Cycling
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13 Jul 17
10:22
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11 Jul 11
Pau is a popular town in the Tour on account of its proximity to the best climbs in this Pyrenean area.
In 2010 Pau was both depart/arrival town, however the Peyresourde climb was used only once, at the very start of stage 16. On that occasion an 18-man break went away. The composition of the break changed, however since it featured GC riders it was the move of the day as it went the distance, with Pierrick Federigo winning the sprint from 7 other riders.
In 2015 the race started in Pau, however stage 11 did not feature the Peyresourde. Nevertheless, Majka attacked from an 8-man breakaway to win.
On stage 8 in 2016, Froome surprised everyone with that daredevil descent to win a similar climbing stage, although on this occasion whilst they will tackle the Peyresourde again at the end, it is the case that in fact they climb it for 2.5kms more for a total of 9.7kms @ 7.8%, and there will be no long descent, only a short descent before they climb up to the finish of Peyragudes, a cat.2 with an additional 2.4kms of climbing @ 8.4%, which interestingly is the exact distance from which Aru attacked on stage 5 to win into La PLanche Belles Filles. Last year, there was a 13-man breakaway which featured some Intermediate Sprint hunters, and once the dust settled after the sprint, there were only 3 riders remaining, including Majka and Pinot, the former rider hunting KOM points. Interestingly, the SKY-led peloton did not allow much of a gap throughout the stage, and it did not go out beyond 3mins, before being mopped-up by SKY and after which Froome made that surprising attack near the summit of the Col de Peyresourde.
I think we are likely to see another big breakaway group be permitted to go up the road. There are a lot of KOM points available on the road on this stage, and the competition for the Polkadot jersey is wide open, so a lot of riders have a view to get into the competition even at this point.
Froome is very confident this year, more than I have ever witnessed from him, which is refreshing and interesting, however since he rides like a champion such confidence really works for him, imo. In any case, with such confidence I think it is correct analysis to expect the SKY dominance we have come to expect from them in the past to again be on display here, after all that's how they ride, that's their inherent brand, and it would be inconsistent to think that they will change anything now.
Therefore, we can expect tempo-riding from SKY to keep the breakaway under a monitoring situation, and then for them to begin to increase the pace as early as on the Cat.1 Col de Mente, to start thinning-out the peloton, and give the GC contenders a really hard ride. Now, ALM have been the only team to take it up to SKY so far in this edition, when on stage 9 they attempted a kind of "French Revolution" with multiple riders up the road as satellites or forward help for Bardet after his eventual attack, and setting a strong pace on the penultimate cat.4 climb of the Cote de Jongieux to impose themselves on SKY and take them by surprise. It nearly worked, with Bardet just fading when close to the finish line.
If ALM can do something similar here, then SKY might begin to make mistakes, mistakes which might be big enough to turn the pressure on Froome.
However, as I've stated I believe we are seeing a more confident Froome, and my analysis is that his experience will prevent any panic to form or mistakes to creep in, and whilst Aru is the main danger (to his attempt at the 3-peat) for the stage victory here, Froome is the deserving favourite, has the proven team, and is clearly the one to beat. He opened-up at 11/2 and shortened into 5/1, but he is quite volatile on here.
These price fluctuations on him are likely to be influenced by the composition and gap of the breakaway, however the final climb to the finish is very difficult and it will therefore be hard for a breakaway rider to hold a gap to on its steep gradients, especially if as I believe we will likely see that one of three riders (if they are still in the very thin select peloton) will look to attack remaining GC rivals on approaching the summit of the Peyresourde: Froome, Aru and Bardet -- all three very good descenders who can go "bury-mode" for the final climb to the line and who will take massive time out of a breakaway rider hitting the hardest part of today's stage.
In 2010 Pau was both depart/arrival town, however the Peyresourde climb was used only once, at the very start of stage 16. On that occasion an 18-man break went away. The composition of the break changed, however since it featured GC riders it was the move of the day as it went the distance, with Pierrick Federigo winning the sprint from 7 other riders.
In 2015 the race started in Pau, however stage 11 did not feature the Peyresourde. Nevertheless, Majka attacked from an 8-man breakaway to win.
On stage 8 in 2016, Froome surprised everyone with that daredevil descent to win a similar climbing stage, although on this occasion whilst they will tackle the Peyresourde again at the end, it is the case that in fact they climb it for 2.5kms more for a total of 9.7kms @ 7.8%, and there will be no long descent, only a short descent before they climb up to the finish of Peyragudes, a cat.2 with an additional 2.4kms of climbing @ 8.4%, which interestingly is the exact distance from which Aru attacked on stage 5 to win into La PLanche Belles Filles. Last year, there was a 13-man breakaway which featured some Intermediate Sprint hunters, and once the dust settled after the sprint, there were only 3 riders remaining, including Majka and Pinot, the former rider hunting KOM points. Interestingly, the SKY-led peloton did not allow much of a gap throughout the stage, and it did not go out beyond 3mins, before being mopped-up by SKY and after which Froome made that surprising attack near the summit of the Col de Peyresourde.
I think we are likely to see another big breakaway group be permitted to go up the road. There are a lot of KOM points available on the road on this stage, and the competition for the Polkadot jersey is wide open, so a lot of riders have a view to get into the competition even at this point.
Froome is very confident this year, more than I have ever witnessed from him, which is refreshing and interesting, however since he rides like a champion such confidence really works for him, imo. In any case, with such confidence I think it is correct analysis to expect the SKY dominance we have come to expect from them in the past to again be on display here, after all that's how they ride, that's their inherent brand, and it would be inconsistent to think that they will change anything now.
Therefore, we can expect tempo-riding from SKY to keep the breakaway under a monitoring situation, and then for them to begin to increase the pace as early as on the Cat.1 Col de Mente, to start thinning-out the peloton, and give the GC contenders a really hard ride. Now, ALM have been the only team to take it up to SKY so far in this edition, when on stage 9 they attempted a kind of "French Revolution" with multiple riders up the road as satellites or forward help for Bardet after his eventual attack, and setting a strong pace on the penultimate cat.4 climb of the Cote de Jongieux to impose themselves on SKY and take them by surprise. It nearly worked, with Bardet just fading when close to the finish line.
If ALM can do something similar here, then SKY might begin to make mistakes, mistakes which might be big enough to turn the pressure on Froome.
However, as I've stated I believe we are seeing a more confident Froome, and my analysis is that his experience will prevent any panic to form or mistakes to creep in, and whilst Aru is the main danger (to his attempt at the 3-peat) for the stage victory here, Froome is the deserving favourite, has the proven team, and is clearly the one to beat. He opened-up at 11/2 and shortened into 5/1, but he is quite volatile on here.
These price fluctuations on him are likely to be influenced by the composition and gap of the breakaway, however the final climb to the finish is very difficult and it will therefore be hard for a breakaway rider to hold a gap to on its steep gradients, especially if as I believe we will likely see that one of three riders (if they are still in the very thin select peloton) will look to attack remaining GC rivals on approaching the summit of the Peyresourde: Froome, Aru and Bardet -- all three very good descenders who can go "bury-mode" for the final climb to the line and who will take massive time out of a breakaway rider hitting the hardest part of today's stage.
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I doubt Froome will allow Aru to take any glory after what happened on Sunday, while Martin might be allowed to go for a late attack on the final climb, so it depends if he can keep up with a Froome-Aru encounter till then
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How big do you think that select peloton is going to be on approaching the summit of the Peyresourde? I think it will be very small, very select, although the situation with the break will have a major influence on how hard SKY take it up. I think it will definitley be tempo, but even tempo smashed the peloton on stage 9, although it can be argued they might have gone harder to control ALM.
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Gap going up for the 12-man breakaway after SKY came to the front earlier and held it at about 3mins for a while.
Ulissi UAB Julien Simon COF Jack Bauer QST King Kittel QST Bling SUN Koen de Kort TFR King Kung BMC De Gendt LTS Cummings DDD Politt KAT Erviti MOV Gautier ALM |
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Bling and Kittel only there for the Intermediate, obviously, rapidly approaching after they get over the top of this cat.4 -- De Gendt gets the KOM points -- no surprise! Confirms Ulissi and Cummings both want the stage, and are both the likely candidates to attack the breakaway if they feel that things are not progressing as they would like, although De Gendt can follow.
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Bling gets the Intermediate from Kittel -- surprise!
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The break pinched a sneaky 1min and then the Feed Zone appeared for the peloton -- it's now looking interesting for the breakaway, however they'll require at least 6mins but more like 7-8mins by the Port de Bales, I think. Still a long way to-go, and it's still with the peloton, I think.
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The breakawa's gap got out to 6:50 but is now back to 6:00 as they approach the crest of the Col des Ares.
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De Gendt only got the 1 point on the cat.4 before, but he got the 5 points over the cat.3 most recent, the footage did not show if Bling was a challenge, who would've been protecting teammate Barguil's top position in KOM.
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Surprised no one has picked up on it, however the Tour had this similar stage and finish in 2012 also, stage 17, when Valverde won from the long-range breakaway, and when going long by attacking on the Port de Bales. Valverde went 35kms and Cummings would need to attack off the top of the same climb to go 30kms for home. We know that when he has the legs he gets into the break, and when he has the legs he can long-range "suffering-mode" and deep-enough to hold-off the peloton. Still way too early to call, but it is with the peloton.
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Breakaway hitting the Col de Mente -- serious climbing coming up -- there's some dead wood in the break -- expecting the pace to be too much for half of these.
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Gautier is here for Bardet so not interested in the stage win, but he is a bloody hard rider so he should make the semi-selection.
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Just realised that all of De Gendt's 10 WT wins have come from a breakaway. Ulissi had the first look, and then there was De Gendt to keep the momentum up. Nice gap at 6:20 but need them on the Port de Bales to call it -- too far out, too much climbing remaining.
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SKY being very conservative here on the Col de Mente, Autobus has formed, but no one has gone out the back.
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To answer the earlier question regarding whether Bling pushed De Gendt on the previous climb -- he did! -- because he did it now -- protecting for Barguil's jersey.
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Gap down to 4:30 -- expected -- it should level back out again on the valley road.
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Loves these fast -- smooth -- descents...
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Bling...
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They got back 20secs on the descent -- now they need a sneaky minute.
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...Still with the peloton, though...
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That's a surprise, the gap has come right down, not leveled-out, 4mins won't be enough, even with a big Cummings effort, which will have to come on the Port de Bales, early on the climb, which will be about 50kms, and I think that'll be too tough with the finish so steep.
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Feillu out of the peloton -- already doing it tough...
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...with teammate Bouet...
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That's a minute for them in short order, suggesting SKY are doing nothing, however the gap to the original breakaway is only inching up -- presently 4:30. Still with the peloton, I think.
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40/4:00
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Things heating up here now...
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Okay, I don't think a breakaway rider will have 3mins at the top of this climb, meaning that they won't be capable of reaching out. GC showdown and stage victory -- maybe an attack by either Froome, Aru, or more likely Bardet nearing the summit on this climb.
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Vasil 'The Machine' is bringing down the gap quickly
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It has to be against the breakaway riders, now!
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One of the staff on teh SKY team nicknamed the Vespa they use for pacing the Kiryi.
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Poor ride by Ulissi -- was never convinced by his climbing, but still a poor effort for his characteristics.
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If this was the same De Gendt as we know he can do, for instance on Mont Ventoux, then he has the ability to reach out, no doubt, but I just don't see that this is the same rider.
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Cummings just cruised up behind De Gendt -- made it look very easy -- obviously on good sensations, but not enough of a gap, I think.
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Plus he is just after the KOM points, so Cummings will go on the descent!
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30kms with less than 3mins if he goes on the descent, and it will be difficult to see Cummings take it, but he is a hardman, we know that, but the final climb is brutal.
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Figlesang out of the top-10 probably, that crash on yesterday's stage has wrecked his chances for a top-5 finish.
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Cummings goes earlier -- surprise!
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Kwiatkowski is very fine too...
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Yep, it's just not the same De Gendt.
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30/2:00 for Cummings...
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