Tour de France 2005: Stage 7 Preview

Beware the German looking to take victory on home turf! Stage 7 makes its way into Germany , passing a Cat 3 and 4 climb on the way, and levelling out from there after the peloton crosses the border. This stage is perfect for the Gerolsteiner squad, who will work to get their sprinters over the two climbs, which occur in the first third of the stage, and into the Black Forest, where it's a flat run to the finish and riders such as Sebastian Lang could get away and stay away in front of fans at home. It's most likely, however, that on this longer stage it'll come down to a bunch sprint, where the speed will be high and the trains rolling along to get their man to the line. This could be Thor Hushovd's day, as his veteran teammate Jaan Kirsipuu may be up the front, working for the recently crowned Norweigian TT champ - he's certainly still fast enough to get Thor to the line, but he'll have to watch for the cunning of Robbie McEwen, who made the most of Kirsipuu's speed and strength during a stage of Giro d'Italia this year.