Tour de France 2020 | Stage 15 (Lyon - Grand Colombier, 174.5 km)

Inquitus · 13-09-2020 9:45am #1

The hardest mountain stage yet, and some might say the hardest in the entire race. There's not much time left to pressure Roglic, the yellow jersey may be a lot closer to being decided after tomorrow.

Map

2d25f

Profile

adb3d

Timetable

Start: 12:25

Intermediate sprint: 14:17/14:21/14:26

Montée de la Selle de Fromentel: 15:36/15:45/15:54

Col de la Biche: 16:03/16:14/16:25

Finish at Col du Grand Colombier: 17:11/17:25/17:40

Climbs

The first 100k are almost completely flat, the intermediate sprint will, as a result, be hotly contested once again. If no break goes away before it, there's little time to develop a lead before the climbing starts.

The triptych of Jura climbs has, of course, already been previewed at the Tour de l'Ain last month. The Selle de Fromentel is brutally steep towards the end, and will greatly trim down the peloton.

The Col de la Biche is the least difficult climb of the three, it's the final 7.1k of the profile below.

After this, there's 1k of descent, 1k at 8% to Croix de Famban, and then the actual descent starts. 15 kilometers of flat separate it from the start of the final climb, it's a shame they're not doing the Anglefort side (this would have cut the flat by over half). As it is, the Grand Colombier is easily hard enough to open up big gaps, but not if it's raced as defensively as at the Tour de l'Ain. The climb gets easier towards the end before a steep finish.

General classification after Stage 14

Primoz Roglic
Tadej Pogacar + 0.44
Egan Bernal + 0.59
Rigoberto Uran + 1.10
Nairo Quintana + 1.12
Miguel Ángel López + 1.31
Adam Yates + 1.42
Mikel Landa + 1.55
Richie Porte + 2.06
Enric Mas + 2.54

Points classification after Stage 14

Sam Bennett 262
Peter Sagan 219
Matteo Trentin 169
Bryan Coquard 162
Caleb Ewan 158

Mountains classification after Stage 14

Benoît Cosnefroy 36
Marc Hirschi 31
Nans Peters 31
Toms Skujins 24
Quentin Pacher 21

Young riders classification after Stage 14

Tadej Pogacar
Egan Bernal + 0.15
Enric Mas + 2.10
Sergio Higuita + 25.28
Valentin Madouas + 58.35

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 10:05am

Pinot & Rolland should be in the breakaway today as they looked to have taken it easy yesterday

MPFGLB · 13-09-2020 11:01am

Thanks Inquitus for the excellent threads

13-09-2020 11:55am

Sam marking Sagan as he's trying to get away.

13-09-2020 12:04pm

Ouch Higuita taken out by Jungles.

Banged his head there, they'll be a bit more careful checking him out I think after the other day.

13-09-2020 12:07pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ouch Higuita taken out by Jungles.

At first glance I thought Higuita wasn't paying attention, but from the replay there wasn't a whole lot he could have done. Jungels swung right out in front of him.

13-09-2020 12:19pm

Chat going on there between Sam and Sagan "Why you not let me go Sam "

ednwireland · 13-09-2020 12:35pm

bottom of the final climb
https://www.belairgrandcolombier.com/

le grand colombier

final climb

happytramp · 13-09-2020 12:59pm

Never thought I'd be so excited by intermediate sprints.

13-09-2020 1:00pm

Handy points for Sam there in the end.

radiata · 13-09-2020 1:00pm

2 points gained by Sam over Sagan to put him 45 ahead

Speakerboxx · 13-09-2020 1:01pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Handy points for Sam there in the end.

He has Sagan in his pocket. He will beat him in any sprint they contest once hes there.

lawrencesummers · 13-09-2020 1:02pm

Me wonders if Ineos are regretting not bringing Geraint Thomas now.

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 1:11pm

Speakerboxx wrote: »

He has Sagan in his pocket. He will beat him in any sprint they contest once hes there.

And Morkov is faster than Sagan too

Speakerboxx · 13-09-2020 1:19pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

And Morkov is faster than Sagan too

True. Sagan hasnt the kick that Bennett and some of the other sprinters has right now. His form isn't the same like other years.

mcgratheoin · 13-09-2020 1:23pm

Speakerboxx wrote: »

True. Sagan hasnt the kick that Bennett and some of the other sprinters has right now. His form isn't the same like other years.

Reminds me a bit of the Cav - Hushovd battles at this stage. One real fast man versus more of an all rounder with a sprint finish.

Panrich · 13-09-2020 1:25pm

happytramp wrote: »

Never thought I'd be so excited by intermediate sprints.

The battle for the green jersey has really spiced up the stages. Yesterday was fascinating to see the battle to (a) drop Sam on the lumpy stuff and then (b) the attempt by Quickstep to get back on.

It adds a whole new dimension to the stages. Today without the battle, you'd have seen a procession for the first 100k until the climb when some of the climbers would try to get away. It was too quick today for true climbers to get in a break.

REBELSAFC · 13-09-2020 1:33pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

And Morkov is faster than Sagan too

Morkov has been a dream team mate for Sam. Apart from his near perfect lead outs I'd love to see how many points he has taken off Sagan

13-09-2020 1:39pm

Kelly is great when he gets talking isn't he.

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 1:45pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Kelly is great when he gets talking isn't he.

Rob Hatch is a lot better than Carlton for getting Kelly to open up

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 1:45pm

The scenery is stunning, apart from the pink castle

Speakerboxx · 13-09-2020 1:49pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Kelly is great when he gets talking isn't he.

I love listening to his stories when he was racing. Super stuff and really knows his stuff. Great racing head by Sean.

Gallant_JJ · 13-09-2020 1:57pm

These climbs are absolutely brutal. 22% finish to the first. 1k into the first, Bennett gone. DQS have dropped 3 men with him, inc Alaphillipe.

retalivity · 13-09-2020 2:04pm

ELO's Jeff Lynne going well in the break

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 2:15pm

As good as the battle for the Green jersey has been, the KOM jersey competition has been non existent. No one bar Cosnefroy seems interested in it so far

CramCycle · 13-09-2020 2:15pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Chat going on there between Sam and Sagan "Why you not let me go Sam "

I don't know why (possibly overtired after getting kicked out of bed by a ninja kick to the back at 3 in the morning), but I went into full Soap opera mode here and I thought of Peter trying to convince Sam to give him a chance and thought of Sam muttering to him in a strong Carrig/Latino accent, "we could have been friends, but you done this to yourself". :pac:

retalivity · 13-09-2020 2:19pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

As good as the battle for the Green jersey has been, the KOM jersey competition has been non existent. No one bar Cosnefroy seems interested in it so far

He will surely lose it today, hea dropped already. Maybe rolland has designs on it

retalivity · 13-09-2020 2:26pm

Bernal down to 1 dom - kwiato - already!

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 2:56pm

Bernal has at least 2 domestiques in the yellow jersey group now

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:02pm

retalivity wrote: »

He will surely lose it today, hea dropped already. Maybe rolland has designs on it

I hope so, it would be nice to see some level of competition this week for the KOM. Rolland will move into 4th if he gets first on this climb.

However if Rogic wins the stage he will move close to the KOM leader so hopefully not!

bazermc · 13-09-2020 3:04pm

Got a laugh watching the Jumbo vista guy on the side of the road handing out the bottles.

He had to fire them out pronto given the whole team is Together leading the charge

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:16pm

Taken from letour:

Provisional KOM standings after col de la Biche

1. Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2r La Mondiale), 36 points
2. Nans Peters (Ag2r La Mondiale), 31
3. Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb), 31
4. Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), 26
5. Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), 25
6. Michael Gogl (NTT Pro Cycling), 24
7. Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), 24
8. Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), 21
9. Simon Geschke (CCC Team), 18
10. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), 18

To take the lead of the KOM, Pierre Rolland needs to make the top 4 at Grand Colombier, Jesus Herrada the top 3 and Michael Gogl the top 2. If Primoz Roglic wins the stage, he can also be in the polka dot jersey.

TheBlaaMan · 13-09-2020 3:18pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

As good as the battle for the Green jersey has been, the KOM jersey competition has been non existent. No one bar Cosnefroy seems interested in it so far

What a difference an hour makes,eh? A bit of a different complexion on the polka dot jersey competition now

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:21pm

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

What a difference an hour makes,eh? A bit of a different complexion on the polka dot jersey competition now

I don't see Herrada or ROland getting any more points today but hopefully it heats up during the week!

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 3:25pm

Gogl & Rolland are riding as if there are no climbs left

They will be knackered when they start the Grand Colombier

TheBlaaMan · 13-09-2020 3:28pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

Gogl & Rolland are riding as if there are no climbs left They will be knackered when they start the Grand Colombier

For sure. It sets it up nicely for the last week though

velo.2010 · 13-09-2020 3:33pm

I hope this final climb lives up to the hype and isn't an anti-climax.

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 3:34pm

Bizarre that it's Kwiatkowski & Castroviejo who are left with Bernal, whereas Amador, Carapaz & Sivakov have all been dropped.

retalivity · 13-09-2020 3:36pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

Bizarre that it's Kwiatkowski & Castroviejo who are left with Bernal, whereas Amador, Carapaz & Sivakov have all been dropped.

Carapaz crashed earlier

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:38pm

retalivity wrote: »

Carapaz crashed earlier

Ya and sivakov was hurt bad on day 1

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 3:42pm

retalivity wrote: »

Carapaz crashed earlier

Ah right, I didn't know that, thanks

at1withmyself wrote: »

Ya and sivakov was hurt bad on day 1

I had kinda thought that Sivakov had recovered a good bit but obviously not!

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 3:44pm

Dan Martin dropped now

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:44pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

Ah right, I didn't know that, thanks

I had kinda thought that Sivakov had recovered a good bit but obviously not!

I still think though that sky could come good in week 3 after the second rest day. The bug question is how bernal feels though.

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:45pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

Dan Martin dropped now

Better off, hopefully he can get in a break another day for a stage win?

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:50pm

Bernal and quintana out the back

dastardly00 · 13-09-2020 3:50pm

Bernal gone pop!!

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:50pm

dastardly00 wrote: »

Bernal gone pop!!

Jesus, jumbo could have the top 5 position of they keep this pace!

13-09-2020 3:50pm

Boom goes Bernal

happytramp · 13-09-2020 3:51pm

This is bonkers... How the hell is WVA dropping Bernal and quintana?

at1withmyself · 13-09-2020 3:52pm

at1withmyself wrote: »

Bernal and quintana out the back

20 plus seconds already behind, he will fall out of top 10 now I imagine

Dcully · 13-09-2020 3:53pm

happytramp wrote: »

This is bonkers... How the hell is WVA dropping Bernal and quintana?

Wout is the number one rider in the world but yeah a guy that won sprint stages killing bernal and quintana.
Lovely sight seeing Ineos fall apart, a real taste of their own medicine.

Tour de France 2020 | Stage 15 (Lyon - Grand Colombier, 174.5 km)

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