Mid-interview Geraint Thomas is swept away by a concerned Dave Brailsford, who no doubt wants to get his man checked over. On the podium Ruben Plaza accepts his trophy – he looks extremely drained and emotional but must be smiling inside. An impressive solo break from the Spaniard claimed a well-deserved stage victory.
That’s all from me but stick around on the site for the stage report and video highlights of the day. Thanks for reading and for all your emails. Bye!
Stage 16 result
- Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Lampre-Merida
- Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
- Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling
- Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
- Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
- Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
- Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka
- Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
- Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
- Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
General classification after stage 16
- Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 64:47:16
- Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +03:10
- Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team +03:32
- Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team +04:02
- Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo +04:23
- Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky +05:32
- Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo +06:23
- Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team +07:49
- Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing +08:53
- Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin +11:03
Matt Cast emails: “Shame on you Christine Herbert. What a disgraceful comment, especially after the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ principles we have been hearing recently - I guess all that goes out of the window when a British rider is victim of an accident. Barguil has apologised for what happened, explained that he didn’t do it on purpose and claimed that he got a slight nudge from Van Garderen which nudged his hand off the brake lever. As if he’d do it on purpose – he could have been severely hurt as well. Ridiculous comment.”
Looking back at the replay, Thomas narrowly missed a telegraph pole which could have made for a far more serious incident. Relief all round, and clearly his sense of humour is intact:
“I feel alright now,” says Thomas. “I guess the doctor will ask for my name and date of birth in a minute.” Asked if he does still know his name, Thomas smiles: “Erm, Chris Froome.
“A nice Frenchman picked me up,” he adds. “There are a few out here. I lost my glasses as well. They don’t even make them anymore.”
#TDF2015 we are happy and relieved to see that Geraint Thomas arrived to the finish and appears okay.
— Trek Factory Racing (@TrekFactory) July 20, 2015
Re Warren Barguil’s hit on Geraint Thomas, Christine Herbert emails: “Really convinced that guy does it on purpose, 2nd time he has taken out another rider by just going straight into them for no good reason, and 3rd accident he has caused. He should be banned. Felt he should have been banned after the first two accidents, and now he has taken out Thomas. Incandescent!!”
After a really scary crash Geraint Thomas not only finished stage 16 but retained his 6th place overall at #TDF2015 #Legend #SuperG
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 20, 2015
Remarkably, Geraint Thomas comes across the line shortly afterwards. He got a major smash in the side from Barguil on a downhill corner, flew over his handlebars, limbs flailing, and landed in what looked like a roadside ditch. To hop back on the bike and finish only 30sec down is pretty impressive. Tony Gallopin eventually comes through, too, and the French rider has lost a big chunk of time to those at the top of the overall standings around him.
He might not have gained huge time today, perhaps 30sec at most, but last year’s winner Nibali shows he still has some strength riding clear of the other GC contenders. Froome finishes in a bunch sprint together with Quintana, Contador and Van Garderen, the Spaniard winning the little battle but probably not gaining any time.
I understand Geraint Thomas has managed to get back on his bike, which is good news and quite incredible given what just happened. Hopefully an incident that looked worse than it actually was.
Nibali reaches the final 3km with around 15sec advantage over Froome, Quintana and Valverde – who’s attack whimpered out.
Of the overall top ten only Tony Gallopin has fallen back from the yellow jersey group, I understand. Oh goodness – Barguil loses control and clatters into Geraint Thomas. The Team Sky rider is sent flying over tape marking the side of the road and into what looks like a ditch. That looked quite serious, hopefully Thomas is alright.
Updated
Valverde suddenly shoots out from the Team Sky-led pack in an effort to catch up with Nibali, who is using his descending skills to open up a gap – the Italian is going to find a little chunk of time today, it seems.
Nibali must be feeling good and breaks clear of the pack, as Gesink tries to follow. Froome and the rest seem happy enough to stay as one as they begin to descend from the Col de Manse.
The 20 or so breakaway riders are home and dry, leaving us to concentrate on stage 16 part II: Chris Froome and the GC contenders.
Sagan comes in soon after, just missing out on victory. Again. An unbelievable run for the man in the green jersey, and he crosses the line looking appropriately fed up. That, by the way, was Plaza’s first Tour de France stage victory, a great moment for the veteran Lampre-Merida rider.
Ruben Plaza wins stage 16!
The 35-year-old Spaniard hits the long, wide finish straight and he has it all to himself! He glances back and Sagan is nowhere near. Plaza sits up on his saddle, beaming smile, and celebrates as thousands of fans adorned in yellow hats cheer him home.
Updated
After that descent Sagan has cut Ruben Plaza’s lead to less than 30sec – can he reel in the leader to win his first stage of this Tour? With 2km to go, surely not.
3km to go
Sagan is really attacking this descent, sitting low off his saddle flinging his bike around tight corners with incredible skill. He’s shedding most of the other chasers as he closes the gap to Plaza, now on the flat road.
The yellow jersey group increase their output a little and Richie Porte and Lars Bak can’t keep up. Plaza has a 50sec lead to Sagan and his group of dissenters (and descenders). Momentarily Plaza loses his balance... but regains control and continues making his way down. This is a very tricky and fast section, and the location of Joseba Beloki’s terrible Tour-ending crash in 2003 which caused Lance Armstrong to ride across a nearby field.
It’s everyone against Sagan. First Lotto Soudal’s De Gendt attempts to rustle Sagan’s feathers with a sudden attack, but the man in green is quick to react and stays closely in tow. Next Geschke has a go, with much the same result: Sagan is unbreakable! Back in the peloton (20min is the gap) Team Sky lead the the GC contenders to the foot of the Col de Manse.
13km to go for the leader, Ruben Plaza, as he battles up the mountain. A group of around 13 riders has now formed 50sec behind him. The problem for Plaza is that on one of the trickiest descents in the Tour that follows this climb, Sagan should easily be able to make up the gap.
“Hi Lawrence,” emails Ian Truman. “I fully understand the desire for openness/honesty from cycling fans. But the more I read on comments sections etc, the more I genuinely believe that Froome’s blood could be run through a clear tube on international TV, with a team of lab professors on hand, and there would still be people who would shrug their shoulders and refuse to believe it. The truth is, in other sports we accept dominance as inevitable, but in cycling, haunted by the past, its easier to assume the opposite.”
All is not well within the chasing quartet behind our new leader, Plaza. Riblon is keen to get rid of Peter Sagan on this testing climb and drives upwards with an injection of pace, but Sagan is wise to it and closes the gap almost immediately. Riblon tucks back into the group sheepishly.
The dynamic up front has changed significantly in the past couple of minutes. Sagan, Teklehaimanot and Riblon tag on to Geschke’s wheel and as a foursome swallow up and spit back out Hansen and Haller. Ruben Plaza comes along, too, and attacks quickly to ride 20sec clear.
Here’s a graphic from the Tour’s new, smart online tracker:
Hansen (LTS) and Haller (KAT) are now 54" ahead of the Sagan (TCS) group. Current speed: 75.2 km/h. #TDF2015 #TDFdata pic.twitter.com/V1gx7gqCQR
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 20, 2015
Giant-Alpecin’s Simon Geschke attacks off the front of the main breakaway-ers. Up ahead, Hansen tries to usher Haller through to take a pull at the start of this category two Col de Manse climb but Haller turns down the invitation – he’s really puffing.
@LawrenceOstlere I bought a 2nd-hand Dutch club kit with the rider's name tag sewn in by his mum. Will this do?
— Mark (@biondino) July 20, 2015
20km to go
Once again in the Tour we have two races going on, as the end of stage 16 nears: the GC contenders will do battle for time gains while, 20mins ahead, the stage victory is up for grabs. Hansen and Haller are 1min 3sec clear of pack of 21 riders chasing them.
Updated
Our duo of escapees, Hansen and Haller, have opened their lead a little to around minute now – Hansen’s average speed on the descent was around 75km/hr. That gap back to the peloton is nearly at 20min, still not a threat to Froome and Team Sky but interestingly MTN-Qhubeka would be on top of the team standings come tonight, if gaps stay as they are.
“Surely if Iam could put names on their shirts,” emails Keith Aitchison, “they would just have to sign Cancellara for one season, and just put NO above the sponsors name on his shirt.”
@LawrenceOstlere of memory serves, David Millar quite often had his name on his shoes. But this is far from a TV friendly solution.
— MaliciousA (@MaliciousA) July 20, 2015
Haller and Hansen are approaching a descent of around 4km before the final category two Col de Manse climb (9km at an average 5.6% gradient). Their lead has stuck at around 35sec from 21 hungry chasers, a pack which features several previous Tour de France stage winners: Thomas Voeckler, Christophe Riblon, Pierrick Fédrigo, Matteo Trentin, Edvald Boasson-Hagen and Peter Sagan. The peloton is now 17min back, which may well be the furthest the yellow jersey has been from a stage leader during this year’s Tour.
@LawrenceOstlere Dodgball also has a gag about doping, when the Girl Scout team is disqualified from the regionals...
— A (@my_spareaccount) July 20, 2015
With 35km to go in stage 16 – and the arduous Col de Manse climb and descent still to come – Australian Lotto Soudal rider Adam Hansen has been joined 30sec clear of the other 21 breakaway-ers by Katusha’s Marco Haller. The peloton remains as one around 16min back: Froome’s yellow jersey is unthreatened by those up the road, with his mail rivals including Quintana closely in his wake.
Hansen has made decent early inroads in this solo attempt, opening up a 30sec advantage to the rest of the breakaway, a gap which Marco Haller is trying to bridge.
“Richard Kembleton’s story about IAM Cycling being denied the chance to have names on their jerseys was a real shame,” says Ed Taylor. “Seeing ‘IAM Coppel’ etc on a rider’s back seems like a missed opportunity for merchandise sales with infinitely customisable jerseys, and also for commentary japes. I’m imagining a 21st Century version of Abbott and Costello’s ‘Who’s on first’ routine – I can’t imagine that not being funny.” As a reader emailed in last week, Willy riding for IAM would be excellent.
Adam Hansen of Lotto Soudal decides to make a stand and he rides off into the distance, though the distance in question isn’t very far, yet: he’s opened up around 20sec on the rest of breakaway. The others looks at each other, shrug and let him go. The peloton and its GC contenders are 15min back.
A couple of punctures have struck in the peloton, including Romain Bardet and Cyril Gautier, and those in front hold back a little to let them rejoin.
“Considering the animosity towards Chris Froome this year,” emails Jeremy Adams, “maybe it should be a ‘murder of cyclists’ instead of a ‘troupe’. Oh and I just watched Dodgeball last night which has a cameo appearance from Lance Armstrong talking about overcoming adversity……”
Team Sky continue to front the peloton and look pretty relaxed doing so: if you’ve just joined, a reminder that the 23-strong breakaway is more than 13min clear, but does not feature any rider within 30min of Froome in the overall standings. Quintana, Contador and Van Garderen (minus his BMC sidekick Van Avermaet who has flown home for the birth of his child) are being looked after by their team-mates in the peloton too.
The peloton, nearly 13 minutes down on the leaders, sweeps around a hairpin as they approach the top of the Col de Cabre. Up in the breakaway Grivko of Astana joins Sagan a few lengths clear of the other 20 or so riders as they look to up the tempo, and perhaps shed a few strugglers before the next climb.
“Hi Lawrence,” emails Neil Keenan. “Don’t both Team Sky and Lotto Soudal have the riders’ names on their jersey’s? All of Team Sky have their surnames except for Porte, who has a very casual ‘Richie’ emblazoned on his arm.” They do, though you’d need a keen eye to spot it in amongst the peloton.
65km to go and the breakaway group are heading down from the Col de Cabre. Peter Sagan leads the descent with aggression reaching speeds in excess of 60km/hr. The rest of the breakaway don’t seem too impressed and are struggling to keep in touch as the former mountain biker glances over his shoulder and beckons them on.
@guardian_sport @LawrenceOstlere You can surely still call them a troupe, there are too many of them to be accountancy firms, folk duos etc
— Martin Sykes-Haas (@martinsykeshaas) July 20, 2015
Rafal Majka has suffered a crash and despite hopping straight back up on to his feet, is literally hopping with some kind of knee or ankle knack. It looks more a painful bump than anything Tour-ending and he is back on his way with a helping hand from a Tinkoff-Saxo man on the scene, and without the help of the photographer under his nose. Up ahead, Chris Froome sits up on his saddle and throws some ice down the back of his yellow jersey.
“Didn’t MTN try to have their riders names on their jerseys this year, but the UCI told them they couldn’t...?” ponders John Sanderson. You might be referring to IAM Cycling, which Richard Kembleton is on hand to explain: “Cyclists generally don’t have their names on their jerseys as the UCI says the space must be reserved for sponsors. IAM Cycling tried recently to have names on their jerseys, and were denied.”
.@majkaformal est tombé / @rafalmajka on the ground. #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/zy7ZJqs67i
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 20, 2015
Updated
The runaway troupe (can I call them a troupe? It’s happening) has extended its lead to 12min 25sec, as it approaches the Col de Cabre summit.
“Re the secondary breakaway catching the leading pack (2:07pm),” emails Nick Williamson, “is Tony Gallopin still with them? You said at 12:18pm that he was. Given he started the day 8:23 behind Froome and they are nearly 10 minutes ahead of the peloton, does that not make him a threat?”
Good question – I hear that at some point early in the counterattack (without the cameras trained on him) Gallopin decided he didn’t fancy a day with the hammer down in blazing sunshine and dropped back to rejoin the peloton. Pantano is the highest breakaway rider in the GC standings, more than 30min down on Froome.
In the middle of all this Laurent Didier is riding solo, the Trek rider five minutes clear of the peloton and six minutes back from the breakaway. He looks content in the sunshine on his tod, taking in the view.
“It’s been bothering me for years,” emails a bothered Austin Lysaght. “Is there any reason why cyclists don’t have their name written across their shoulders / arse to help easily identify them to TV viewers? I know a lot of space is dedicated to sponsors logos etc, but it’d save me having to keep googling individual numbers if I can’t recognise the cyclist just by riding style alone, especially on mountain stages where TV coverage flits between moto1, 2 & 3 every 2 mins.”
I don’t know the answer but I’m sure someone will email in with one, it would certainly make my job easier. I suppose the numbers pinned on do that job to some extent, provided you are watching with a directory of riders’ numbers at hand, which you’re probably not. Or you’re Rain Man and know them all, which you probably don’t.
Here is the full roll call of 23 riders in the breakaway, more than 10mins ahead of the peloton: Grivko (Astana), Riblon (AG2R), Sagan (Tinkoff Saxo), De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Geschke (Giant Alplecin), Haller (Katusha), Irizar and Jungels (Trek), Oliveira and Plaza Molina (Lampre), Navarro (Cofidis), Erviti (Movistar), Hansen (Lotto Soudal), Golas and Trentin (Etixx), Voeckler (Europcar), Mate (Cofidis), Pantano (Cannondale Garmin), Fedrigo and Perichon (Bretagne Séché), Boasson-Hagen, Pauwels and Teklehaimanot (MTN).
Gap analysis between breakaway and peloton. The gap has now increased to 10'25". Didier (TFR) is at 4'15". #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/ihxbbUj1K9
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 20, 2015
The bunch is approaching the start of the Col de Cabre, a 9km category two climb which presents an opportunity for attacks in the breakaway, and the peloton, if riders feel that way inclined following such a demanding few days.
“The problem with the UCI running the tests on Froome,” emails James Cavell, “is that the doubters are going to suggest that the UCI has a vested interest in declaring Froome genuine, and will remember the favourable treatment of Armstrong by the UCI, with Verbruggen defending him until the end. Add into that the fact that the UCI is run by a British President who used to run British Cycling and there’s potential for the more conspiracy minded types to imagine a collusion.
“Of course it’s easy to dismiss such ideas as tin foil hat nonsense,” James adds. “But in light of what we know happened at the UCI during Armstrong’s ‘reign’ you could argue that it isn’t that daft. Froome might get a better result from completely independent testing - with several different experts present at the test and interpreting the results. That’s what I’d do, at least.”
Updated
With 90km to go the secondary breakaway group has caught the leaders to make a leading pack of more than 20 riders. Given their gap to the peloton is nearly 10 minutes the stage winner is surely to come from this group, but none of the GC contenders are up there, all tucked away safely in the peloton, so Froome and Team Sky will be content.
The graphic below may not have worked – do refresh and it should be there.
These graphics are always interesting. Jungels has been on the front of the breakaway in the main, driving things along and keeping up a good pace, though you might also notice that Grivko and Pauwels aren’t necessarily pulling their weight. Tut-tut.
Proportion of time riders have led the breakaway from the 60 - 100km mark. #TDFdata #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/fyxfpHoS8M
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 20, 2015
Updated
Let me quickly point in the direction of a couple of news stories today. First off, confirmation of Pete Kennaugh’s withdrawal from the Tour due to illness; and secondly, Sir Dave Brailsford’s plea to the UCI to support Froome in proving he is riding, and winning, clean:
“It is not possible to prove a negative. I can’t. But I can work with the UCI, independent experts,” said Brailsford on France 2. I understand people asking ‘do we believe in Chris Froome?’. How can we find a test where we say ‘we are clean’? We have responsibility to be transparent.
“I would like the UCI to invest in individuals and put them into each team 24/7. That would prove we do nothing. I’m ready to do it. It is not fair what has been said. Chris is special. He has a special physiology. But he doesn’t cheat.”
At the front of the peloton Team Sky trundle along the open road with smiles on faces, Stannard and Roche at the nose. Plenty of fans line the sunny fields to provide sporadic patches of cheering on route to Gap.
“Quick question, no doubt someone with more time/ability/patience than me can answer,” emails John Sanderson. “Has any rider had such a run of top 5 finishes as Sagan in this tour, or even last years when he was just missing stage wins? He’s always there, which, given he is seemingly in every breakaway group as well, is pretty impressive.” Very impressive, as he always seems to be, though it must hurt a little more each time he sprints for the line only to be outdone by Greipel or another pure sprinter, or chugs up a mountain to be outdone by a climber.
Updated
We are nearing the halfway point in this 201km stage and the leading 12 riders have remained around one minute ahead of the secondary breakaway, and nearly six minutes clear of the peloton. Those 12 riders out in front, in full:
Andriy Grivko (Astana), Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Saxo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Simon Geschke (Giant Aplecin), Marco Haller (Katusha), Bob Jungels (Trek), Nelson Oliveira (Lampre), Ruben Plaza Molina (Lampre), Daniel Navarro (Cofidis), Pierrick Fedrigo (Bretagne Séché), Serge Pauwels (MTN).
Regarding Christine Herbert’s email on the white jersey, Georgia Unsworth emails: “Not to mention the fact quintana is from the diego costa school of ageing.” I have sympathy with Nairo, having quite the opposite infliction.
Following the intermediate sprint, the top of the green jersey standings look like this:
- Peter Sagan, 380 points
- Andre Greipel, 316
- John Degenkolb, 264
Result of the sprint at Die (86.5km)
1. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Saxo) 20 points
2. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) 17
3. Bob Jungels (Trek) 15
4. Marco Haller (Katusha) 13
5. Pierrick Fédrigo (Bretagne Séché) 11
Peter Sagan’s eyes widen as the breakaway nears the intermediate sprint point. The Tinkoff-Saxo rider takes it relatively comfortably, though Griepel’s team-mate Thomas De Gendt was a close second no doubt under instruction to try and limit Sagan’s green jersey advantage. Back in the peloton, Richie Porte has a problem and stops for a wheel change.
“Hi Lawrence,” Christine Herbert emails. “Very surprised that 25 year old Quintana, winner of the Giro, in his 4th season as a professional can still count as a young rider? Seems like a contradiction in terms, and shame for genuine young riders starting out not to have something to go for. Any rational explanations available?” Have to agree with that: likewise Peter Sagan is eligible for white and it feels like he’s been around forever. Think they are both too old to wear it in the Giro where the cutoff is lower, which makes more sense to me. How about a Brit Awards-style best newcomer?
Updated
It’s stage 16 and the Tour’s official Twitter has thrown in the towel re using words:
🏁🚩<-- 130 km --> 🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴 🚗 <-- 50''--> 🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴 🚗 <-- 5'05''--> 🚗 🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚴🚗 #TDF2015
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 20, 2015
Green jersey standings
- Peter Sagan, 360 points
- Andre Greipel, 316
- John Degenkolb, 264
The riders are 70km through, and 17km from the stage 16 intermediate sprint point. Peter Sagan used his position in the breakaway to win yesterday’s intermediate and likewise is well placed today in the front 12. His leading breakaway-ers are 49sec clear of the secondary runaway group, and 5min 55sec up on the peloton.
There have been two significant abandonments from the Tour today: Team Sky’s Pete Kennaugh has dropped out, reportedly after several days of illness, while BMC’s Greg van Avermaet received the news that his wife is in labour – the Belgian had an agreement with his team to leave the Tour when the time came.
Good luck @GregVanAvermaet. Headed home for the birth of his first child.
— Tejay van Garderen (@tejay_van) July 20, 2015
It’s been a high tempo start as the breakaway riders, featuring De Gendt, Pauwels and Sagan in green, put six minutes between themselves and the peloton:
55kms into stage 16 - the average speed is a whopping 53,6 km/h! #TDF2015 #TDFdata
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 20, 2015
Updated
This won’t be the first time Gap has played host to a Tour de France stage finish: in 2010 Portuguese rider Sergio Paulinho won an entertaining head-to-head sprint to the line by half a wheel from the now Team Sky rider Vasil Kiryienka.
The sun is shining in the little town of Crest as the peloton turns east along the Le Drône river towards Gap and the Alps proper. The breakaway 12 are 45sec clear of the chasing dozen, who in turn have more than 5min on the peloton containing Froome, Quintana and the other GC contenders (if you still consider there to be several contenders, that is).
Updated
In case you missed it, you can read up on a relatively calm stage 15 here, which André Greipel grabbed from John Degenkolb and Alexander Kristoff in a sprint to the line. And here are some of the best images from Mende to Valence:
Updated
Yellow jersey standings
1. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 59:58:54”
2. Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar) +3:10”
3. Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing) +3:32”
4. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +4:02”
5. Alberto Contador (Spain / Tinkoff - Saxo) +4:23”
6. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) +4:54”
7. Robert Gesink (Netherlands / LottoNL) +6:23”
8. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Astana) +8:17”
9. Tony Gallopin (France / Lotto) +8:23”
10. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek) +8:53”
A meaty counterattack has formed between the peloton and the breakaway, containing another dozen or so riders including Tony Gallopin, currently ninth in the overall standings, Matteo Trentin, Tommy Voeckler, Jan Barta and Pierre-Luc Perichon.
Stage 16 so far
The riders have started to take on the final hurdle before reaching the sanctuary of a rest day tomorrow, and the beginning of the end. Stage 16 is the second longest in this year’s edition and presents another route suited to a successful breakaway. After 20km a group of 12 riders have attempted just that, riding a couple of minutes clear of the peloton.
The names out in front: Grivko, Riblon, Sagan, De Gendt, Geschke, Haller, Jungels, Oliveira, Plaza Molina, Navarro, Fedrigo and Pauwels.
Updated
Stage 16: Bourg-de-Péage to Gap (201km)
A classic ‘transition stage’, one of only two days in the race over 200km, and a day when the smart money is on a breakaway contesting the finish.
The sprinters and their teams will be put off by two second-cat ascents, with the last one, the Col de Manse, just 12km from the finish. It’s a stage for a rider like Tony Gallopin or Alexis Vuillermoz of Ag2R, with a note of warning: the descent off the Manse to the finish is highly dangerous.
Contador and Froome pushed each other hard there in 2013, and the hairpins might just tempt the Spaniard or Nibali to push their luck.
Read more from our stage-by-stage guide.
