Tour de France Stages 15-17

July 19, 2017 Football In High Heels News 0

Tour de France Stages 15-17

by Katie Haskins

Stage type: Road Race – moutains

Length: 189.5 km/117.7 miles

Route: Laissac-Severac L’Eglise to Le Puy-en-velay

A 10 rider breakaway started the day but had trouble getting away.

The first climb of the day was a Category 1. The Montee de Naves D’aubrac is 8.9 km long, an elevation gain of 1857 ft, avg. gradient of 6.4% and a max of 10.2%. On the climb, the breakaway split into six and four riders, which became five, one, and four, and finally three, two, and five. Rider attacked from the peloton during the ascent. After the top of the climb, the first two riders waited for the next group to become five again. A group of 23 riders were almost two minutes behind while the yellow jersey group was almost 3:30 behind.

The second climb of the day was a Category 3. The Cote de Vieurals is 3.3 km long, only 633 ft in elevation gain, avg. gradient of 5.9% and a max of 8.9%. At this point the yellow jersey group is 4.5 minutes behind. At 130.9 km/80.8 miles to go, the two groups in front combine to form a group of 28 riders.

At the sprint point this big leading group is six minutes ahead of the peloton and the gap continued to grow.

The third climb of the day was another Category 1. The Col de Peyra Taillade is 8.3 km long, 1896 ft of elevation gain, 7.4% avg. gradient, and a max of 14.9%. On this climb, Tony Martin attacks from the front group and gains 1.5 minute advantage over that group and almost 9.5 minutes ahead of the yellow jersey group. Before the yellow jersey group gets to the bottom of the climb, the entire team of AG2R attacks off the front of the yellow jersey group, splitting from Chris Froome and taking Fabio Aru with them. Unfortunately, at the bottom Froome has a mechanical issue and has to switch wheels with a teammate. He ends up falling behind by a good margin and has to work his way back up through the splintered peloton. Thankfully, he has a teammate to help him.

Tony Martin is caught with 34.9 km/21.6 miles left and is immediately passed by Warren Barguil. At the top of the Col de Peyra Taillade, Barguil is 20 seconds ahead of the next chase, and 6:40 ahead of the yellow jersey. On the descent, Barguil is passed by Bauke Mollema.

The 4th and final climb is the Cote de Saint-Vidal. It’s only 1.9 km long, ascends 456 ft, but has an avg. gradient of 6.8%, and a max gradient of 9.5%. At the top, Mollema has a 25 second lead on a chase of two riders that include Barguil, and is 6:58 ahead of yellow jersey group of 16.

Dan Martin attacks from the yellow jersey group and gains a few more seconds on yellow. Mollema stays away and wins in 4:41:47.

There are minor shakeups in the leader board.

  1. Chris Froome 64:40:21
  2. Fabio Aru +:18
  3. Romain Bardet +:23
  4. Rigoberto Uran +:29
  5. Dan Marin +1:12

Tour de France 2017: Stage 16

Stage type: Road Race –hilly sprint

Length: 165 km/102.5 miles

Route: Le Puy-en-velay to Romans-Sur-Isere

There didn’t seem to be a breakaway today. They certainly tried. First with 15 riders, but they were caught, then two, three, five, up to ten riders. But they barely got more than 15 seconds and were brought back before the first of two climbs.

The Cote de Boussoulet, a Category 3, 4.5 km climb, 917 ft in elevation gain, avg. gradient of 6.3%, and a max gradient of 9.5%. The climb up this hill saw the peloton split. 23 riders were in the first group up the climb, with Marcel Kittel off the back. A five rider breakaway reached the top, followed by the peloton by only a minute. Kittel was almost 1:30 behind.

With about 126 km/78.4 miles to go, Sylvain Chavenel attacked from the group of five. The remaining four were caught by the peloton a kilometer later. Chavenel was caught with about 120 km left. At this point Kittel is 1:17 behind with 45 other riders.

The 2nd climb was the Col du Reuvey. A Category 4, 2.8 km climb, 472 ft in elevation gain, 5.6% avg. gradient, and a max of 9.9%. At the bottom, the peloton leading the race was 119 riders and almost two minutes ahead of Kittel’s group. Not much changed as they crested the top, except the green jersey kept falling further behind. At the feed zone, after a long, but gradual descent, they were three minutes behind. During this descent, Nacer Bouhanni, a teammate, and one other rider, break off from the Kittel group and attempt to bridge the gap to the peloton.

Michael Matthews, who up until this point had only been chipping into Kittel’s lead in the green jersey competition, wins the intermediate sprint and gains 20 points.

Bouhanni’s group catches up to the peloton with 56.3 km/34.9 miles left. A great effort to bridge that gap.

With 17.4 km/10.8 miles left, almost all of Team Sunweb, Michael Matthews team, are off the back and Sky have taken charge. With the crosswinds the most pronounced they’ve been so far, echelons have formed and Sky takes advantage, breaking the peloton into two distinct groups. The 40 rider lead and the 2nd group containing Dan Martin and Andre Greipel.

With 5km remaining, Martin is 30 seconds behind and Kittel’s group is 12 minutes behind. There will be no sprint for him.

With chicanes within the last few kilometers of the race, it’s a mad dash for the finish. Michael Matthews wins again in 3:38:15 and takes another 30 points. At this point, Kittel’s lead is less than 40 points.

There are minor shakeups in the leader board.

  1. Chris Froome 68:18:36
  2. Fabio Aru +:18
  3. Romain Bardet +:23
  4. Rigoberto Uran +:29
  5. Mikel Landa +1:17
  6. Dan Marin +1:12

Tour de France 2017: Stage 17

Stage type: Road Race –Mountains

Length: 183 km/113.7 miles

Route: La Mure to Sere-Chevalier

There are four major climbs on today’s stage

  1. Col D’Ornon. A Category 2 climb, 5.1 km in length, 669 ft in elevation gain, 6.7% avg. gradient, and 9.1% max gradient.
  2. Col de la Croix de Fer. A HC climb, 24 km in length, 3606 ft in elevation gain, 5.2% avg. gradient, and 16.7% max gradient.
  3. Col du Telegraphe. A Category 1 climb, 11.9 km in length, 2594 ft in elevation gain, 7.1% avg. gradient, and 14.2 max gradient.
  4. Col du Galibier. A HC climb, 17.7 km in length, 3996 ft in elevation gain, 6.9% avg. gradient and 12.4% max gradient.

Yes, climb number 2 is 15 miles long.

The start of the race was fast with the breakaway having trouble forming. At 163.8 km/101.8 miles left, there was a massive crash at the back of the peloton. It involved Warren Barguil, the current KOM, and Marcel Kittel. Kittel was clearly hurt and even had to change a shoe. The peloton waited for this group to catch up, allowing a 30 rider breakaway to form with a decent gap.

At the top of the first climb, Michael Matthews went over first, snatching points for the KOM. At this point the peloton is almost five minutes behind. Two riders went on ahead of the rest of the breakaway. They would continue to the sprint point with Matthews getting an easy 20 points and putting him nine points behind Kittel in the green jersey competition.

We then come to the first HC climb. On this climb, Alberto Contador attacks from the peloton and Nairo Quintana goes with him for a while, but is soon dropped. Contador manages to catch up with the leading group. At the top, 2 riders are in front with a 21 rider chase, including Contador, 28 seconds behind. The yellow jersey group is 3:12 behind.

It is announced that Kittel has abandoned the race, making Matthews the new leader of the green jersey with a 190-point lead over the new 2nd place rider.

At the bottom of the 3rd climb, Contador has a mechanical issue and needs a new bike, causing him to have to chase once again. On the climb, the two leading groups merge and slip again until 11 riders go over the top with the yellow jersey group 3:46 behind. It is a short decent before the final climb. The Col du Galibier is the highest mountain in this year’s race.

Three men break off the front with a few others joining. During this climb, there are attacks from everyone, but Chris Froome chases them all down. Eventually, Fabio Aru is unable to keep up and a gap forms. Primoz Roglic attacks from the front and Froome’s group start to catch up and pass the stragglers from the now broken breakaway.

At 10 km to go, Roglic is 1:17 ahead of the yellow jersey group and 1:57 ahead of Aru’s group. The gap holds as Roglic passes 3 km, and 1 km. He crosses the finish by himself in 5:07:41.

There are minor shakeups in the leader board.

  1. Chris Froome 73:27:26
  2. Rigoberto Uran +:27
  3. Romain Bardet +:27
  4. Fabio Aru +:53
  5. Mikel Landa +1:24

 

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