well slip away and that could see Cannondale get a little help. On the other hand, the team won't use up too much energy ahead of one of their most important stages.

The same goes for BMC. On paper, the stage should be a good one for Philippe Gilbert but with a crucial GC stage coming up, we are unlikely to see his team do any chase work at all. Sky would be more than happy to see a break get an early buffer in the GC, thus allowing the British team to stay away from yellow for some time. In general, the team time trial will dominate most of the teams' pre-race strategies and so Cannondale will be left to do much of the work itself. Their main ally will of course be Radioshack who will be keen to defend Bakelants' jersey but as he is likely to lose it in the team time trial, the team will not wear itself completely down to achieve that goal.

Even if it is all back together at the bottom of the final climb, it is by no means guaranteed that we will see a sprint finish. The Marsolino climb is really tough and we should see plenty of attacks on its slopes. Today Sagan chose to stay calm and rely on his team but tomorrow he will probably have to be more aggressive if he wants to win. The best way of making sure that it comes down to a sprint is probably to respond to the attacks himself. No one wants to go anywhere with Sagan in his wheel and so the Slovakian's presence will kill any attack. On the other hand, it will cost a lot of energy to react to repeated attempts both on the uphill and downhill sections.

Since none of the pure sprinters were able to survive today's challenges, they won't have a chance tomorrow. If it comes down to a sprint, it is hard to imagine anyone beating Sagan and in that case, he will be the enormous favourite. Michal Kwiatkowski, Simon Gerrans and Edvald Boasson Hagen are his most likely challengers.

Since a breakaway has a chance of making it to the finish, we should point out some likely opportunists. Thomas Voeckler made a short-lived attack today and thus showed his intentions. Tomorrow's stage presents a far better opportunity and we could see the in-form Frenchman try his hand both early and late in the stage. An attack would also allow him to take some early points for the mountains classification that is currently led by his teammate Pierre Rolland.

Orica-GreenEdge is here to chase stage wins and has generally placed more emphasis on the hilly stages this year. Simon Gerrans and Michael Albasini are both perfectly suited to tomorrow's route and both have a fast sprint to finish off the work. They are even likely to try their hand, should it all come down to a sprint finish.

While the GC teams will save their energy for the team time trial, the French teams have a host of riders that could go on the attack. Ag2r showed their strength with Blel Kadri today and will certainly do what they can to get into tomorrow's move as well. Romain Bardet, Maxime Bouet, Christophe Riblon, Hubert Dupont and Kadri are all able to race aggressively in a stage like tomorrow's and it would be a surprise not to see one of those riders in the early move.

FDJ are in a similarly good position as they have numerous strong breakaway candidates. Newly-crowned French champion Arthur Vichot is riding strongly these days and is also very fast on the line while Pierrick Fedrigo, Alexandre Geniez, Arnold Jeannesson and Jeremy Roy could also make an impression.

Euskaltel have set their sights on the mountains jersey and have an opportunity to take it back tomorrow. Gorka Izagirre was part of the late-race breakaway today and appears to be in good condition. His brother Ion is another good breakaway candidate but he is also focused on the white jersey and may be unwilling to risk too much.

As Omega Pharma-Quick Step has reduced its focus on the team time trial, Sylvain Chavanel could have another go after today's near-miss. Vacansoleil's Sergey Lagutin appears to be riding strongly these days and should find tomorrow's hilly route to his liking.

A breakaway will be the biggest threat to Bakelants' jersey. The in-form Belgian who finished 3rd in the recent Tour of Luxembourg, is a very good climber and should be able to handle tomorrow's challenges. While the biggest race favourites will keep their powder dry for the team time trial, we could see outsiders like Rolland and Thibaut Pinot make small attempts on the final climb, thus allowing for the first small glimpses of the strengths of the GC riders. That is, however, unlikely to trouble Bakelants too much.

CyclingQuotes' stage winner picks: Peter Sagan, Simon Gerrans, Michael Albasini

Outsiders: Thomas Voeckler, Sylvain Chavanel, Michal Kwiatkowski