Tour de France 2021 stage 11 > Sorgues – Malaucène – Page 3 – Bike Forum

lunge · 2021-07-07T08:31:12Z

Really looking forward to this stage, Ventoux twice sounds awesome. The 11th stage of the Tour de France takes in a double ascent of the Mont Ventoux. The race amounts to 198.9 kilometers and finishes with a descent into Malaucène. The riders clip into their pedals in Sorgues. The first 30 kilometers are flat before the Côte de Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (1.9 kilometers at 6%) and Côte de Gordes (2.5 kilometers at 5.1%) offer a gentle way to warm-up the legs. The real uphill action begins at the foot of the Col de la Liguière, which is a 9.3 kilometers climb at 6.7%. The route then descend slightly for 12.5 kilometers to enter Sault. Perched on a rocky outcrop and amidst fields of lavender, the fortified village is the start of the sweetest route up the Beast of the Provence: 22 kilometers at 5.1%. The riders fly down the Ventoux to move through Malaucène for the first time. Another 12.5 kilometers on rolling roads later the riders reach Bédoin, which is where the Ventoux begins for real. On this side the ascent is 15.7 kilometers long and the average gradient sits at 8.8%. The first section through the woods is extremely tough - 3 kilometers at 10% - before it 'levels out' to 7.5% in the following 7 kilometers. After Chalet Reynard the scenery changes to a lunar landscape without any vegetation, as if climbing the moon. This section is roughly 6 kilometers long and rises at almost 8%. The last 2 kilometers go up at 9.5%. The last Tour de France stage winner on Mont Ventoux was Thomas De Gendt. In 2016, the stage was shortened and finished at Chalet Reynard, since wind gusts reached 130 kilometers per hour on the bald section of the Bald Mountain. Meanwhile, Chris Froome crashed on the lower slopes, which inspired him to an unforgetable version of 'Run to the hills'. The last race winner on Mont Ventoux was Miguel Ángel López. On the 8th of June, the Colombian climbed to a commanding victory in the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge . The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds. Furthermore, 8, 5 and 2 seconds are available after the second ascent of the Ventoux. So then, who's in the mix, a GC day, pure climbers? Tadej Pogačar (UAE) is the safe pick given he can outride the others, take 30 seconds over the top and he can stay away. But today should be for the breakaway, so many strong riders have given up on the overall classification, either by election prior to the race or because of events and this helps create a self-fulfilling prophecy where enough strong riders go clear so that the UAE team can’t chase them back. Are Ineos riding for a safe podium? Today might help tell us more, they paced Richard Carapaz to Tignes and was this to keep Pogačar in yellow so he gets all the pre and post stage routines, or to defend Carapaz’s fifth overall? They have the team today to exploit the whole course and try to crack the UAE team before Mont Ventoux. Easier said than done and they may prefer to see if Carapaz can win the stage instead with a late move or even from a small group sprint. The problem for the breakaway is breaking away, if it takes too long for a move to form then it might not be able to build up enough of a lead. The top-13 riders are grouped within 12 minutes and after that comes Dylan Teuns (Bahrain) at 20 minutes. He has a good chance today, as do team mates Wout Poels and Matej Mohorič. Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) will want to be in the break for the mountains competition alone. Simon Yates and Esteban Chaves are two cards to play for Bike Exchange, normally Yates excels in picking off stages like this but hasn’t looked as sharp, normal with the Giro in his legs. Astana are here stage hunting but haven’t been in the mix yet. Jakob Fuglsang has all the attributes for today, arguably he first made a name for himself as an ex-MTB rider with the CSC team on Ventoux. Michael Woods (Israel) is looking strong, but not sophisticated, he if can manage his energy better he should be a strong pick. Team mate Dan Martin has the experience and craft for today but has cut a more discreet presence so far. Finally Jumbo-Visma have had a torrid time but with the warmer weather Sep Kuss has a better chance here.

Klunk

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Quintana's rolled in 33 down!

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:10 pm

igm

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Cav’s in.

Now, two sprinty days…

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:16 pm

Klunk

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7 mins to spare 😀

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:20 pm

crazy-legs

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7 mins to spare 😀

Yeah, he could have stopped for a brew at the top!

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:21 pm

igm

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Table service only, so probably wise to wait and get one at the finish.

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:25 pm

Sandwich

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David Millar was talking about the sprinters making the cut-off and said they descend like psychopaths after a measured climb. He reckoned that a descending sprinter could put 30s into anyone if they started at the top at the same time.
Never a rest day for sprinters was his opinion as they are either contesting bunch sprints or trying to beat the cut-off at this end of the tour.

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:29 pm

steve_b77

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Does anyone seriously belive that Pogacar couldn't stay with Vingenaard or Vingego as Kelly kept calling him, or was it more of a case of he's over 5mins down on me, there's 200m left to climb and I'll probably catch him down hill so why put that extra effort in for basically nowt

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:35 pm

Klunk

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KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren Team DSM 47:36

phew!

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:39 pm

imnotverygood

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Does anyone seriously belive that Pogacar couldn’t stay with Vingenaard or Vingego as Kelly kept calling him, or was it more of a case of he’s over 5mins down on me, there’s 200m left to climb and I’ll probably catch him down hill so why put that extra effort in for basically nowt

Who knows? Only Pogacar does. Nevertheless, Vingenaard put nearly 40 seconds into him on the climb & if Pog wanted to reiterate his strength ( which he clearly did at the finish) then he is going a funny way about it.

Posted : 07/07/2021 6:57 pm

Tom-B

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Excellent ride from WvA....something that has been troubling me though since early on in the race. Why on Earth hasn't he targeted the Green jersey?! Surely with his ability to get top 5's in sprints and hang in there on the mountains he'd be a shoe in for it? I know it's not quite as simple as that, but realistically for me he's as good a Sprinter as Sagan ever was (arguably slightly better) and is definitely stronger in the mountains than Sagan ever was.

Posted : 07/07/2021 7:38 pm

slowoldman

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Vingenaard or Vingego as Kelly kept calling him

...which I believe is how it's pronounced.

Posted : 07/07/2021 8:39 pm

nbt

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Luke Rowe finished outside the time limit

Posted : 08/07/2021 11:26 am

anagallis_arvensis

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Why on Earth hasn’t he targeted the Green jersey?!

He has a job to do for Jumbo

Posted : 08/07/2021 11:44 am

Klunk

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more worring for Oily Jims Paltroons surely, Vingenaard riding away from Carapaz like that.

Posted : 08/07/2021 1:16 pm

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[Closed] Tour de France 2021 stage 11 > Sorgues - Malaucène