Alameda Runners – Get After It!

The sprint battle for stage victories during the 2013 Tour de France should provide fireworks from a few select elite sprinters.

Most of the attention will be on Team Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s Mark Cavendish, as the multiple Tour stage winner will have the full dedication of his team.

I expect a fun battle between Cavendish and Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Andre Greipel (Lotto), Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) and Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) during the eight sprint stages.

It’s hard to argue against Cavendish being the best pure sprinter in the pro peloton, but Sagan has found a way to win big races on varying types of terrain.  However, if both Cannondale and Omega Pharma-Quick Step watch one another and lose focus of the other teams, don’t be surprised to see Griepel or Kittel try to steal a few stage wins.

Cavendish secured the Giro points jersey and won five stages during the first grand tour of 2013 – and expect that momentum to carry into July.