Head for the Hills it's Stage 7

The Carnage continues! Wow it's been a horror few days for quite a few riders with a few permanent casualties. Is it a case of too many young riders not respecting the conditions, or is everyone just as keen as curry to hang on? Either way, last night's bingle put a big dent in the hopes of a few campaigns.
If you saw any of the footage from last night's stage from Epernay to Metz, you'll see why all the teams with GC or other jersey contenders in them are working hard to keep their boys at the front and out of trouble.

It was another exciting finish to one of the last sprint stages for a while. Unfortunately one of Matt Goss's leadout men snapped a chain within a 100m or so of the line so he collected just another minor place. It was the 'young gorilla' Sagan who collected another stage win to shoot 31 points clear of Goss for the green sprinters jeursey. André Greipel who was involved in the a crash early in the stage did amazingly well to challenge Sagan for the win.

Tonight it is Stage 7 from Tomblaine to La Planche Des Belles Filles. This is where the GC contenders will come out to make their presence felt. Apart from a couple of Cat 3 climbs throughout the course, there is a nasty Cat 1 , 6 km climb to the finish with an average gradient of 8.5%. After the last few sprint stages, this is where it starts to get interesting, & where the real GC contenders come out to play.

Stage 7 predictions & tipples:

OUR PICK TO WIN: Cadel to show a bit of 'who's the boss' tonight I reckon. The BMC team will be keen to show the rest of the field that they are here to defend & win again!

DRINK: Located between Burgundy, Alsace and the Jura, it's a mixed bag of Vin de Pays here. Since it is a Saturday night, try a zippy Riesling a tight Chardonnay first and a light & spicy pinot later. 

AUSSIE MATCH: A bit of Vic high country Gewurztraminer from Deletite could be fun, or the brilliant Rodda Chard from Beechworth is always good. The Eastern Peak Pinot from the cool hills outside of Ballarat might get a splash tonight too!