OK. Let’s take a deep breath. Chris Froome is still in yellow after what was, for long periods, an unexpectedly quiet day that exploded into farce just minutes from the finish line. A tip of the hat, too, to Thomas de Gendt, whose fine first Tour stage win was overshadowed by the bizarre events that followed.
I’ll leave you with our race report:
And a song for the man still in yellow, Chris Froome. Thanks for joining me, and for all your tweets and emails. It’s been fun. Bye!
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Updated general classification
- Chris Froome (Team Sky)
- Adam Yates (Orica Bike-Exchange) + 47s
- Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) +56s
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +1min 1sec
- Romain Bardet (AG2R) +1min 15sec
- Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +1min 39sec
- Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +1min 44sec
- Fabio Aru (Astana) +1min 54sec
- Daniel Martin (Etixx QuickStep) +1 min 56sec
- Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +2min 11sec
Ned Boulting has tweeted an updated GC, with Froome back in yellow.
Thanks to my Guardian colleagues Oliver Duggan and Basia Cummings for their help; this saga has engulfed the whole of Guardian Towers.
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Froome tweets, saying he will keep the yellow jersey
Still awaiting official confirmation...
Keith Holmes says: “French TV has just read a rule from the rule book that says a rider can be ‘repêché’, his time can be changed in his favour in case of an ‘encombrement de route’ which is basically a jam on the roads. Could this apply?”
“They will probably give him a time penalty for completing 50m without a bike...” eye-rolls Thomas William-Powlett.
A bit of reaction while we wait for any news. David Hindle points out that the official Tour site described Froome’s crash as “a mechanical problem”. I also find it odd that they have tweeted footage of Froome running in his yellow jersey for the social media hits, when it was caused by their own poor planning.
TV has given up on its live coverage; I’ll hang on for a few more minutes. It’s ironic (or at least, I think this qualifies as irony) that this fiasco has happened because of the move 6km downhill, with spectators squeezed in without barriers ahead of the finish line. That hurried relocation has also left the organisers rather off the grid, which may or may not be a problem, as far as they’re concerned.
Froome tweets; it seems the race result is under review...
There still hasn’t been a yellow jersey presentation. My colleague Stuart Goodwin has alerted me to this, posted by Le Tour an hour ago, and by all accounts, too late:
Yates, the man in yellow, was of course involved in a bizarre accident of his own on stage seven, when he collided with a fallen distance marker. It’s been a strange old year on the Tour.
If you want my two cents, the collision was clearly not the fault of any rider, and the right thing to do is neutralise the last 3kms, as was the case with Yates’ accident. Crowd control is a bone of contention between organisers and riders, and they may not want to set a precedent. Whatever they do, someone will be bitterly disappointed.
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Richie Porte speaks, and he’s not happy:
“The crowd was all over the road and the motorbike just stopped, we had nowhere to go. [Froome] was on my wheel, he went straight into the back of me. We were 23 seconds ahead, it’s not fair... it can’t stand, surely the jury has to look at it and use a bit of discretion. The crowd are in your face the whole time, pushing riders... at the top, that was just crazy.”
Provisional GC classification
There’s still a chance this will change, but here’s the GC as it stands:
- Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) 57h 12m 20s
- Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafred0) +9s
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +14s
- Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) +28s
- Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +52s
- Chris Froome (Team Sky) +53s
- Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +57s
- Fabio Aru (Astana) +1min 7s
- Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) +1min 9s
- Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +1min 24s
I’m going to keep things rolling for a few minutes, in the hope of official confirmation either way. Here’s today’s race result:
- Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal)
- Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data)
- Dani Navarro (Cofidis)
- Stef Clement (IAM)
- Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie)
- Bert-Jan Lindeman (Lotto-Jumbo)
- Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data)
- Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo)
- Chris Anker Sorensen (Fortuneo)
- Bauke Mollema (Trek)
Here’s footage of the crash:
Froome lost over 90 seconds on his rivals, and the provisional standings put Adam Yates in yellow, Bauke Mollema second, and Nairo Quintana third. As gripping as those scenes were, it would be awful to lose a yellow jersey like that. Froome may feel like picking up a few more fines after today.
Mollema came off best from that accident, finishes in tenth place. Adam Yates, at risk of dropping off the podium, could now be in the yellow jersey.
I’ve never seen anything like this. Froome, after jogging about 200 yards, tries a neutral bike, but looks like he’s going backwards – and now he’s stopped again! He’s been overtaken by several GC contenders, including Quintana, but the commissaires will have something to say about all of that...
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Froome and Porte involved in a crash!
There’s been a bizarre crash, with crowds forcing a motorbike to stop suddenly – and Porte rode straight into the back of it. Mollema and Froome went down too – and Froome, unable to remount his bike, is running up the mountain!
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Quintana is having a nightmare on this climb – not only has he lost out to Froome, he’s being well beaten by Porte and Mollema, who is still threatening to attack. Adam Yates, who was clinging on in the main group, is fighting back with 5th-placed Mollema threatening his podium place
Thomas De Gendt wins stage 12!
Navarro is spent after fighting back, and it’s left for the two Belgians to fight it out. Pauwels is hoping to cling to De Gendt’s wheel, but the Lotto-Soudal rider is too strong, and takes a memorable stage victory...
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At the front, they’re under the flamme rouge, with Navarro somehow fighting back to catch Pauwels and de Gendt. Mollema takes off from the main group, Quintana can’t follow him and the Trek rider has joined Porte and Froome, who look mighty surprised to see him.
Former Team Sky man Porte is sticking to Froome – but Quintana can’t last the pace, and drops quickly back to the main group. It’s 2013 all over again...
Now Froome goes with 4km to go – Porte follows on his wheel, and Quintana is with him too. It’s going to be a battle royale between these three...
The group are onto some of the steepest parts of this shortened climb, and it’s all a little edgy. Froome ups the pace a fraction, Porte clings to his wheel, but nobody is moving yet...
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It’s a Belgian face-off at the front of the race, with Serge Pauwels and Thomas de Gendt battling it out. Poels continues to dictate the pace in the main group, with Froome, Quintana, Valverde, Porte and Bardet all in tow.
A second group has formed behind them, with Dan Martin, Roman Kreuziger and a couple of others keeping just about in touch.
De Gendt breaks away again with 3.5km to go. If he can hang on, he’ll take the polka-dot jersey to go with the glory of a Mont Ventoux stage win...
In the main group of favourites, the main men are playing it cool as they ride with a headwind. Joaquim Rodriguez and Valverde attempt another move, but Poels shuts it down contemptuously.
Quintana playing cat and mouse with Team Sky at the front of the race, but he can’t get away; Poels and Sergio Henao controlling the race for Froome masterfully. The gradient is up to a punishing 10%, with Dan Martin going backwards.
6min 30sec up the road, De Gendt has rejoined Pauwels and Navarro in the battle for the stage win. Team Sky haul Valverde and Quintana back in, and Richie Porte is still in touch. Adam Yates and Dan Martin have been dropped from that leading group, and their GC prospects will suffer.
Team Sky’s domestiques are having to work to keep pace with Valverde, and are under a bit of pressure here... and Quintana attacks! Geraint Thomas and Mikel Landa have dropped off, with Wouter Poels towing Chris Froome in hot pursuit.
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Rolland has been reeled back in as the group of favourites make their way up the early stages of Mont Ventoux. IAM’s Jarlinson Pantano breaks away – and Alejandro Valverde has a word with team-mate Nairo Quintana, then slingshots past him and into a solo breakaway!
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Chavanel and Lindeman can’t keep pace, and De Gendt is now struggling after that burst as the gradient continues to rise. It’s Navarro and Pauwels on their own at the front.
Pierre Rolland, who has had a frustrating Tour so far, breaks away from the main bunch. The top five in the GC – Froome, Yates, Martin, Quintana and Mollema – are all still together, at the front of what’s left of the peloton.
Four men have managed to stick with De Gendt, who has set off up the mountain at speed. Joining him are Bert-Jan Lindeman, Dani Navarro, Serge Pauwels and 37-year-old Sylvain Chavanel.
Greipel has been hoovered up by the leading group, who have left Sorensen behind, with Keisse and Vanmarcke also struggling. De Gendt takes over from team-mate Greipel, with Serge Pauwels working hard for Dimension Data colleague Daniel Teklehaimanot.
Julian Alaphilippe is also struggling to keep pace with the bunch as the wind picks up, while Vincenzo Nibali’s bike snags a bit of debris. He’s got a flat tyre, and needs assistance from the Astana team car, who have certainly earned their corn today.
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The wind is still blowing, and we’re now seeing a few more riders drift from the back of the peloton. Rui Costa is among them. Greipel still in the lead, but the other 11 men have him well within their sights.
Greipel is having a go, putting in an attack on the gentle early slopes. I don’t fancy his chances, but he may be weakening legs for his team-mate while he can. Regardless, he’s opened up a 10-second lead.
The peloton are 8min 30sec behind the leading dozen, and content to focus on GC matters. Sagan and Pinot are still off the back of the main bunch.
“The peloton slowing down because Froome had to take a pee after a crash by someone else, is utter nonsense” says Julian Barr. It has indeed been reported that Froome answered the call of nature while his team-mates recovered.
“No one has waited for Aru during all his mechanical problems. One of the silly unwritten rules of cycling that is so frustrating. Everyone should race to the same criteria”
I take your point, Julian. Surely a mechanical is bad luck, the same as a crash, even if the consequences aren’t necessarily so server.
We have a reader on Mont Ventoux!
“I’m 8km from the revised finish of Chalet Reynard” reports Ed Sayers. “The road is pretty sheltered here but the tree tops are being blown about a fair bit.”
“It’s a shame we will probably miss out on a grand showdown, but the shortened climb absolutely makes sense. I am also up one green sun hat and some washing up liquid from the passing caravan, which is nice...”
The leading group are approaching Bédoin, the last village before Mont Ventoux begins in earnest. There are two Frenchman in the leading group: Sylvain Chavanel and Cyril Lemoine.
On Greipel, James Cavell and Simon Thomas both point out that he is working for team-mate Thomas de Gendt, who has a shot at winning the stage. Perhaps, but with no horse in the GC race, why would Lotto-Soudal send Greipel?
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Fabio Aru has to change bike again – I think that’s his fourth one today – but the Astana man gets back in the bunch, with the help of his team. One man who hasn’t made contact is Thibaut Pinot – he’s still three minutes off the back, according to the admittedly sketchy official race information. Couldn’t really be going much worse for old Thibaut.
“Why on earth has Andre Greipel expended energy to be in the break?” asks Luke Harrison.
“He obviously has no chance of winning the stage so seems a lot of effort for at most 20 points at the intermediate (which he failed to get anyway) when he is way behind in the green jersey standings.”
Answers on a postcard...
That crash and the subsequent slowing of the peloton has allowed the back markers, including Peter Sagan, Thibaut Pinot and Warren Barguil, to rejoin the main bunch.
The leaders have 25km to go as they reach Mazan, at the very foot of Mont Ventoux. It’s all uphill from here, but these 12 riders will fancy their chances, with the gap back up to almost 10 minutes.
In the spirit of fair play, the peloton have slowed down to allow Team Sky to rejoin. Gerrans is still dusting himself down, his jersey torn to shreds in that fall.
At the front, De Gendt has picked up another couple of KOM points on the Cat 3 Col de Trois Termes. Bryan Coquard has been dropped, so there are now a dozen riders in the leading group:
Lindeman and Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo), Navarro and Lemoine (Cofidis), Pauwels and Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Greipel and De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Chavanel (Direct Energie), Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step), Sorensen (Fortuneo), Clement (IAM).
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Simon Gerrans takes up the reins as the peloton head over the two mini-climbs – but he loses control on a sweeping bend, and goes down heavily! That may have been down to the wind, but he took down a couple of Sky riders – Ian Stannard and Wouter Pouls – with him. Chris Froome has dropped back to wait, and Team Sky are hauling the yellow jersey man back into the peloton...
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That forlorn bunch of pursuers, who haven’t been seen on camera for the last hour, have been caught by the peloton with only Diego Rosa still out between the main bunch and the leaders, whose lead is now under eight minutes.
“I’m probably displaying my ignorance but I just checked the weather for Ventoux and the wind doesn’t look bad. Have the forecasters got it spectacularly wrong, or am I just looking at the wrong website?” asks James Pavitt.
There are certainly strong winds about – up to 60km/h now – and poor Greg LeMond nearly got blown over the observatory earlier on. It may well end up being less blowy than the worst-case scenario; the only way we can know for sure is if any MBM readers are currently at the summit...
“On the subject of kits, I really liked the tricolore of the French champion Arthur Vichot on the breakaway yesterday. It certainly helped that Monsieur Vichot has matching kit and bike” offers Brian Hudner.
It was also enhanced by his fellow breaker Leigh Howard’s IAM jersey – like a home and away kit...
Mont Ventoux is looming on the horizon, with the leaders passing over the Cat 4 Côte de Gordes. Thomas de Gendt went over first to pick up a single point; he’s fifth in the King of the Mountains race.
A fair few Giant-Alpecin riders are in that group at the back, as is Louis Meintjes. That’s good news for Adam Yates; his two nearest rivals for the white jersey – Meintjes and Barguil – are both off the back.
“Froome and Quintana both race a similar amount of days in the run up to the Tour. Quintana started the Tour with around 32 race days compared to Froome’s 27” says James Cavell.
“Re: Quintana only time will tell – if he attacks in the Alps in the last few stages and knocks Froome out of yellow, he’s a genius. If not, he’s a wuss. Not much in between really” reckons Steve Wiles.
50km to go for the leaders – but still almost two hours of racing ahead. There’s a 10-minute gap between the leaders and the peloton, with six riders in no-man’s land between the two groups.
Thibaut Pinot and Warren Barguil are with Peter Sagan in the gruppetto some 90 seconds off the peloton; that’s good Bastille Day news for Romain Bardet, the highest-placed Frenchman in the GC, who was stayed with the main bunch.
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“My four year old son’s favourite kit belongs to The Orange Team. I’m working on getting him to use their real name but CCC Sprandi Polkowice isn’t coming easily to him” says Ian Childs.
Craig Fawcett, who sent in this smart gallery, is a fan of FDJ, but Nick Anderson points out “FDJ is the worst kit in the rain is FDJ... nobody needs to see through a white bibshort”.
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The wind continues to pick up, with the leaders approaching the day’s first two climbs – a Cat 4, then a Cat 3, right next to each other.
That signals the point where the route turns north towards Mont Ventoux, and will get interesting, with cross winds to come before the big final climb. The peloton, driven forward by Etixx QuickStep, are 10 minutes behind the leaders now.
Aru has had to change his bike again – he picked up a spare, but is now back on a customised set of wheels. He has Alexey Lutsenko helping him back, and the team car making adjustments to his bike while on the move. The commissaires are watching, sternly whistling every time he gets near the car.
Direct Energie’s Angelo Tulik has pulled out of the race. At least he’ll still be oozing class in that lovely black and gold jersey.
On Quintana, Hugh Pickering (favourite kit: IAM Cycling) has strong words: “I know status counts for something, but I think what we really witnessed yesterday is Quintana’s relative lack of racing nous.”
“Froome competes year-round, while Quintana hides himself away in his Colombian bolthole and trains all by himself. He doesn’t appear to have anywhere near the ‘feel’ for real racing that Froome does.”
Fabio Aru, who’s had an underwhelming Tour for Astana, is nearly cut adrift by a puncture, but after a running bike change he’s going hard after the main group. Sagan, Barguil and Pinot are still 50 seconds off the peloton, who have upped the pace dramatically.
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“I prefer a distinctive jersey, so Directe Energie’s circles, Sky’s and Giant’s stripes and even Etixx’s Lidls are good.” Really, Ben Campbell?
“Worst kit by a mile is AG2R – horrid horrid horrid. What were they thinking?”
I quite like the AG2R kit, but I appear to be in a minority.
The peloton have picked up the pace, cutting the gap to 13min 30sec. The results are in for the sprint, and it was Keisse who got there first, with Bertjan Lindeman forcing Greipel into third, and Coquard fourth. Given the latter two may have joined the breakaway purely for that sprint, that’s a dreadful result.
On Quintana and Movistar, here’s James Cavell:
“I feel people are very quick to praise Sky and criticise Movistar every time the bunch gets lined out in the crosswinds... the leading echelon can only contain a certain amount of riders, and there is a hierarchy in the bunch that determines who rides at the pointy end.
“Sky have the luxury right now of having the permission of the peloton to constantly ride at the front, and also a clear alliance with Etixx who are absolute masters of shredding a peloton in crosswinds. Sky’s strength comes more from their status and position rather than being smarter than the others.”
It’s Greipel who appears to take the intermediate sprint, just ahead of Keisse, helping out Etixx team-mate Marcel Kittel by pushing Bryan Coquard out of the running.
The peloton are passing through St-Rémy, still 15 minutes behind the leaders. The group containing Sagan, Pinot and Barguil has fallen 90 seconds behind the peloton.
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The group at the back also includes Peter Sagan, Rafal Majka (who is second in the King of the Mountains race) and another home hopeful, Warren Barguil. The Mean 13, still sixteen minutes ahead, are approaching the intermediate sprint.
Nicholas Anderson (favourite kits: Cannondale and Giant-Alpecin) asks: “does anyone think that Quintana and Movistar moaning about the wind yesterday [see 11.33] is just sour grapes?”
It certainly looks that way to me, but as ever, thoughts welcome.
A reminder that there are 13 riders out in front; the highest-placed in the GC is Dani Navarro, 34 minutes behind Chris Froome.
Lindeman and Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo), Navarro and Lemoine (Cofidis) Pauwels and Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Greipel and De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Coquard and Chavanel (Direct Energie), Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step), Sorensen (Fortuneo), Clement (IAM).
At the other end of the race, forty or so riders have been dropped from the back of the peloton, including Thibaut Pinot, whose dreams of a stage win and keeping the polka dot jersey are fading fast.
The peloton, just shy of halfway, have now entered Provence proper, after crossing the Rhône into Tarascon. They’ve also hit the first spot of cross winds, and have been strung out across an exposed stretch of road. Luke Rowe and Tony Martin had a chat as they were leaving town, and the Sky and Etixx teams upped the pace to split the pack.
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More of your best/worst kits: first, here’s Csaba Abrahall:
“I’m rather partial to Tinkoff’s hi-vis kit. I do worry for their riders, though, because when I wear my hi-vis jersey in the summer, I am constantly plagued by little bugs. Maybe it was the constant swatting away of flies that was really behind Contador’s crashes.”
Meanwhile, Philip Rees has no time for AG2R’s kit: “men of renown never wear brown”.
The day’s intermediate sprint is coming up in 10km or so for the leaders, at Mollégès-Gare. I’d wager that Greipel and Coquard will duke it out, with both further down the green jersey standings than they’d like. The peloton are passing through Tarascon, which looks lovely.
“In further news from the cloth/geography overlap, jeans get their name from Genoa,” says Louise Wright. “Or at least that’s what they claimed when I visited a while back.”
I’m learning so much today.
The wind is picking up, now blowing at around 40km/h. At the top of Mont Ventoux, it’s over 100km/h – although, in case you’ve missed it, we aren’t going all the way to the top today.
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The Mean 13 out in front now lead by eighteen minutes, with the peloton still rolling along. The chasing group are five minutes off the leaders. I’m not really sure we can call them a chasing group anymore...
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Chrissie L nominates Team Sky (“slightly less sinister than previously”), Lampre-Merida and Tinkoff, “but that may just be the Sagan effect...”
Sagan fact! The Slovakian has seven top-10 finishes in the Tour this year; that’s more than the entire FDJ, Lampre, Giant-Alpecin and Cannondale teams put together.
Robin Hazlehurst and Julian both call out Dimension Data for switching from their MTN-Qhubeka Newcastle shirts (as worn by Steve Cummings below) to a dreary all-white affair.
A core group of five chasers are still in pursuit of the breakaway: Rosa, Gautier, Slagter, Preidler and Voss. Vegard Breen has dropped all the way back into the peloton, who are now 13 (THIRTEEN) minutes behind the leaders as we approach the city of Nîmes.
Fun fact I just learned – Nîmes is the birthplace of denim. The clue’s in the name – de Nîmes. I’m not joking.
Just to clarify, Julian Alaphilippe is not in the breakaway; the official Tour data mistakenly included him in the initial breakaway, but Iljo Keisse is the only Etixx rider in there. I hope nobody put money on it.
One team that does have two riders in the breakaway is Lotto-Jumbo, which won’t please Tom Bright, who says: “does anyone else think that the amount of yellow that team Lotto-Jumbo have been allowed to have on their jerseys is an absolute travesty?”
On a more general note, thoughts on best/worst team jerseys this year are welcome. For me, best: Direct Energie, worst: the Lidl-stamped Etixx Quick-Step effort.
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“Do give us an update on Cav” says Andrew Benton. “How much time did he lose yesterday, and did he retire?”
Cavendish lost 3m 50s yesterday, leaving him almost two hours down in the GC. He’s still in the race, though – the only retiree overnight was Katusha’s Jurgen van den Broeck, who crashed early on yesterday and fractured his shoulder. We wish him well.
The chasing group have drifted three minutes behind the breakaway. That leaves 13 riders out in front, now with a whopping 11m 35s lead.
Lindeman and Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo), Navarro and Lemoine (Cofidis) Pauwels and Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Greipel and De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Coquard and Chavanel (Direct Energie), Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step), Sorensen (Fortuneo), Clement (IAM).
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Here’s a video (with er, Danish dubbing) of the last home stage winner on Bastille Day: David Moncoutie, back in 2005. The eleven years the French public have waited for a home winner is the longest in post-war Tour history.
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Breen has been dropped by the chasing pack, who are still a full minute behind the leaders. The peloton, led by Team Sky but in no rush whatsoever, have allowed an eight-minute gap to open to the riders at the front.
The Tour last visited Mont Ventoux in 2013, and just like this year, riders finished up there on Bastille Day. Chris Froome rode away from Alberto Contador, then Nairo Quintana, to take the stage and all but seal his first Tour victory.
As Patrick Madden has pointed out, there’s an old Tour legend that the climbs were categorised by the gear needed to force a 2CV up their slopes. As this article from Café du Cycliste suggests, it may well not be true, but wouldn’t it be so very Tour de France?
We have an early breakaway around 20km into the race, with a gap of five minutes opening up between 13 riders and the peloton; a second group of six are currently a minute behind the leaders, and surely set to join them.
The breakaway:
Bertjan Lindeman and Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo), Stef Clement (IAM), Serge Pauwels and Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), André Greipel and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Bryan Coquard and Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step), Chris Anker Sorensen (Fortuneo), Dani Navarro and Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis)
The chasing group:
Diego Rosa (Astana), Cyril Gautier (AG2R-La Mondiale), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Drapac), Georg Preidler (Giant-Alpecin), Vegard Breen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Paul Voss (Bora-Argon).
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By the way, I have an issue with ‘hors catégorie’ climbs. Just make more categories. Lazy!
Still banging that drum, MaliciousA? Pinot is a long way back in the GC – almost 20 minutes – but the Frenchman is in the polka dot jersey, and will surely be targeting today’s stage. Aside from Mont Ventoux, Bastille Day and all that, he can bag another 50 King of the Mountains points. The climb to the finish line, although 6km from the summit, still counts as hors catégorie – the highest level of difficulty.
After yesterday’s antics, Freewheelin’ Chris Froome is 28 seconds clear in the GC. Adam Yates is second, Ireland’s Dan Martin third, with Nairo Quintana 35 seconds behind his rival. The Colombian was not a happy man after yesterday’s stage:
“The organisation doesn’t often think about the athlete, the cyclist. They look for a certain type of spectacle but without realising the type of dangers they send us into. We’re all risking our lives every day and they need to think more about stages like this.”
The weather made a straightforward stage gruelling, but I’m not sure the organisers can be held responsible for the wind...
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Yesterday was fun, wasn’t it? A wild and windy stage, which ended with the men in yellow and green racing each other to the line. If you missed it, there’s video highlights at the top of the page.
Today’s stage is about to kick off in Montpellier. It’s warm and sunny, with the wind blowing at 30km/h – cross winds could cause problems from the start.
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Preamble
Salut! Today’s race was supposed to be straightforward; a whole lot of nothing, then a whole lot of mountain, with a largely flat run to the foot of Mont Ventoux, before a hellish ascent to the top of one of the Tour’s most iconic, infamous peaks.
That is not to be, with high winds leading race organisers to cut the climb short, the finish line hastily dragged 5km down the side of the mountain to be reassembled at Chalet-Reynard. Health and safety gone mad, is what it is.
The upshot of this entirely sensible decision, with gale force winds at the exposed summit, is an inevitable sense of anticlimax. It won’t take the heat out of the quad-burning climb that remains, nor will it take too much shine off a French stage win on Bastille Day.
The same wind that has dulled the finale could spice up the road to Ventoux, and we may well see the same fractures in the pack that lit up yesterday’s stage. If that happens, who knows what else Chris Froome has hiding up that bright yellow sleeve?
The race begins at 11.15am BST, 12.15pm local.
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