19 of our 22 punters managed to score at least one bottle of vino, with the ‘Takano Mafia’ of Kevin and Takako grabbing the largest haul. Wil F didn’t score cash, but is now set to open his very own ‘Cave de Plonk’ within handy staggering distance of the office. My own modest haul came thanks to the Herculean efforts of a Colombian shorty on the penultimate stage. I shall be delivering the plonk later this week, all being well. Commisserations to Yui, Jack and Aaron.
Hope you enjoyed the blog. It was especially hard to find the time to put it together this year. Next time around, I may not do it at all, but hopefully I will manage an on-the-spot report from the opening stages here.
Bonne chance mes amis et au revoir!
Kevin R
￥5000 and 2 bottles of Somalian Chardonnay
Wil F
5 bottles of Mongolian Mystere-des-Yaks
Takako R
4 bottles of Chateau d’Armpittes-Humides
John A
￥5000 and 2 bottles of Guatemalan Pinot Grot
Milan B
Sanborn B
3 bottles of Organic Alsatian Hundwasser
Topher W
A bottle of Spumanti du Neige-Citron and 1 bottle of Albanian Krapweisser
Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) sprinted to victory in the final stage of this year’s Tour de France, ending Mark Cavendish‘s four-year winning streak on the Champs-Élysées. Kittel lead from the front inside the final 200 meters, with Andre Greipel and Cavendish unable to close the gap.
Under the Parisian dusk, and with the Arc de Triomphe providing a spectacular backdrop, Kittel was delivered to the line perfectly, his Argos-Shimano team forging their path to the front of the peloton with immaculate timing.
Kittel wins on the Champs-Elysees
With Greipel and Cavendish struggling to draw level in the closing meters Kittel was able to claim his fourth stage of this year’s race, marking a complete turnaround from last year when he abandoned his debut Tour through illness and injury.
“The best thing a sprinter can do is win on the Champs-Élysées. The sprint was tough but it went perfectly. My legs felt good and so I’m really happy,” he said after being first on the final Tour de France podium.
“It’s difficult to say after such a great Tour de France. I’ve won four stages. I’m proud of myself and my team. We had some hard days in the mountains but we give it everything together that what’s made the difference.”
Team Sky‘s Chris Froome finished the final stage safely, rolling across the finish line with his six teammates 53 seconds after Kittel, and winning his first Tour de France, while Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) rounded out the final podium of the 100th Tour de France. For the second year in a row Sky toasted their Tour de France champion as race organisers ASO pulled out all the stops to celebrate the Tour’s 100 edition.
Froome savoured every moment on the podium as the winner of the Tour de France.
Froomie le Vainqueur
“It’s absolutely incredible! I could actually feel myself welling up with tears it was really quite an emotional feeling riding across the line with my teammates who have just killed themselves to keep the yellow jersey on my back for these past two weeks,” he said.
“It has been an absolutely incredible journey. It’s been a tough journey – a bloody tough journey – but to be here, standing on the top step of the podium on the Champs-Elysées is all worth it, 100 percent worth it.”
Froome read a message on the podium.
“I’d like to thank my teammates who buried themselves day-in, day-out to keep this yellow jersey on my shoulders and the Team Sky management for believing in me and building this team around me. Thank you to all the people who have taken the time to teach me over the years. Finally, I’d like to thank my close friends and family for being there for me every step of the way,” he said.
“This is a beautiful country and it hosts the biggest annual sporting event on the planet. To win the 100th edition is an honour. This is one yellow jersey that will stand the test of time.”
Historic evening finale to 100th Tour de France edition
The stage from Versailles set off in the early evening, with the peloton reaching Paris just as dusk began to fall. By then the customary roll call of photos had been ceremoniously concluded, the champagne flute discarded and Peter Sagan green wig to celebrate his second straight green jersey, discarded.
As the race wound through the streets of Paris and around the Arc de Triomphe for the first time there was even time for Miguel Indurain, Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault to enjoy an open top parade.
Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) was watching from the sidelines, however, having pulled out with 38 kilometres remaining due to illness, a reminder of how cruel luck can be in cycling.
Cavendish, looking for an unprecedented fifth straight stage in win Paris, had to chase back after an early puncture. It was left to another British rider to open the attacking proceedings with David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) the first rider to escape the clutches of the Sky-led field. Millar, who has struggled at times in this year’s race, was joined by fellow veteran Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM).
The pair kicked out an advantage that stretched to 25 seconds but with 23 kilometres remaining the Spaniard was forced to yield, allowing Millar to soak up the atmosphere as he raced around Norwegian corner, bouncing his way through the gutters that line the edges of the Champs-Élysées and across the line.
As the sky dimmed and the lights from the race motorbikes flickered into life Millar’s energies began to fade.
Jeremy Roy was the next rider to launch a move but he was unable to match Millar’s attempt and was quickly passed by the trio of Manuel Quinziato (BMC), Bram Tankink (Belkin) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). Although a more dangerous proposition than Roy, they, too were reeled in, the sprinters not to be denied after a week in the Alps and the Champs-Élysées finishing line in sight.
Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) summoned his teammates into action, Cavendish neatly tucked into the final slot as the peloton flew into the final three kilometres. Lotto Belisol and Cannondale muscled their way to the front as Argos-Shimano drifted in, their lead-out now arguably the best in the world.
Kittel still needed to finish the job off and despite Cavendish and Greipel breathing down his neck, the 25-year-old German was able to hold his line and his strength.
As night fell the attention turned to Froome, the British rider completing a staggering journey that has culminated in a dominant win in this year’s race. He dedicated the win to his late mother, and flanked by Quintana and Rodriguez, becomes the second British winner of the world’s biggest race.
Quintana, second overall, pulled on the white jersey, with Sagan ruling green and Alberto Contador’s Saxo-Tinkoff winning the team classification.
Just found this, from Eurosport’s Blazing Saddles:
How can we not put our hands together for Jens Voigt, a man who two days ago on Alpe d’Huez rolled his water bottle to a young fan only to see an adult step out and swipe it for himself; having thought about it for a few moments, Jens turned round, cycled back down to the man, and told him to give it to the little boy – receiving more applause from the crowds than stage winner Christophe Riblon
Until yesterday’s stage it looked like Monsieur Kev was going to get both yellow and polka-dot jersey prizes, then Wham Bam Columbian!, and my man Nairo Quintana exploded from the front to win the alpine stage, plus polka-dot King of the Mountains and white Best Young Rider jerseys. He even managed to crack a smile. Stitch that, Alberto! Froomie secured the overall victory, and now all that remains is to see if Cavendish can remain undefeated on the Champs Elysees. Saddles reckons he won’t. It’s been a disappointing tour for the Manx Missile, and we reckon that it will be his German nemesis Marcel Kittell who takes the day.
“I’ll burn, I’m ready to die for you on the bike” – Jens Voigt
This morning Saddles listened to the ITV podcast team’s interview with Jens Voigt and got a little ‘there must be something in my eye’ to hear the great man say these words: “Well, you know, I thought I’d use the ‘Shut Up Legs’, and the legs said “Hey, you used that too often and it don’t gonna work” and I said “Like, maybe if you make it happen one more time, I’ll stop using it, you know”. So we had a deal, my legs and me that if they work hard again today, I promise not to hurt them too hard in the future”.
Upon this, the interviewer says “May I ask about your future? That [solo attack] looked like a goodbye to the Tour, Jens, to which the cycling legend replied ” Yes, I think very very probably it will be my last tour and you know I just wanted to close this chapter on a good note, and I just wanted to give it, if you can call it like that, as a present [to the fans], to show myself like back in the old days. Me against everybody, me against all the odds. I wanted to let it out just one more time. Feel alive just one more time. That was my way to say goodbye. I am happy now with the Tour. I am at ease”
Sniffs, blub.
This from Cycling News: Nairo Quintana (John A) finished off one of the most sensational Tour de France debuts of recent years when he won the final mountain stage at Annecy Semnoz. Away at the front with just race leader Chris Froome (Kevin R) and Joaquim Rodríguez (Sasha A) for company, the 23-year-old Colombian responded to an attack from Froome just outside the final kilometre, then produced an acceleration of his own that neither of his rivals could follow.
Approaching the line, Quintana’s poker face finally broke into the widest of smiles. He threw his arms wide to celebrate a victory that not only secured him the white jersey of best young rider, but also moved up him up to second place overall as Alberto Contador finished more than two minutes back, dropping to fourth overall behind his compatriot Rodríguez. Fittingly, Quintana’s summit victory and hugely impressive performance in the Pyrenees and Alps over the past fortnight also earned him the King of the Mountains jersey on what is his country’s national day.
Quintana was overjoyed to have won and taken second place overall. “It’s an incredible win for me. It’s difficult to understand what has happened. I’m very, very happy for what happened today and during all the Tour,” he said.
“We controlled the attacks on the climb and were sure that we’d be able to do what our DS had planned out for us. This is a special day for me and for Colombia. This is for everyone in Colombia: my family and all my friends, who have helped me so much. I want to thank everyone in Colombia.”
The other big winner on the day was yellow jersey Froome. His Team Sky teammates kept the Briton out of trouble all day, then seized the initiative approaching the final climb. Their pace-making thinned out the yellow jersey group very rapidly on the first ramps up towards Semnoz. Froome then produced a surge of his own that proved too much for Contador, and never looked to be in any trouble until well inside the final kilometre. He gave a thumbs-up as he crossed the line, the Tour de France now all but won.
Froomey wins the 100th edition of the Tour de France
“I can’t quite believe this is happening, that I’m sitting here in this position. It’s amazing. I’m sorry, but I’m lost for words,” said Froome after he stepped down from the podium. “Obviously we’ve still got to roll into Paris, but that’s the GC side of it pretty much sorted. Finishing like this has been very special.”
Asked about his thoughts going into the final few kilometres of the stage, Froome confessed: “It was quite hard to stay on top of it. When we reached 3km to go I knew I had accomplished what I had been aiming for. After that I was just trying to stay in the wheels, although I was struggling a bit to do that.”
Joaquim Rodriguez was disappointed not to win the stage but is going to celebrate his third place overall in Paris. He now has a full set of Grand Tour podium places.
“The podium is a great achievement, I’m very happy: not a lot of riders managed to enter the top-three of all the big stage races,” Rodriguez said.
“I look forward to celebrate tomorrow, with my family and my friends. Today I felt in a great shape: maybe if only Froome helped me in the last climb and leaded us from time to time, I would have saved some energies and I could have fought for the stage victory. But never mind, the podium was the most important thing, so I’m happy like this.”
How it happened
Predictions that the stage would be packed with attacking moves from the GC contenders from the off proved wrong, although one instantly recognisable rider did all he could to pull off the most unlikely of coups. Jens Voigt, 41 years young and riding his 16th and possibly final Tour de France, was in the break that went on the approach to the first climb, the second-category Côte du Puget. With the RadioShack veteran were Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil) and Pierre Rolland (Europcar), who was hoping to take the mountains title by sweeping up points on the five climbs that preceded the final ascent to Semnoz.
Rolland led over that summit. Following it, another small group of riders got across the stage leader. Among them was Euskaltel’s Igor Antón, who challenged the Frenchman for top points on the subsequent third-cats, the Col de Leschaux, Côte d’Aillon-le-Vieux and Col des Prés. Antón led over the first and Rolland the second. Antón looked set to take the points on the third of them until Rolland switched suddenly into his path, forcing the Basque to take evasive action in order to avoid riding into fans at the roadside.
A rematch would have been interesting, but Voigt prevented that by pushing up the pace on the front of the breakaway group, which quickly disintegrated behind the German. He crossed Mont Revard with a lead of 90 seconds and extended that lead by another minute as he dropped into the valley beyond.
The new Tour ‘refreshment service’ may not catch on…
Van Garderen has a go
BMC’s world champion Philippe Gilbert and teammate Tejay van Garderen jumped away from the peloton in pursuit of the remnants of the lead group. Once with Rolland, Antón and several others, Gilbert gave all he had to reduce Voigt’s advantage in order to set up van Garderen for an assault on the final climb. However, after Sky took over the pacemaking in the main peloton approaching the foot of the climb to Semnoz, this group was rapidly reeled in.
Voigt’s advantage had been cut to 43 seconds as he led onto the final 10.7km ascent. The German managed to hold off the peloton for a couple of kilometres(my italics, amis), but eventually yielded with 8.5km remaining, as Richie Porte led a much-reduced yellow jersey group past him. Moments later, Rodríguez made the first dig from this group. Quintana responded, as did Froome, who went to the front of the group, then set his legs whirring furiously with an attack of his own, which proved too much for Contador.
Rodríguez and Froome did most of the pace making thereafter, the Spaniard determined to wrest at least third place on the podium, the Briton simply wanting to keep his two remaining rivals in check. The trio stayed together until Froome attacked just short of the one-kilometre kite. Quintana eased up to the Briton in an instant. Then he was off, fast and smooth, towards victory and what looks likely to be a very glittering future.
Rui Costa (Movistar) won his second mountain stage at the Tour de France, soloing through the rain to win the 19th stage in Le Grand-Bornand. He attacked on his own with 66 kilometers to go, and powered his way though at times heavy rain to the victory. Second place went to veteran Andreas Klöden (RadioShack-Leopard), 48 seconds later, with his teammate Jan Bakelants third at 1:43.
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) led the race for some 130 kilometers before Pierre Rolland (Europcar) took over, with his place eventually taken by Costa. The course was custom-made for the climbers, starting with two HC climbs and ending with three more climbs, the last one only 13 kilometers away from the finish line.
It was a quiet day on the GC front, with the top riders spending much of their day together
“Which imbecile organises this competition?” asked an incredulous AS (pictured above), before realizing it is actually lui-meme, je, himself. Due to an administrative cock-up, and the last minute replacement on the AG2R team roster of Ronaldo Nocentini, it appears that no punter owns yesterday’s race winner, Christophe Riblon.
Christophe Riblon wins, at last, for La Belle France
In a step that may yet remain mired in controversy, the Sweepstakes Committee has decided to award the day’s plonk to the punter who owns the next highest finisher. Thus the vino goes to Mr Eric J, and his brave brave rider Tejay Van Garderen, pending an investigation into Mr Saddles’ alleged (by himself) incompetence. Here’s Tejay, and a race report.
I have to buzz of to work now, so here’s a race report from Eurosport. It’s long:
On a brutal day that saw the riders climb the legendary climb twice in the second half of the 172.5km stage, Ag2R-La Mondiale’s Riblon chased down Tejay van Garderen (BMC) on the final climb before brilliantly storming past the American with just 2km to go.
Britain’s Froome managed to finish ahead of main rival Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) but the yellow jersey from Team Sky showed his first signs of weakness on this year’s Tour, with Colombia’s Nario Quintana (Movistar) and Spain’s Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) distancing him in the final 5km.
Quintana and Rodriguez finished just over a minute ahead of Froome who, in turn, was just under a minute ahead of Contador to extend his lead over the Spaniard to five minutes and 11 seconds.
Tour debutant Quintana rose to third place at the expense of Contador’s team-mate Roman Kreuziger and trails Froome by 5:32 with two more mountain stages ahead of the final stage into Paris.
On a day history was made with the first ever double ascent of the famous Alpe d’Huez, it was fitting that a Frenchman stole the headlines.
Riblon overcame riding into a ditch on the treacherous Col de Sarenne descent 36km from the finish to secure the first stage win for the host nation – two years after compatriot Pierre Rolland managed to pull off the same trick in the Alpine ski resort.
The victory was also the first in the race for Riblon’s Ag2R-La Mondiale team, who have lost Maxime Bouet and Jean-Christophe Peraud to injury during a particularly challenging Tour.
“It’s incredible,” said 32-year-old Riblon. “Since the start of the race we’ve had to fight so hard. It’s the fourth time I’ve been on the attack.
Riblon on ‘unbelievable’ victory
Christophe Riblon gives his reaction after his Tour de France victory atop Alpe d’Huez.
“When I was small I used to watch the stages to Alpe d’Huez so I can’t believe it. When Pierre Rolland won here two years ago I was in the break and came so close. It’s incredible that I’ve finally got the win here.”
Riblon arrived at the foot of the second ascent of Alpe d’Huez in a trio alongside BMC’s van Garderen and Italian Moreno Moser of Cannondale. Moser was soon dropped before a ressurgent van Garderen, the white jersey from last year, powered clear.
The American held an advantage of 45 seconds over Riblon entering the final five kilometres but hit the wall dramatically as he neared the summit. Enjoying a second wind and buoyed by the roaring crowds, the Frenchman caught van Garderen just ahead of the 2km banner and passed him with ease to build up an insurmountable lead entering the final kilometre.
Riblon had time to savour the moment and salute the cheering crowds before crossing the line with his arms aloft to take the second Tour stage win of his career three years after his stage 14 win at Ax3 Domaines. Van Garderen came home 59 seconds down while Moser took third place at 1:27.
Quintana edged ahead of Rodriguez to take fourth place, 2:12 in arrears, before Sky’s Richie Porte led his team leader Froome over the line 56 seconds later.
Having crossed the line, Froome embraced his Australian team-mate after yet another job well done.
But it was not all plain sailing for Team Sky, with Froome having to weather the storm right from the outset of a frenetic start to the stage in Gap.
On the Cat.2 Col de Manse numerous attacks – including a stinging effort from Quintana – put Sky under instant pressure before a group of nine riders – including Riblon, van Garderen and Moser – broke clear on the descent.
The Saxo-Tinkoff team of Contador sent two men up the road – Nicolas Roche and Sergio Paulinho – on the second climb of the day, the Cat.3 Rampe du Motty.
With no one in the break posing a threat to Froome on GC (Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Sylvain Chavanel was best-placed, more than half an hour down) the stage entered a calmer phase ahead of the back-to-back ascents of Alpe d’Huez, the first of which, 63km from the finish, the leaders reached with an advantage of seven minutes.
Van Garderen, Moser and Riblon crossed the summit together after the escapees had split apart while tackling the arduous 21 hairpin bends of the climb.
Back with the peloton, Sky controlled matters with a high tempo, only allowing riders low down in the overall standings to break clear. As such, Europcar pair Thomas Voeckler and Rolland, RadioShack’s Andy Schleck, the polka dot jersey Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel) and Dutchman Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) formed a chasing group ahead of the pack.
The narrow, twisting and highly technical descent of the Col de Sarenne was covered with a light sprinkling of rain – and Riblon overcooked a bend and rode into a shallow ditch. Van Garderen also struggled, the American youngster needing to stop for assistance with a problem with his chain.
But the major dramatics came with the peloton when Saxo-Tinkoff pair Contador and Roman Kreuziger – second and third on GC going into the stage – both attacked on the treacherous downhill.
Not wishing to take the risk, Sky refused to chase them down. It was the correct decision: the Saxo-Tinkoff pair held a buffer of just 30 seconds after the long downhill, and with Movistar driving the pace on the front of the chasing pack, they sat up in a bid to save their energy ahead of the decisive climb. The Schleck group were also reeled in moments ahead of the final climb.
With Riblon and van Garderen fighting it out for the stage win some five minutes further up the road, the fireworks exploded early in the select group of race favourites.
Froome clearly felt that attack was the best form of defence, the 28-year-old putting in one of his trademark in-the-saddle, high-cadence digs to thin out the field and drop Dutch pair Bauke Mollema and Laurens ten Dam (Belkin).
Suffering perhaps from their earlier exploits, both Contador and Kreuziger dropped back. Quintana was the only rider who could initially match Froome, although Rodriguez soon joined, followed by the ever-faithful Porte, who was greeted by the grateful Froome with a hearty hug.
With Froome looking vulnerable and tired, Porte took control of matters, driving a pace that made it impossible for Quintana or Rodriguez to attack.
But with 5km remaining, Froome suddenly signalled his team car and came to a near standstill. Porte dropped back to pick up the energy gels that his leader required – with both Sky riders picking up a 20-second penalty for an illegal refuel.
“It wasn’t a huge setback,” Froome said afterwards. “Richie was definitely feeling a lot better than me today. I was running out of sugars and I had to ask him to go back to the car.”
Taking on food so late in stages is against the rules – but Froome shrugged off suggestions of foul play.
“Our team car has a mechanical issue earlier so we weren’t able to refuel ahead of the climb,” he said.
Froome on tough day and food move
Chris Froome gives his thoughts after his most difficult day on the Tour de France so far.
Quintana took advantage of the wobble to ride clear with Rodriguez en route to rising to a podium position in his debut Tour.
Re-energised with some much-needed sugars, Froome regrouped and rode with Porte to the finish, limiting his losses – but, crucially, also extending his lead over Contador.
It wasn’t pretty – but Froome’s lead in the general classification is now in excess of five minutes. The hug over the line between Froome and Porte said it all: despite two more tricky stages in the Alps, they have one foot in Paris.
The Tour continues on Friday with the 204.5km stage 19 from Bourg d’Oisans to Le Grand Bornand, which features five climbs and a fast downhill finish.
Tour de France: Stage 19 preview
Stage 19 is another tough day in the Alps with two hors catégorie mountains to be tackled early.
I’m knackered but I am still watching. Alpe d’ Huez. Crowds gone mental. They are going over this Alp TWICE.
Anyone else remember this?
Holy Toeclips, Batman! Tejay has an 8 minute advantage on the Maillot Jaune. Looking a bit knacked though off the front.
Here’s some commentary soundbites:
“Voeckler knows his way how to dance to the lead!”
“Quintana is as fresh as a daisy up the road”
“Some of those who had a bid for glory are being found out”
“Jens Voigt is still very much out there, and he’s going to have a man in the valley”
“What a mountain it is!”
“It’s a shame Voeckler doesn’t have think bubbles on display. But most of it is probably unrepeatable”
Imagine doing this bugger twice. Which is scarier, up or down?
“Tommy Voeckler has found his legs again and Ryder Hesjedal is being given his head”
“Contador and Kruziger break away from Froome on the descent”
“Christophe Riblon, having gone for a little paddle, is BACK!”
“The Movistar is really putting the hammer down”.
“Jens! It’s Jensie at age 41! The panic buttons are being pushed! Listen to the roar of the crowd!!!”
“THE HURT IS ON!”
“Lars Boom goes boom and Froome attacks!”
“Moser, Voight and Riblon are up the road chasing down Van Garderen”
“10 km to go and it’s a whole raft of pain that this man, van Garderen, is enduring”
“Contador has been found out!”
“Quintana is the danger man with Valverde on Contador’s wheel looking comfortable”
“The loyal lieutenants are all over this mountain”
“What a performance by Richie Porte again”
“Chris Froome is suffering. Can Quintana respond?”
“5,3km to go, and perhaps Van Garderen can do this?
“It’s not Moses! It’s Porte!”
“Quintana’s gone! Froome got the knock! And it’s an illegal feed..! This man is putting petrol on the fire of hurt! Quintana has taken control!”
What a day! poor old Tejay has just been passed by Riblon, and it looks like we are going to have the first French victory of the 100th tour to Philippe Riblon. Chapeau to them all!
Saddles has a new rider to complain about, so Mark Cavendish can have a rest. The subject of our ire is former great turned ill-tempered runner-up Alberto Contador. We are upset because the gangly ex-dope cheat was caught on camera at the end of Tuesday’s stage haranguing the innocent Nairo Quintana, our favourite Colombian mountain goat, whom the miserable Spaniard thought had attacked while Contador lay sprawled across the road having overcooked his decent. Cobblers, say we. It was the last 20km with ‘race on’ and Nairo was fully entitled to keep the hammer down. Up yours Contador. As Alejandro Valverde said to Contador’s face “You leave Quintana alone unless you want some extra vinegar in yer tapas, buddy”. Are you making this up? – Ed. The gutsy Colombian was, for his part, commendably unphazed. I hope Quintana clobbers him in the mountains.
Eat gravel, ‘Berto!
Topher W bags the bubbly as Kev R is awash with Chateau D’ Issentry enough already.
This from Cycling News: Tour de France maillot jaune Chris Froome (Kevin R, Sky) won the 32km mountain time trial from Embrun to Chorges with a time of 51:33, his third stage victory of the 2013 Tour. Alberto Contador (Topher W, Saxo-Tinkoff) finished second at nine seconds, followed by Joaquim Rodriguez (Sasha A, Katusha) in third at 10 seconds.
“Alberto who?” Quintana on the attack in the mountains is a joy to behold
Froome was surprised to have won the stage and extend his overall lead.
“I couldn’t believe it when I got over the finish line and saw that I got the fastest time,” Froome said. “I went into today to limit my losses and to think of the days to come. To go through the finish with the fastest time, I didn’t see that coming…”
Froome admitted he was worried about the weather and the risks of riding in the rain on a stage with descents off a pair of category two climbs, but was pleased he had switched bikes at the summit to use a bigger gear on the fast descent to the finish.
“I didn’t think the weather was going in my direction. I had rain on the second descent but lucky it had dried up and that made me happy,” he said.
Portugal’s Rui Costa (Movistar) proved he was the strongest of the 26-rider breakaway that dominated and decided stage 16 to Gap, winning alone after a solo attack on the last climb of the Col de Manse.
The stage was not expected to change the overall classification but a series of attacks by Katusha and then Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) on the final climb, and then the descent made famous by Lance Armstrong and Joseba Beloki in 2003, kicked off the action.
Contador was kept in check by Richie Porte and then Chris Froome on the climb but then in almost a re-enactment of the Armstrong/Beloki moment, Contador crashed on a corner, with Froome also going down after taking to the grass to avoid Contador. Both got up and closed the gap but yet again this year’s Tour de France produced further unexpected drama.
It also changed the top ten overall, with Laurens ten Dam (Belkin) the biggest loser. He was not part of the front group with Froome, Contador, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff), Porte, Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana (Movistar). Ten Dam finished 1:00 behind the Froome group with Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and others, losing his fifth place overall to Quintana. Rodriguez also moved past Fuglsang to take seventh place at 7:11, with Fuglsang now eighth at 7:22.
Froome still leads Bauke Mollema (Belkin) by 4:14, with Contador third overall at 4:25.
“There’s no such thing as an uneventful day here,” Froome said with a smile.
“It’s a really tough race. If they’re not attacking me on the climbs, they attacking me on the descent.
“It was quite a dangerous descent and quite famous for Beloki’s crash and Armstrong doing his off-road stuff. It was a bit careless of Contador to attack. He was pushing the limits and crashed. I went off the road and had to unclip before getting back going again. I was lucky to have Richie Porte there. He covered about 10 attacks and I’m really happy to have him there with me.”
Froome’s thoughts quickly turned to Wednesday’s time trial but he warned that too big an effort could see riders pay in the following Alpine stages.
“It’s going to be really tough,” he said. “Everyone is going to go going hard but it’s important to keep in mind we go up Alpe d’Huez twice the day after. People will need to keep in mind that this is the difficult part of the race now.”
The stage victory by Costa, the second of his career at the Tour de France, provided some relief for he and his Movistar squad that had their multiple general classification options reduced solely to Nairo Quintana following a disastrous outing on stage 13.
“This win is important for me and for the team,” Costa said. “I worked hard to be ready for this Tour but I lost a lot of time on the same day that Valverde did, so I had to change my plans for this Tour. We were looking for a stage victory and now that we have one, we can be more relaxed going into the Alps.
“It was a good stage for a breakaway. It was a big fight to get into the move, but once we pulled clear, I was feeling good and was confident. Winning helps take away from the disappointment of the overall.”
Here’s Richie Porte’s twopenny worth from his blog on the rest day. I like Monsieur P, and he’s always got something interesting to say. And he is nice to his Mum and dad, and his mates.
“My personal ambition is to see my mate win the Tour de France” – Portey on Froomie
Another rest day has arrived and the plan is for a really relaxed day. We’ll have a 50km ride, Chris was the only one doing media. Also, my parents are here so I get to see them for the first time in months so that’s nice.
We know that Tuesday’s a hard stage. We’ve been here before and it blew to pieces at the start in the cross-winds and there’s some hard climbs. Then there’s the famous Beloki – Armstrong descent into Gap.
Lance Arsestrong rides around the injured Joseba Beloki on the descent into Gap (2003). Scary one today’s downhill. Peleton will be nervy.
It’s certainly not going to be an easy day then to follow the time trial on Wednesday is a really hard one. For me it’s going to be an RDO because this race is going to go down to the wire. Chris is in a great position but we’re not counting our chickens before they hatch. Everyone in the race is tired, and stressed, there’s a lot of tension between all the teams. Yesterday for example, without naming names, one team decided to attack when the yellow jersey had stopped – It was those dirty froggy gits at Europcar! – Ed – to take a piss, things like that, but this is the Tour. You can’t expect any favours. The motto is flick or be flicked.
Today’s Stage, who gonna win? A puncheur I reckon. Tommy V? Pierrick Fedrigo? Or maybe a Belkin rider will have a go? Robert Gesink, perhaps?
I’ve seen Chris do a lot of great things but being Mont Ventoux, I think Sunday’s effort was his best. It’s the most impressive win I’ve seen him have. When you look at his palmares now and he’s got Peña Cabarga, then last year the La Planche des Belles Filles… he’s got a knack for taking out the big stages. This time it was Mont Ventoux on Bastille Day in the wake of a lot of pressure on Sky. People were saying that our team wasn’t strong and this and that but I think he silenced a few critics which inevitably then opens up a whole different can of worms.
Full credit to Quintana, he attacked really early while Chris was still sitting on the wheels. Because Quintana attacked from a long way out, I think Chris was just that little bit fresher near the top. The thing with Chris is what you saw out there on Ventoux is his bread and butter. He can be explosive. Those surges are what really hurts the other guys on the climbs. You can never train for that intensity but that ride that you saw on Ventoux is not dissimilar to the efforts that we do in training.
Time for a clarification of sorts. People said to me that I was smiling on Ventoux. I don’t think it’s a smile, it’s just how it is. My good mate Cameron Wurf said it’s a snarl but maybe it’s my blank look. If you’re on the front of a bike race and you can feel that you’re putting the hurt on, that’s a massive source of inspiration to keep going. I would have liked to have gone a bit further but Chris was just gone. Put it this way, if I know that Bjarne Riis is in the car and my face is contorted, he’s going to pass on to Alberto that Richie’s hurting.
Not Smiling but Hurting – Richie puts on his race face going up the Ventoux
Speaking of Alberto, he was brilliant, he was the only other guy apart from Quintana who could follow Chris. True to form, he’s getting better as the race goes on and he’s not done yet. It’s a bit sad for us to see Mick riding along in Saxo colours and I believe that he’s proving to be their biggest weapon. Anyone that knows Mick knows that he’s the smartest, most calculated guy going around. He’s a massive bonus for them. Money can’t buy experience like that. Last year on the road, Mick made some really hard calls – do we chase to bring it back for Cav or do we let it go? – Mick was the one who would inevitably say no, we’re going to make too many enemies in the bunch. If Mick was behind you or with you, everything was fine. He thinks an hour in advance with what’s going on.
Et Tu, Mick? The former Sky toughguy is now riding for rivals Saxobank
With the stages left to come, for me individually, I can’t have any ambitions. But, my personal ambition is to see my mate win the Tour de France. I’m looking forward to l’Alpe d’Huez and getting the job done. It’s going to be a special day with the crowds up there. The second time up is going to be insane and it’s really hard to get your head around going up there twice in the last week of the Tour but everyone’s in the same boat. You just have to treat it as any other climb, just with a different name.
Atomic Saddles' Tour de France 2013 