July 22, Stage 19: Modane - Alpe-d'Huez 109km

ednwireland

The champion emerges

The rider who wins on Alpe-d'Huez often goes on to win in Paris, as Carlos Sastre underlined in 2008. With just two stages to follow, this could turn into a 109.5km mountain sprint. There is little chance to warm up before the course reaches the 34km ascent comprising the Télégraphe and the epic north face of the Galibier. There are sure to be some breaks, with riders hoping they can defend their advantage on the long descent into Bourg d'oisans and onto the first ramps of the alpe, where the winner will climb into Tour history.






after today what is there to say

Morrisseeee

And here are the climbs: (some of ye have been up here recently ):

Col du Telegraphe:



Col du Galibier : (this is the TOUGH side):





and.............if cycling is your religion, this is the altar:

Alpe d'Huez :



Beautiful...........

Mint Sauce

If I was only going to watch one stage throughout the whole tour it was going to be this one.

Now I'm going to end up missing a good chunk of it including the climb at the end.



Looking forward to the highlights tomorrow night.

Daithi BC

I'm on a half day. Landline phone off the hook, mobile turned off.

Guybrush T

I believe they're wimping out and going through the tunnel on the Galibier, so it's not that hard.:rolleyes:

cipo

Haha!! Yeah makes it way easier!!!!

But it does cut out the last 1 or 1.5km up which is steep at 10/11% .....

But it's along way up and s very long descent back down to bourg before you start the beauty that is ADH!!!

Gonna be an awesome day.

Might see some riders miss the cut too, as it's only 107km day... It's going to be rapid!!!!

Cannot wait!!!

AstraMonti

It's going to be absolutely brutal tomorrow. Just using spoilers to be safe. I suspect that Bertie will attack at the Galibier and will try to stay away until the end just to make up time for the TT, probably along with Sanchez. The other scenario is that Leopard will destroy the field and the band brothers will go in the attack together.
Can't wait!!

bcmf

We could easily see Frank S sprout a pair of wings early in the day and they will have to chase while Andy will sit in and get towed. For all the slagging they received for being dopes tactic's wise earlier in the week this could be the perfect set up for the yellow jumper to finally find a home in Schlek land.

Esroh

Found this on Cyclingnews. Gives you an idea of what they have to do to stay in the race.

The slowest schedule for Stage 19’s stage across the Galibier and up to Alpe d’Huez predicts the winner will take 3 hours 18 minutes and my calculations put the cut-off at 26 minutes. So let’s call it 3.44 for the slowest permissible time on the day. In fine weather last week, and with fresh legs, more than 7,000 amateurs tackled Stage 19 in the Etape du Tour cyclosport race and. Only four of them managed to beat the Tour de France cut-off time.

R3D_D3V1L

Agree with bcmf, think frank will attack early, leaving evans to chase while all the time andys riding on his wheel saving energy and then to attack on alpe d'huez.

Johnners1878

Esroh wrote: »

Found this on Cyclingnews. Gives you an idea of what they have to do to stay in the race.

"The slowest schedule for Stage 19’s stage across the Galibier and up to Alpe d’Huez predicts the winner will take 3 hours 18 minutes and my calculations put the cut-off at 26 minutes. So let’s call it 3.44 for the slowest permissible time on the day. In fine weather last week, and with fresh legs, more than 7,000 amateurs tackled Stage 19 in the Etape du Tour cyclosport race and. Only four of them managed to beat the Tour de France cut-off time."

Wow, that really does put things in context. Fella I know did the stage last week on a triple Specialized Allez. Haven't talked to him about it yet, but his missus said he reckoned it was the most challenging thing he has ever done, and he climbed Mt Kilimanjaro last year.

Schlecks to deliver the second part of the double whammy tomorrow!

mgmt

Come on Tommy, 1 more day. If he can climb with the best, he'll TT with the best.

Brian?

I think Basso is a dark horse for this stage. He can't finish the tour and not attack at least once.

Bertie will attack on the Galibier, but will he have recovered enough to stay away. He won't win the tour now either way, too far behind Evans going into the TT unless he does a Floyd Landis style miracle recovery.

mgmt

What about the intermediate sprint. Could Rojas get in the breakaway and bag the points?

R3D_D3V1L

Does anyone think the long decent before the alpe d'huez will have much effect on the final outcome? Could Evans put seconds into the schlecks?

2 Wheels Good

Johnners1878 wrote: »

Wow, that really does put things in context. Fella I know did the stage last week on a triple Specialized Allez. Haven't talked to him about it yet, but his missus said he reckoned it was the most challenging thing he has ever done, and he climbed Mt Kilimanjaro last year.

Schlecks to deliver the second part of the double whammy tomorrow!

I did it last week, and it was tough going! Alpe d’Huez in 40 degree heat isn't for the light hearted! It's far harder than the Galibier.
Descent off the Galibier was fine, it's possible to get decent speeds up as once you get off the very top it's good road for getting speed up.
I'm still trying to get my head around Pantanis time for Alpe d’Huez, drugs or no drugs.
Looking forward to watching it now

DirkVoodoo

Keep an eye out for MAWS too. They have promised to streak alongside the cyclists, I kid you not.

I've cleared up space on my DVR.

kennyb3

R3D_D3V1L wrote: »

Agree with bcmf, think frank will attack early, leaving evans to chase while all the time andys riding on his wheel saving energy and then to attack on alpe d'huez.

bcmf wrote: »

We could easily see Frank S sprout a pair of wings early in the day and they will have to chase while Andy will sit in and get towed. For all the slagging they received for being dopes tactic's wise earlier in the week this could be the perfect set up for the yellow jumper to finally find a home in Schlek land.

+2, whether its early or at the very bottom of alpe d'huez Frank is defo the card to play today making others do the donkey work and andy attacking in the last 4-5km to try join him if he is still gone.

C3PO

Worth noting that, given that it's a short stage, the finish will be relatively early - about 3.30pm? So if you're planning on "skiving off" to see the last hour ..... you'd better make it a half day!

Morrisseeee

In today's stage there's hardly enough of a flat piece of road to fry an egg on !! The first 14km is downhill, so that's gonna be hectic as a breakaway tries to establish itself !! It's then up, down, up, down, fry the egg, and then up through the cauldrol of heat/noise and mayhem !!!!!!

Fair play to those who did this route recently, I envy ye, some day I hope to get over there and sample it's delights. I was looking at Strava.com and then looked up the Alpe d'Huez climb, some people did it in 50-60mins, which is pretty darn good, but yeah how did Pantani/Armstrong do it in ~37mins..........:eek: (ok ok we all know how ).
Here's the top 30:
Rank Time Name Year Nationality
1 37' 35" Marco Pantani 1997 Italy
2* 37' 36" Lance Armstrong 2004 United States
3 38' 00" Marco Pantani 1994 Italy
4 38' 01" Lance Armstrong 2001 United States
5 38' 04" Marco Pantani 1995 Italy
6 38' 23" Jan Ullrich 1997 Germany
7 38' 34" Floyd Landis 2006 United States
8 38' 35" Andreas Klöden 2006 Germany
9* 38' 37" Jan Ullrich 2004 Germany
10 39' 02" Richard Virenque 1997 France
11 39' 06" Iban Mayo 2003 Spain
12* 39' 17" Andreas Klöden 2004 Germany
13* 39' 21" Jose Azevedo 2004 Portugal
14 39' 28" Miguel Induráin 1995 Spain
15 39' 28" Alex Zülle 1995 Switzerland
16 39' 30" Bjarne Riis 1995 Denmark
17 39' 31" Carlos Sastre 2008 Spain
18 39' 44" Gianni Bugno 1991 Italy
19 39' 45" Miguel Induráin 1991 Spain
20 40' 00" Jan Ullrich 2001 Germany
21 40' 46" Fränk Schleck 2006 Luxembourg
22 40' 51" Alexander Vinokourov 2003 Kazakhstan
23 41' 18" Lance Armstrong 2003 United States
24 41' 50" Laurent Fignon 1989 France
25 41' 50" Luis Herrera 1987 Colombia
26 42' 15" Pedro Delgado 1989 Spain
27 45' 20" Gert-Jan Theunisse 1989 Netherlands
28 45' 22" Fausto Coppi 1952 Italy
29 48' 00" Greg Lemond 1986 United States
30 48' 00" Bernard Hinault 1986 France

Note: Frank is at slot 21, will he reproduce that form today??, I think Contador won here in the Dauphine but I'm not sure what time, I think he wasn't at his best either.

Lumen

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Fränk Schleck 2006

LOL.

death1234567

I can see leopard trek trying to set a good pace up the Galibier to make sure none of the other favourites can get away in a break. Then it'll all be down to the alpe d'heuz and the action will happen there. Prediction, Evans will try to attack the schlecks on the alpe d'heuz but not be able to get away. Contador will have a day like yesterday and sanchez, basso, Cuneago, Veockler etc. will be there but will lose some time ~1 min. Stage winner: Schelck.

ednwireland

R3D_D3V1L wrote: »

Does anyone think the long decent before the alpe d'huez will have much effect on the final outcome? Could Evans put seconds into the schlecks?

only if its wet and cold

TinyExplosions

Bah, they should throw in the Glandon too and make it a proper stage -like the Marmotte

I don't think there'll be huge gains on the descent from the Galibier -the road is well surfaced and fairly smooth, so everyone should get up a decent bit of speed on it.

niceonetom

R3D_D3V1L wrote: »

Does anyone think the long decent before the alpe d'huez will have much effect on the final outcome? Could Evans put seconds into the schlecks?

I don't think so. It's the descent from Galibier to Bourg D'oissans that many around here will know from the Marmotte and the etape. It's very fast and technical for the first 8ish km and then, from the Lautaret on, it's open and straightforward. Anyone who tries to get away in the early stages of that descent would easily be reeled in on the less steep 30km before the base of the alp where a larger group has a big advantage. If riders want to get to the base of the alp alone or in a small group they'll need to attack before they get anywhere near the top of the Galibier IMO. The stage is short enough that there will certainly be some who could go immediately on the telegraph.

manafana

delighted see i got matched on sam sanchez at 25 on betfair for tomorrow, think he was better than shown yesterday as caught at back with his mechinical good go on for it today looking for polka dot jersey.

Morrisseeee

I'm thinking that the only way we are going to see big time differences today is if some of the GC guys are not in form, ie. like Conti & Sanchez yesterday, the stage is too short for anyone to 'get away'. I'd like to see it decided today & not tomorrow in the TT, but that's just a personal opinion, the theory says that the TT should have a say as the best overall rider would then win.

petethedrummer

Hmmm decision time, do I follow on here and the tickers? Or try to stay in the dark and watch the highlights later? What to do, What to do.

Decuc500

Having only one ITT this year really played into Schlecks hands. If it's won today on Alpe-d'Huez by Schleck the Tour is once again won by a mountain specialist. If Evans somehow claws back Schleck in the TT tomorrow it's more of an all round rider winning it, which is what I'd like to see.

lebowski11

death1234567 wrote: »

I can see leopard trek trying to set a good pace up the Galibier to make sure none of the other favourites can get away in a break. Then it'll all be down to the alpe d'heuz and the action will happen there. Prediction, Evans will try to attack the schlecks on the alpe d'heuz but not be able to get away. Contador will have a day like yesterday and sanchez, basso, Cuneago, Veockler etc. will be there but will lose some time ~1 min. Stage winner: Schelck.

Ah Jesus, pointless watching it now.

ThisRegard

Reading Roches diary this morning I found it interesting that when they found a crack in his frame they transferred everything from his bike to another frame, groupset, saddle, wheels, the works. I would have though they had a number of spares set up for each rider, and even if they didn't there'd be no need to bring the groupset and wheels with you to another bike. Superstition maybe ?

lukester

petethedrummer wrote: »

Hmmm decision time, do I follow on here and the tickers? Or try to stay in the dark and watch the highlights later? What to do, What to do.

Having done both, I'd say the latter. Indubitably.

Hermy

I'll be surprised if Contador doesn't attack on Alpe d'Heuz but the Tour has been full of surprises so who knows.

Morrisseeee

ThisRegard wrote: »

Reading Roches diary this morning I found it interesting that when they found a crack in his frame they transferred everything from his bike to another frame, groupset, saddle, wheels, the works.

Well there is no point leaving it all on a cracked frame, btw I've a Kuota frame for sale, newish, careful owner :rolleyes:

Evans thinks Andy was on drugs yesterday: :eek: :

"On a numbers basis, [it was] 20-30km of block headwind [in the] upper valley... we're 40 and they're four riding at the front, with one to nine guys riding behind. They rode incredibly fast in front, I don't quite understand how they made so much time."

Inquitus

Morrisseeee wrote: »

In today's stage there's hardly enough of a flat piece of road to fry an egg on !! The first 14km is downhill, so that's gonna be hectic as a breakaway tries to establish itself !! It's then up, down, up, down, fry the egg, and then up through the cauldrol of heat/noise and mayhem !!!!!!

Fair play to those who did this route recently, I envy ye, some day I hope to get over there and sample it's delights. I was looking at Strava.com and then looked up the Alpe d'Huez climb, some people did it in 50-60mins, which is pretty darn good, but yeah how did Pantani/Armstrong do it in ~37mins..........:eek: (ok ok we all know how ).
Here's the top 30:
Rank Time Name Year Nationality
1 37' 35" Marco Pantani 1997 Italy
2* 37' 36" Lance Armstrong 2004 United States
3 38' 00" Marco Pantani 1994 Italy
4 38' 01" Lance Armstrong 2001 United States
5 38' 04" Marco Pantani 1995 Italy
6 38' 23" Jan Ullrich 1997 Germany
7 38' 34" Floyd Landis 2006 United States
8 38' 35" Andreas Klöden 2006 Germany
9* 38' 37" Jan Ullrich 2004 Germany
10 39' 02" Richard Virenque 1997 France
11 39' 06" Iban Mayo 2003 Spain
12* 39' 17" Andreas Klöden 2004 Germany
13* 39' 21" Jose Azevedo 2004 Portugal
14 39' 28" Miguel Induráin 1995 Spain
15 39' 28" Alex Zülle 1995 Switzerland
16 39' 30" Bjarne Riis 1995 Denmark
17 39' 31" Carlos Sastre 2008 Spain
18 39' 44" Gianni Bugno 1991 Italy
19 39' 45" Miguel Induráin 1991 Spain
20 40' 00" Jan Ullrich 2001 Germany
21 40' 46" Fränk Schleck 2006 Luxembourg
22 40' 51" Alexander Vinokourov 2003 Kazakhstan
23 41' 18" Lance Armstrong 2003 United States
24 41' 50" Laurent Fignon 1989 France
25 41' 50" Luis Herrera 1987 Colombia
26 42' 15" Pedro Delgado 1989 Spain
27 45' 20" Gert-Jan Theunisse 1989 Netherlands
28 45' 22" Fausto Coppi 1952 Italy
29 48' 00" Greg Lemond 1986 United States
30 48' 00" Bernard Hinault 1986 France

Note: Frank is at slot 21, will he reproduce that form today??, I think Contador won here in the Dauphine but I'm not sure what time, I think he wasn't at his best either.

Anyone who did it in under 40min who didn't dope?

dastardly00

RPL1 wrote: »

Worth noting that, given that it's a short stage, the finish will be relatively early - about 3.30pm? So if you're planning on "skiving off" to see the last hour ..... you'd better make it a half day!

I think the stage is just starting later than normal, and finishing around the same time as every other day. Off the top of my head I think it's starting at 1.30pm GMT and the winner is expected to finish somwhere between 4.30 - 5pm GMT.

Morrisseeee

Inquitus wrote: »

Anyone who did it in under 40min who didn't dope?

Riis

Beasty

Inquitus wrote: »

Anyone who did it in under 40min who didn't dope?

Only comment on those who have been proven to have doped (or better still, let's try and keep doping out of the thread)

Thanks

Beasty

Pherekydes

RPL1 wrote: »

Worth noting that, given that it's a short stage, the finish will be relatively early - about 3.30pm? So if you're planning on "skiving off" to see the last hour ..... you'd better make it a half day!

It starts late, at 13.30, so the expected finish time is about 16.30.

D3PO

dastardly00 wrote: »

I think the stage is just starting later than normal, and finishing around the same time as every other day. Off the top of my head I think it's starting at 1.30pm GMT and the winner is expected to finish somwhere between 4.30 - 5pm GMT.

Start is 1.50 BST expected finish of 17.03 BST

mahoo

death1234567 wrote: »

I can see leopard trek trying to set a good pace up the Galibier to make sure none of the other favourites can get away in a break. Then it'll all be down to the alpe d'heuz and the action will happen there. Prediction, Evans will try to attack the schlecks on the alpe d'heuz but not be able to get away. Contador will have a day like yesterday and sanchez, basso, Cuneago, Veockler etc. will be there but will lose some time ~1 min. Stage winner: Schelck.

Dose Evans need to attack? do you not think he'd be happy enough if it finished as is this evening and he'll get them in the TT tomorrow? id say he's just going to mark the schlecks, which will be hard as there's two of them! .. the schlecks have to attack as they need more time in the TT. contador, sanchez and basso will probably attack too.. so should be good!

mahoo

Hermy wrote: »

I'll be surprised if Contador doesn't attack on Alpe d'Heuz but the Tour has been full of surprises so who knows.

Thor Hushvod to win

D3PO

mahoo wrote: »

Dose Evans need to attack? do you not think he'd be happy enough if it finished as is this evening and he'll get them in the TT tomorrow? id say he's just going to mark the schlecks, which will be hard as there's two of them! .. the schlecks have to attack as they need more time in the TT. contador, sanchez and basso will probably attack too.. so should be good!

totally agree no need or reason for Evans to attack.

Colonialboy

D3PO wrote: »

totally agree no need or reason for Evans to attack.

Im not so sure... what if he has a 'mechanical' during the TT, or if it rains and he crashes
Surely if he has the legs he should attack and possibly get into Yellow tonight and that gives him an allowance
anyone remember ulrich crashing twice during a TT in similar circumstances.

loved this bit in roches diary
"Also there, was one of the big bosses of my team sponsor Ag2r, Monsieur Breton, who is a big cycling fan and would be following the race in a guest car during the stage. "
another plus for Roche to give his boss a day of pure excitement in the mountains .. that kids a legend in my eyes doing his job on so many different levels, for teammates, sponsors, manager, family even when his individual goals are shot

D3PO

Colonialboy wrote: »

Im not so sure... what if he has a 'mechanical' during the TT, or if it rains and he crashes

I dont think any rider will ever race plan based on having a mechanical or possibly crashing.

Weight up the two options

attack, drain energy at the front on your own, which no gaurantee you wont get reeling in and spat out the back

versus

sit on the wheel and back yourself to take back a minute odd over an inferiour time trialist

I know what game plan Id have. besides which if evans loses no time today he could afford a mechanical or a trip to the tarmac in the TT and still have enough in hand

Lumen

I foresee chain droppage. :pac:

Decuc500

I'm not really sure that Andy needs more time on Evans for the time trial. We saw with Sastre a few years ago it's possible for an average time trialist to go beyond himself in one TT to win a Tour.

So I think Evans needs to get a little time back which I can't see, especially on Alpe d'Huez, the type of climb that favours the Schlecks. But then again Evans has been the strongest man in this years race.

As an Evans fan I just hope Andy is spent after yesterday.

Jawgap

I don't think Evans needs to attack - just stay with the Schlecks in terms of not losing any time to them. They'll feel under pressure, I'm sure, with tomorrow's TT in their heads and Evans not fading.

Wonder if Roche will have the legs for some more heroics today? Maybe the Da should show him the old family album from La Plagne!:)

mahoo

Lumen wrote: »

I foresee chain droppage. :pac:

I think its perfectly poised for evans to be 39 seconds ahead of andy after the TT tomorrow

mahoo

Decuc500 wrote: »

I'm not really sure that Andy needs more time on Evans for the time trial. We saw with Sastre a few years ago it's possible for an average time trialist to go beyond himself in one TT to win a Tour..

i was thinking about that in realtion to voekler.. if the top 4 finish as is today (a big IF i know) could tommy pull it out of the bag tomorrow. you wouldn't be surprised if he did the way things have gone. that would be amazing. come on tommy!... and by the way, you can get 16-1 on voekler to win the tour (probably about right i guess)

Decuc500

mahoo wrote: »

i was thinking about that in realtion to voekler.. if the top 4 finish as is today (a big IF i know) could tommy pull it out of the bag tomorrow. you wouldn't be surprised if he did the way things have gone. that would be amazing. come on tommy!... and by the way, you can get 16-1 on voekler to win the tour (probably about right i guess)

Nobody knows about Voeckler versus the clock when it really matters. I reckon he can match Andy's time at least which makes it strange to me that he didn't let Rolland help Evans claw back some time yesterday. If he had a minute over Andy this morning instead of 15 seconds he would have a chance.