TDF2017 Stage 16: Le Puy - Romans sur Isère 165KM

neris

Interesting start straight up hill with a somewhat flatish finish and 3 roundabouts in last KM. maybe a day for Matthews to go attack Kittel for the Green jersey points. Strong crosswinds forecast should make things even more interesting. Hopefully the rest day will have done Dan some good and he can get his arse off the saddle

Once the flag is dropped the road starts to go up until Côte de Boussoulet is crested after 20 kilometres. The official climb (3rd category) is 4.5 kilometres at 6.3%. The rolls on and at kilometre 65 the riders are atop Col du Rouvey, which is the highest point of the day at an elevation of 1,250 metres. The climb itself is modest – 2.8 kilometres at 5,6% – before a long drop runs to a gently rolling last section of some 50 kilometres.

TV Times: ITV4 12:30pm Eurosport 12:15pm

Inquitus

I'd like to see Sunweb try and drop Kittel on the beginning climb in an effort to give Matthews a chance at the Green Jersey, this should also ensure a fast start and perhaps some chaos.

Crosswinds also forecasted for the 2nd half of the stage!

Inquitus

70kph Gusts, 30kph average, crosswinds!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-severe-crosswinds-expected-to-hit-stage-16/

Lusk_Doyle

Dear Marcel, welcome to Splitsville. Population: You!

Inquitus

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Dear Marcel, welcome to Splitsville. Population: You!

Dan has the best team for riding in crosswinds, he has a real opportunity today to make some ground up if things go his way!

Chips Lovell

Inquitus wrote: »

70kph Gusts, 30kph average, crosswinds!

Fap!

uphillonly

Longer interview at the end of the ITV rest day podcast with Dan. Sounds like his body's recovered a lot & he won't be as restricted. They talked about the crosswinds for today.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/itv-sport/id1130548463?mt=2&i=1000390002910

I recommend the ITV podcasts. Most of the crew are multi-lingual and although they have some British focus, they love the wider sport & plenty of interviews with all.

ThisRegard

I wanna see some nice echelons in play.

odyssey06

Echelons!

Sorry, I just love the sound of that word.

Quickstep are a man down , lost Gilbert today.

Still maybe we'll get a crosswind move like we saw in the Giro.

Lusk_Doyle

Deleted User wrote: »

Quickstep are a man down , lost Gilbert today.

Still maybe we'll get a crosswind move like we saw in the Giro.

Hope they find him again.

MPFGLB

Oh echelons... this is going to be mega

Breakaway could make it

MPFGLB

Most of Quickstep back with a dropped Kittel....

Sunweb are gunning it here, and the group of 40+ off the back are dropping riders.

Inquitus

Aye Dan has been shafted here

He has Jack Bauer with him in the main bunch I think

Inquitus

Deleted User wrote: »

He has Jack Bauer with him in the main bunch I think

1 man not 5 men

MPFGLB

But if you try to go for too much you may end up with nothing

CrowdedHouse

I often wonder how such strong fit men struggle with modest climbs (by pro standards)

MPFGLB

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I often wonder how such strong fit men struggle with modest climbs (by pro standards)

This is after 2 very hard weeks of racing already
The speed was mega
They are trained to be super fast on the flat and therefore are handicapped on the hills

buffalo

George Bennett from 12th on GC to quitting... was he sick, did anyone hear? He seemed like a promising young talent up until now.

MPFGLB

Tour diary about waiting for yellow jersey

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling/nicolas-roche-racing-is-racing-gentlemens-agreements-dont-make-sense-35940927.html

Daroxtar

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I often wonder how such strong fit men struggle with modest climbs (by pro standards)

Dan Martin is 59 kg according to Wikipedia. Marcel kittle is 86kg. On a climb like Stocking lane to the viewing point with no headwind, if Dan climbs at 400watts he'll do it in 11.86 minutes. Kittle would need to put out 528 watts for the same amount of time to stick with Dan. If he climbs at 400 watts he'll do it in 14.74, losing nearly 3 minutes. You can see where the big men suffer
http://bikecalculator.com

WinnyThePoo

Bouhani not happy.

neris

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I often wonder how such strong fit men struggle with modest climbs (by pro standards)

look at he physical sizes of a climber and pure sprinter. they dont call the Greipel the Gorilla for his love of bananas.

neris

the aul vineyards look fantastic

ednwireland

Weird logged into my eurosport account (perfect HD quality internet better than home as ever) but commentary in polish didn't expect that. Good job I speak It.
In Krakow , yeh i know a couple of weeks too early.

Inquitus

Dan not there

DisasterIRL

Yeah Dan distanced in that move, poor positioning

mr spuckler

Inquitus wrote: »

Dan not there

leading the 3rd group a stretch back i think?

Yeah looks like he got dropped

Was that him trying to get back on before they went to the crash? Couldn't see if it was 103 or 105

Itziger

Yep, Dan's been caught!! Fook it, after all the good efforts previously.

mr spuckler

Deleted User wrote: »

Was that him trying to get back on before they went to the crash? Couldn't see if it was 103 or 105

i thought someone else from Quickstep had made it because it looked like he then deliberately dropped back?

Inquitus

Bollox going backward here

JoeyJJ

18 seconds hopefully get back on

Inquitus

JoeyJJ wrote: »

18 seconds hopefully get back on

Fingers crossed!

WinnyThePoo

Poor positioning. No teammates really.

neris

dan been caught out in th ewinds

enda1

This passes within about 5km of my house today!! Terrible planning to be away on a business trip

wirelessdude01

Doubt they are getting back on. Dan's group not riding and GC group is absolutely flooring it.

JoeyJJ

True they not looking as focused as the lead group

Itziger

No getting back now, looking at a minute I'd say.

Inquitus

Gotta blame his team, sacrificed everyone on Kittel and failed.

munsterlegend

Gap getting bigger and bigger. Distance gone up to 500 metres now. Did he get caught or just couldn't get up there?

JoeyJJ

Hopefully slow before finish while figuring out stage win tactics for some of them.

JoeyJJ

Two guys went down and a split appeared and they up'ed the pace

CantGetNoSleep

Inquitus wrote: »

Gotta blame his team, sacrificed everyone on Kittel and failed.

Not a complete failure assuming that he meets cut-off time - if he is sick they probably just want to get him through the day and keep green

oflahero

Bitter for Dan. Wouldn't blame him if there's a chill on the team bus this evening. Must be hard being 5th on GC and that not being team priority 1.

Itziger

50 secs.

buffalo

Alternate reality Dan lost the yellow jersey.