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  • Tour de France 2019 stage 14 Tarbes->Col du Tormalet
  • Klunk
    Free Member

    As lunge is running late….

    The 2 000m mark will force the riders to enter into a new dimension. They will reach it just before making it to the Col du Tourmalet, by the time the battle between the best climbers should be at its most entertaining. On a rather intense format, the stage will, before that, feature two other climbs: the Col du Soulor.

    General Classification after Stage 13
    1 ALAPHILIPPE, Julian (DQT) 53:01:09
    2 THOMAS, Geraint (INS) + 1:26
    3 KRUIJSWIJK, Steven (TJV) + 2:12
    4 MAS NICOLAU, Enric (DQT) + 2:44
    5 BERNAL GOMEZ, Egan Arley (INS) + 2:52
    6 BUCHMANN, Emanuel (BOH) + 3:04
    7 PINOT, Thibaut (GFC) + 3:22
    8 URAN, Rigoberto (EF1) + 3:54
    9 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOV) + 3:55
    10 YATES, Adam (MTS)
    11 MARTIN, Daniel (UAD) + 4:15
    12 VALVERDE, Alejandro (MOV) + 4:29
    13 FUGLSANG, Jakob (AST)
    14 KONRAD, Patrick (BOH) + 4:34
    15 PORTE, Richie (TFS) + 4:44
    16 MOLLEMA, Bauke (TFS) + 5:34
    17 BARDET, Romain (ALM) + 5:46
    18 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (MOV) + 6:00
    19 KREUZIGER, Roman (TDD) + 6:07
    20 MEURISSE, Xandro (WGG) + 6:10

    some top gurning on the kicker at the end

    and some showing off

    sparksmcguff
    Full Member

    Thanks for the write up. Can’t wait. Just cooling off after riding up the Tourmalet this morning. 19km up and is only up. It’s absolutely heaving with people and should be an amazing finish. Will be watching from the road side in Luz.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    Well, we have a well worn stage to look forward to. Plenty of the current peloton have been bouncing this bump for years. I suspect some have it ingrained in their memories for mostly failed attacks and gear failure.

    It will be a nice ride out for sure.

    My predictions (mostly, as always) center around riders who have no duties to perform for their “leader” which means we could see a break and some toe tapping from the guys who’ve been waiting for a stage like this since the tour started.

    Astana have been quiet, so could be either … Izagirre, Lutsenko, Sánchez, who all have been rattling this bump since they started racing.

    Slightly more left field.. Kangert, Langeveld who are mainly flatlanders, but hard nuts to crack.

    Since it looks like Katusha will fold, this is the time for some brilliant riders to show their potential and solidify their place in the peloton.. Wurtz, Zakarin

    Some more flatlanders with great palmares…Arndt, Kelderman

    And Henao, because he chose to leave Skineos and think he should have been given free rein in that team to shine..

    Please let it be either Pierre-Luc Périchon or Simon… Simon was once a stellar domi, getting slightly outshined by the new crop so think there’s still a lot left in him to make a go of it.

    And finally Sicard or Taaramae.. my last prediction and a total outsiders…. quite why Sicard hasn’t shone is frustrating, so I think he’s putting on a canny mind game.. sandbagging perhaps..

    Either way, no change in GC purely because Skineos will block the road and not let anyone past.. the virtual rolling roadblock will be out in force today. And that’s sad.

    Should see some nice photos though..

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    lunge
    Full Member

    Thanks for the stepping in, been Run Directing at parkrun and had a few challenges to deal with!

    INRNG.com have the contenders.

    The Contenders: there should be a fight to get in the breakaway but they’ll find it hard to stay clear, there’s not much time to build up a lead and surely Ineos are going to deploy their mountain train today on the approach to the Tourmalet and its early slopes. Still, George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), Marc Soler (Movistar) and Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) fit the bill as strong riders who are down on GC and so have space but take your pick from others too.

    Among the GC contenders Thibaut Pinot is great form and finally reaches the mountains he likes, he has a strong, cohesive team with David Gaudu an outsider for the stage win too.

    Ineos need to put the pressure on today. Maybe they don’t take the race lead, maybe they do. They need to wear down Alaphilippe and one way to do this is to make the Soulor hard and then ensure the Tourmalet is a full 50-60 minute effort. Geraint Thomas is in good condition and even if Egan Bernal had a relatively poor day yesterday now he is on terrain to suit.

    Several big names have now lost time on GC so if they move it’s not a priority to shut them down immediately. Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) come to mind, the same for Jacob Fuglsang (Astana), Dan Martin (UAE Emirates) and Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) while Emanuel Buchmann is sixth overall but probably not a priority to close down either.

    Who’d bet against Julian Alaphilippe? Deceuninck-Quickstep aren’t set up to help him too far and Enric Mas must be itching to ride for himself. Alaphilippe’s having an extravagant Tour but today’s a completely new test with two long climbs, normally his weakness. Still he was first over the Tourmalet a year ago (from the breakaway) and he’s apparently lighter now but he’ll be on his limit. He can hold on and as said before here, if someone wants to take the jersey from him they’ll have to rip it off his shoulders, and the more he can hold on during the climb, the more he could even contend for the stage win given his punch. But this is “only” Stage 14 and there’s a lot more to come, he’s popular partly because he poses for so many photos, emerges early from the team bus to sign autographs and more and the long spell en jaune could add up and that’s before he starts trying to defend his jersey on long mountain passes.

    Looking forward today, it could be a huge day out.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Just having a coffee with one hour of 4 turbo ride avoiding thunderstorms left then it’s on the couch to recover and watch the climbing.  I cannot wait, excitement at last I hope.

    Klunk
    Free Member

    DQS plan, on paper is a simple one, Alaphilippe sits on Thomas and Maas sits on Bernal. Whether they can is another matter…

    Tom-B
    Free Member

    Ooh Nibbles trying to get into the break, he’s basically the only rider I could see getting a win from the break today….such a short stage so hard to see a break getting much room.

    Time cut could be pretty tough for any sprinters that are struggling today.

    Tom-B
    Free Member

    Vicious pace by Movistar here! Only about 20 left in the peloton, no where near the start of the Tourmalet either!

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    Vicious pace by Movistar here!

    Such a short stage, it was always going to be brutal. The break was allowed about 3 min max before the pressure got piled on and people started going out the back door.

    Tom-B
    Free Member

    I’m predicting a classic Movistar successfully dropping themselves situation after a few Kms of the Tourmalet! They do it every year!

    Hopefully the weather isn’t moving in, starting to look very cloudy…..the Tourmalet can get some awful weather.

    Descent looks gnar! Nibali going for it…..as is Sagan 😮

    greentricky
    Free Member

    Quintana has to be one of the best in the peleton for putting himself in the wrong position, why is his team working so hard while he just chats away at the back

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    Nibali is just cruising away from them. He’s not attacking, it’s just phenomenal descending.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Living up to expectations this, lots of punching up front..   WTF is Wiggins wearing, lol.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    a classic Movistar successfully dropping themselves situation after a few Kms of the Tourmalet! They do it every year!

    Seems that way! Well, as far as Quintana is concerned.

    grahamt1980
    Full Member

    Quintana gone, what is going on

    Tom-B
    Free Member

    I hate to say I told you so…..🤣

    Every year!

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    Hold tight, here we go

    Tom-B
    Free Member

    Crucial moment here…..those close to him reckon Alaphillipe will sttuggle past 40 minutes.

    sockpuppet
    Full Member

    Bardet at 11 minutes!

    And here it goes!

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    Not sure the front group can manage anything, they’re all at max but equally all marking each other. Everyone is on the limit, it’s just who cracks first.

    Another tactical cock-up from Movistar who’ve nicely managed to completely remove Qunitana from any GC contention. Maybe Landa can pull a stage win out of the bag?

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    I think G is really suffering too, he looks right on the absolute last legs!

    Tom-B
    Free Member

    Alaphillipe is going to take this 😳

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    Thomas looks in trouble

    dickyhepburn
    Free Member

    G’s yellow jersey chances are over?

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    G’s yellow jersey chances are over?

    They’ve taken a significant hit but there’s still a couple of tough stages. Another summit finish tomorrow.

    imnotverygood
    Full Member

    Hmmmmm

    plus-one
    Full Member

    Philippe on the juice

    senorj
    Full Member

    What an exciting tour.
    Still plenty of time to make up time if he’s able!

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    Hmmmmm

    Pretty much this…

    I wonder if the French press will be as suspicious as they usually are.

    Klunk
    Free Member

    I reckon Movistar were riding to crack thomas, he did a short interview before the race and he looked tired, very drawn and dark around the eyes. If he is struggling it was a gutsy ride to hang in as long as he did.

    grahamt1980
    Full Member

    Does seem like a remarkable transformation by alaphillipe. Beating everyone in the tt and now being second fastest up the tourmalet.

    grahamt1980
    Full Member

    Movistar look like they have cooked themselves, tomorrow could have some massive time gaps after the last 2 days

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    I reckon Movistar were riding to crack thomas, he did a short interview before the race and he looked tired, very drawn and dark around the eyes. If he is struggling it was a gutsy ride to hang in as long as he did.

    Na, they were riding to drop Quintana. Landa gave everyone extra syrup on their pancakes at breakfast. Most likely they were riding for a Landa stage win, but basically ballsed it up.

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    2 mins is a lot to chip bits off; on the other hand it’s nothing if you can crack your opponent and there’s plenty of road left.

    But at the point of writing, one rider looked closer to that point than the other.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    Enjoyed that.

    Not all my predictions came to roost, but lovely to see Barguil up there and to see Thomas being pushed to the limit.

    Don’t get the cynicism over Alaphillipe, he’s riding well and clearly coming into form.

    It happens, they train for it.

    Remember Froomy last year (and years before) did bugger all until he rode himself into form. Well, just because a few French riders are finally (after about 15years) at the forefront of the peloton some detractors feel the need to have some wild suspect accusations to throw at them.

    Vive La France 👍🥳

    cchris2lou
    Full Member

    And he is number one in the world, great form this year.

    He has won the Tour of California,small in comparison of course, but shows he knows how to win stage races.

    sockpuppet
    Full Member

    Don’t get the cynicism over Alaphillipe, he’s riding well and clearly coming into form.

    Well, maybe. Probably.

    Being number one in the world usually isn’t something that puts you in line for a grand tour.

    But most (non-French) riders doing what he’s doing against expectations would be getting aspersions cast in the (mostly French) press. Not to say bottles of liquid thrown at them.

    It’s a fascinating race, and compelling viewing. Without wanting to bring the Texan into things, part of the legacy is that every successful rider will be viewed with suspicions from some quarters, forever more I suspect.

    markrh
    Free Member

    I saw Alaphilippe in the TOB last year and thought at the time he looked like future TDF winner, nearly put money on him to win this year, at the time I could get 150/1 on him…

    kilo
    Full Member

    Being number one in the world usually isn’t something that puts you in line for a grand tour.

    Seemed to work for Mercx, Hianult, Roche, Le Mond, Kelly, etc

    plus-one
    Full Member

    Aye but they were juiced to the max ^

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