2016 TdF, Stage 15: Bourg-en-Bresse → Culoz (160km)

Inquitus

Courtesy of cyclingnews

Stage 15: Bourg-en-Bresse → Culoz (160 km, Mountain)

Sunday, July 17th • Stage info • Startlist • Roadbook • Rules • Weather: Start, Halfway, Finish
Starts at 13:05 - Live video from 13:00 - Finish at 17:35 (CEST) • Live ticker • Livestreams


Route:



Profile:



Mountain passes & hills:
Km 23.0 - Col du Berthiand (780 m) 6 kilometre-long climb at 8.1% - category 1
Km 52.0 - Col du Sappel (794 m) 8.8 kilometre-long climb at 5.6% - category 2
Km 63.5 - Col de Pisseloup 4.9 kilometre-long climb at 5.8% - category 3
Km 79.0 - Col de la Rochette 5.1 kilometre-long climb at 5.4% - category 3
Km 113.0 - Grand Colombier (1 501 m) 12.8 kilometre-long climb at 6.8% - category H
Km 146.0 - Lacets du Grand Colombier (891 m) (D120-D120 A) 8.4 kilometre-long climb at 7.6% - category 1

Lacets du Grand Colombier (Aerial Picture).





Final Kilometres:





Preview:

[url=http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/2016_tour_de_france_route_analysis/]CyclingQuotes.com[/url] wrote:

There was just one chance to recover for the GC riders as they head into their next climbing test on stage 15. The short, intense stage 15 takes place on the outskirts of the Alps and is not a big mountain stage where big time differences can be expected but it’s a day when everything can be lost. The famous Grand Colombier will make its second appearance in the race four years after its debut and will be followed by a tough finishing circuit that includes the shorter, steeper Lacets du Grand Colombier. Unlike the Giro and Vuelta which often have circuits in the finale, the Tour de France usually have point-to-point stages so the first test in the Alps is a bit of a novelty in the biggest race in the world and it will give the first indication of who’s on an up- or downward trends as we head into the decisive part of the race.

The short 160km stage will bring the riders from Bourg-en-Bresse to Culoz and barely has a single metre of flat roads. All day the riders will be travelling in a southeasterly direction through some of the hardest terrain France can offer. After a lumpy start, they will face the first challenge, the category 1 Col du Berthiand (6km, 8.1%), whose summit comes at the 23km mark. Then an undulating section leads to the double climb of the category2 Col du Sappel (8.8km, 5.6%) and the category 3 Col de Pisseloup (4.9km, 5.8%) which come in quick succession with only a very short in between. Again there is barely any descent after the latter ascent and only a short piece of flat roads will bring the riders to the category 3 Col de la Rochette (5.1km, 5.4%). Along the way, they will contest the slightly uphill intermediate sprint after 71.5km of racing.

After the Col de la Rochette, there’s finally a longer descent and then an uncategorized climb and another descent will bring the riders to the bottom of the main climb of the day. The category HC Grand Colombier averages 6.8% over 12.8km and is pretty irregular. There’s an almost flat section in the middle part and then the climb gets steeper in the final 6km which only have one small chance to recover.

The top comes with 47km to go and is followed by the longest descent of the day and a short flat section that leads to the finish. Here the riders will take on the 23.5km finishing circuit which can be split into three: a short, flat section, the category 1 climb of Lacets du Grand Colombier and its descent and 8.5 flat kilometres along the Rhone River. The climb averages 7.8% over 8.4km and is pretty steep as it has three kilometres at a gradient of more than 9%. It levels out near the top where the final kilometre only everages 2.9%. The final 5km of the stage are straight and almost completely flat, with just a very light bend 250m from the line. The finishing straight is a 6m wide road.

Lacets du Grand Colombier is definitely hard enough to make a difference between the best riders but as it is followed by a relatively long, flat section, it will be hard to maintain the gaps for a lone rider. As there are still lots of mountains to come, the GC riders will probably take it relatively easy and only make some small tests on the final climb to check whether one or more of their rivals have a bad day. Hence, it’s a stage where a lot can be lost and not a lot can be won. At the same time, the victory is almost destined to be taken by a long-distance breakaway. This means that it should be a very fast and brutal start and so the stage will be very hard and play a big role in accumulating the fatigue that will decided the race in the final week.

Culoz has not hosted a stage finish at the Tour for more than a decade but it has welcomed the Tour de l’Ain which had a summit finish on the Grand Colombier for several years. Rein Taaramae was the last rider to win here in 2009 after John Gadret had won in 2007. Carl Naibo was the best in 2005 while there was a sprint stage in the city in 2003 when Max Van Heeswijk came out on top. Marek Rutkiewicz won on the climb in 2002. Grand Colombier was first used by the Tour in 2012 when Thomas Voeckler won the stage that included the climb in the finale.

Current GC standings:



Withdrawals Stage 14:
DNF: FRANK, Mathias (IAM Cycling) - gastro-enteritis
DNF: BRESCHEL, Matti (Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team) - crash

All Withdrawals:
BRESCHEL, LANGEVELD (CDT) RENSHAW (DDD) TULIK (DEN) LADAGNOUS, PINEAU, PINOT (FDJ) FRANK (IAM) MØRKØV, VAN DEN BROECK (KAT) GERRANS (OBE) CONTADOR (TNK) THEUNS (TFS)
185 of 198 riders remain in the race.



← Stage 14 Thread • Stage 16 Thread →

Odds
Majka - 8/1
Valverde - 12/1
Nibali - 12/1
Rui Costa - 12/1
Froome - 14/1
Quintana - 20/1
Porte - 20/1
Zakarin - 22/1
Mollema - 25/1
Bardet - 25/1
Purito - 28/1
Rolland - 28/1
Dan - 33/1
Yates - 33/1


Random Facts about the finishing town, Culoz: Population 2923, and birthplace of Christophe Lemaitre, the first white man to break 10 seconds in the 100m sprint.

Inquitus

Not a good day to have a bad day, the road only really goes up or down, it kicks off with the Col du Berthiand (780 m), 6 kilometre-long climb at 8.1% - category 1, which starts at the 17km mark and summits at 23km, it's preceded by couple of lesser climbs.

Towards the back end we have 2 ascents of the Grand Colombier as part of a finishing loop:

Km 113.0 - Grand Colombier (1 501 m) 12.8 kilometre-long climb at 6.8% - category H
Km 146.0 - Lacets du Grand Colombier (891 m) (D120-D120 A) 8.4 kilometre-long climb at 7.6% - category 1

Certainly a tough day to re-ignite GC battles after the TT and today's flat sprint Stage won by Cav.

Burial.

Gonna see a tonne of DNFs from this you'd have to imagine. Especially if it's roasting hot. I think the winner will come from the break.

Brian?

I'm sick of this finishing on a descent nonsense. Finish on the top of the Colombier, an iconic climb.

Inquitus

Brian? wrote: »

I'm sick of this finishing on a descent nonsense. Finish on the top of the Colombier, an iconic climb.

I agree, I guess they thought of it as a way to potentially mute Froome's dominance while playing into the hands of descenders such as Nibali. But in reality as you say it just removes a level of significance to these stages and encourages a select GC group to all finish on the same time, instead of attacking as they might with a summit finish.

Burial.

Brian? wrote: »

I'm sick of this finishing on a descent nonsense. Finish on the top of the Colombier, an iconic climb.

That's the one thing that I love about the Vuelta and why I generally prefer it to the Tour. They love their MTFs.

dahat

Is Nibali worth a punt tomorrow?

Pudsy33

dahat wrote: »

Is Nibali worth a punt tomorrow?

The course should suit him, just a matter of if he's given free reign or is on team duty.

lennymc

Inquitus wrote: »

significance to these stages and encourages a select GC group to all finish on the same time, instead of attacking as they might with a summit finish.

Didnt froome attack on a descent and get 23 seconds on his GC rivals?

dahat

Pudsy33 wrote: »

The course should suit him, just a matter of if he's given free reign or is on team duty.

That's what i was thinking, 12/1, worth a 5er of hard earned imo.

Inquitus

lennymc wrote: »

Didnt froome attack on a descent and get 23 seconds on his GC rivals?

He did yes, but this route was planned before ASO knew about Froome's new found ability to attack, ride on his top tube and take time on GC rivals on a descent.

Pudsy33

dahat wrote: »

That's what i was thinking, 12/1, worth a 5er of hard earned imo.

The bookies are shrewd and are pricing it up as if the break will win. Clever on there part because I think it's nailed on

ednwireland

dont forget culoz is the home Christophe Lemaitre, and an air conditioning factory. tough old spin

retalivity

Kelderman has done bugger all this tour, is the team leader and seems to be not sick. Will take a punt on him @50/1

Pudsy33

ednwireland wrote: »

dont forget culoz is the home Christophe Lemaitre, and an air conditioning factory. tough old spin

Lemaitre might inspire Froome to do some more running

Boscoirl

Peleton is well stretched out, few sky guys dropped, but I am sure they'll wait for them at the top

Pudsy33

Anyone see that interview with Majka? Bennett just cycled past him and says "you're gonna win today"

lennymc

Inquitus wrote: »

He did yes, but this route was planned before ASO knew about Froome's new found ability to attack, ride on his top tube and take time on GC rivals on a descent.

I meant that a GC contender was happy enough to attack on a descent rather than finishing in a GC bunch. It's up to the rest of the GC contenders to do similar now.

retalivity

retalivity wrote: »

Kelderman has done bugger all this tour, is the team leader and seems to be not sick. Will take a punt on him @50/1

13:40:45 CEST

Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL) is off the back. He's suffering after a difficult last few days.

Well, thats that

retalivity

Did sky really just block the road when nieve dropped a chain??

mhiggy09

Brian? wrote: »

I'm sick of this finishing on a descent nonsense. Finish on the top of the Colombier, an iconic climb.

To be honest 1 or 2 downhill finishes are OK but this year they went overboard. Although I understand why the organisers did so

at1withmyself

retalivity wrote: »

Did sky really just block the road when nieve dropped a chain??

Don't think so, looks like they decided to re group and no one else was willing to take on the chase.

bazermc

Would love to see Voeckler go all the way.

bazermc

Throwing shapes. Brilliant. Good man Sean

Darkglasses

Interesting feature on Eurosport. Greg LeMond, a native English speaker, is speaking French and the piece being dubbed back into English by someone else.

ThisRegard

Darkglasses wrote: »

Interesting feature on Eurosport. Greg LeMond, a native English speaker, is speaking French and the piece being dubbed back into English by someone else.

Yeah, it was on before the live coverage this morning too if it's the piece in which he was awarded the honoury brotherhood thing.

terrydel

ThisRegard wrote: »

Yeah, it was on before the live coverage this morning too if it's the piece in which he was awarded the honoury brotherhood thing.

Greg is not a pretty sight in lycra! Fecking size of him :P

ednwireland

didnt think that descent was fast mind it was wet when ii went down it

velo.2010

Froome down to just two support riders. Could be interesting!

retalivity

somebody....do something

Inquitus

velo.2010 wrote: »

Froome down to just two support riders. Could be interesting!

Poels well able to cover the attacks, limited that they were, and they still have Nieve there as well, GC group likely to roll in on st now.

terrydel

If Froome dissappeared Quintana would get lost. Like a blind man and his guide dog. Permanent shadow.

at1withmyself

A bit of fisty cuffs there between sky and bardet over the top of the climb, any idea what was happening there?

Burial.

Either Kirby and Kelly know nothing about Pantano, or else they overrate the hell out of Majka. Bit of both really.

omri

Lamest finish by Majka ever...

at1withmyself

omri wrote: »

Lamest finish by Majka ever...

Ya after such an easy day what would you like him to do?

Inquitus

Hmmmm, another day passes without Quintana doing anything but following wheels....

Darkglasses

Hope Quintana wakes up later in the week.

Inquitus

at1withmyself wrote: »

Ya after such an easy day what would you like him to do?

I think the point being made is he made as much of a bollox of that finish as it was possible to make, went to the front far too early and paid dearly for it.

terrydel

Darkglasses wrote: »

Hope Quintana wakes up later in the week.

Its sunday, the week is over!!

terrydel

Inquitus wrote: »

Hmmmm, another day passes without Quintana doing anything but following wheels....

Hes the most conservative rider Ive ever seen.

Eamonnator

Has Dan Martin gained enough time over VanGarderen to move up a spot on G.C.?

Inquitus

Eamonnator wrote: »

Has Dan Martin gained enough time over VaGarderen to move up a spot on G.C.?

Tejay van Garderen finishes, about 1.25 down on the yellow jersey group. He was dropped earlier on the climb

Is that enough? (Edit, no he's still @20 secs behind, but given TJ's form is failing I'd expect him to make up the time in the coming days)

omri

Inquitus wrote: »

I think the point being made is he made as much of a bollox of that finish as it was possible to make, went to the front far too early and paid dearly for it.

Indeed given that Pantano celebrated way before the finish line. Another lesson learnt for Majka.

Decuc500

at1withmyself wrote: »

A bit of fisty cuffs there between sky and bardet over the top of the climb, any idea what was happening there?

Think Bardet was looking for a water bottle from a helper at the summit but Sky blew past him.

Darkglasses

Inquitus wrote: »

Is that enough?

Not quite I don't think!

Btw, excellent OP formatting job!

Darkglasses

Dan remains in a respectable 9th

Darkglasses

Apparently the reason for Zakarin stopping was a lost contact lens? Sounds a bit odd.

https://twitter.com/philmaertens/status/754703476907737089

godtabh

Darkglasses wrote: »

Apparently the reason for Zakarin stopping was a lost contact lens? Sounds a bit odd.

https://twitter.com/philmaertens/status/754703476907737089

Why does it sound odd? He isnt great at descending. Try that while blind

retalivity

Having lost a lens playing football, its a nightmare and completely disorientating. Losing it on a bike while descending could be catatrophic (Not sure if zakarin's eyes are as bad as mine)

Looking at the remaining stages...its really a procession now isnt it? Mollema will defend his second place the whole way, yates will just try to beat mentjies, quintana doesn't look like up for it, valverde is following nairo, porte will do nothing, tj is going backwards. Only hope is for Dan, Bardet & Aru to go hell for leather some day on a mad one.

Eamonnator

retalivity wrote: »

Having lost a lens playing football, its a nightmare and completely disorientating. Losing it on a bike while descending could be catatrophic (Not sure if zakarin's eyes are as bad as mine)

Looking at the remaining stages...its really a procession now isnt it? Mollema will defend his second place the whole way, yates will just try to beat mentjies, quintana doesn't look like up for it, valverde is following nairo, porte will do nothing, tj is going backwards. Only hope is for Dan, Bardet & Aru to go hell for leather some day on a mad one.

That's pretty much it. Yates is delighted to be where he is, Porte happy enough to be ahead of Van Garderen, who looks as if he might drop out of top ten. Martin would be thrilled to get top 10. I reckon, everybody else is in defensive mode from here on in.
Nobody will be prepared to risk their G.C. in any attack.