Tour de France stage 17 – Berne/Finault-Emossen – welcome to The Alps

It was near enough 800m, and yes, it is just straight up that climb!

Cheapeu !! They had some space last year before lifts fully opened but after chatting through with them likely riding and climbing we ageeed it wasn’t for me. 300-500m a day I can manage but thin air and heat plus lack of condition isn’t a great combo. I was a but tentative about my lose plan to ride from Verbier up towards Forclaz on my Covert today and Inwas allowing all morning 😳

@nickc – cool, that I can handle 8)

I’ve driven the Martigny/Chamonix road up/down many times but never gone upto the dam. My roadie mate with a place in Chamonix has done the climb inc fo the dam.

Quintana has looked out of sorts to me all race. I do fancy Mollini and Porte to be in the GC mix

French TV now live.

That’s a lot of riders to allow 8 minutes up the road. Sky all staying in the peloton, as are Movistar.

Can’t get the live tacking to work yet

It’s working from the app on my phone, but I won’t give anything away except to say… No, really I can’t.

No one up the road for Movistar. Lack of ambition?

How does Sagan seem to get involved every single day one way or another? Is he invisible to the peloton?

Not getting Movistar’s tactics at all this year, and leaving it so late last year to attack the yellow jersey was dumb.

So….is this down to lack of ambition? or is it underestimating the work Sky do to neutralise and minimise the ability for others to attack. As much as I’ve been impressed by Froome and Sky this year for the intent and unpredictable nature of their attacking, it really feels like there’s not been much ambition elsewhere (GC wise that is).

If any decisive action is going to happen today, its going to happen on the penultimate or final climb. No reason for Movistar (or any other team) to expend more energy than necessary before they hit the two big climbs, whether or not they are planning for an attack. Movistar wouldn’t get Quintana (or Valverde) out in a break early on (Sky wouldn’t let them go I’m sure), so why waste their efforts?

Uphill crashes – must be tired!

But traditionally if you want to attack later on you’d stick one or two riders up the road as a spring board. My take is Quintana is either ill or not in form and today will just be a hanging on effort.

Sagan is quite a way down the GC (currently 79th and 1hr56 behind Froome) so not threatening the leaders. When he wins a stage it’s usually in a sprint not far ahead of the peloton but on other stages he’s quite a way back not expending more energy than he needs to, saving it for his targeted stages.

ITV4 highlights had an interview last night with Bernard Hinault who was bemoaning the lack of attack by the GC riders. Takes quite a bit of effort to get away from a group who don’t want you to go – you have to catch them off-guard (unlikely with say several Team Sky riders watching you) and then make continual sustained efforts to get away. Unless you’ve got a team mate or mates ahead to then help you out it’s a cats and mouse game from then on.

Friends on the Forclaz climb soaking up sun and atmosphere, very hot there they say

Archibold (ozzie) seems to be barfing – too much beer on rest day 😉

Peleton looks like its on a club social

Peleton looks like its on a club social

That would be because in the first hour they did 52kph while the break was trying to get established whcih is insanely fast in this heat and with that summit finish to come. Now it’s gone and everyone is happy with it, they’ll just sit up.

But traditionally if you want to attack later on you’d stick one or two riders up the road as a spring board. My take is Quintana is either ill or not in form and today will just be a hanging on effort.

I’ve watched the TdF for years on and off (not as an afficiando) and never really understood this. Is the idea that they get ahead, use more energy than their colleague who they are trying to help whilst they get away, but then take a bit of a breather and fuel up whilst it all comes back together again with their leader then trying to leap across onto their wheels before they are caught, at which point the breakaway pairing have to put in a second effort? I can sort of see that, but it sounds a risky strategy if it fails as you’d end up with two riders from your team with less to give when it all comes to the sharp end.

Pretty much. Send someone up the road, then bridge across and have them pace you. It happens a lot and can work well. Contador and Tinkoff always seem to be doing it.

@larkim – pretty much it but these guys recover pretty quickly and depending on where the domestiques get away and where the GC contender attacks they might be aided by the terrain – hills, descents, twisty or narrow roads. Sometimes luck plays a part.

After that it depends on who’s willing to help the leader’s team, if no-one has a vested interest in doing so then they’ve got to do all the work themselves and at this stage in the race the leader might only have two or three domestiques in the lead group with him so rather than three riders vs the peloton or at least a big bunch it becomes three riders vs three or four. Much more favourable odds.

Edit: as if to prove my point about Sagan – having got the intermediate points he’s now eased up as he knows he’s unlikely to keep pace with the hill specialists.

Looks lovely out there on the stage. Love to be riding up that 🙂

Oooh Movistar pushing on.

Is it just me who has a disliking for Little Tommy Vockler?

Yes driven that road many times, route between Chamonix and Verbier and we usally do both in the summer. Really should ride it one day and thats the easier bit if the stage today !

Oh dear, Tejay off the back and pedalling the proverbial squares still with 20k to go.

Astana picking up the pace now.

TJ gone, somewhat unsurprisingly.

BBC text reporting that Movistar upped the pace, Sky kept with them and now Quintana has two team mates, Froome has five. Don’t think that worked somehow 🙄

Sagan sucked up – classy shirt adjustment/change no handed ! Dropped off back now, looks done. edit: commentator said he’d been working for Majka, must have missed that 😳

That would be because in the first hour they did 52kph while the break was trying to get established

I still find this incomprehensible. Even if group riding is a lot easier than soloing or small groups, someone’s got to be at the front doing that pace for them to follow.

Diff’rent gravy, those boys.

Majka dropped, Zakarin gone up the road. Looks to me the real interest will be GC, Sky again look so strong

@theotherjonv – If a big group is racing along then the riders at the front are actually being pushed forward by those behind. It happens in small groups as well but the effect is smaller. Basically a big group of riders riding close together goes f***ing fast!

Well, that’s an impressively strong effort by the Russian cyclist

Froome to attack in 3, 2, …

See how Nibali has just pulled over and slowed after setting the pace. Why does that take more out of him than his teammates? Is it just a mental thing, following a teammate who is setting a pace for you? It’s not like they’re doing speeds where slipstream would come into play is it, so why does the one at the front get more knackered than the ones following at the same pace?

If a big group is racing along then the riders at the front are actually being pushed forward by those behind.

No they’re not. Their air resistance is marginally reduced over riding solo, but they are not being ‘pushed’.

Valverde having a bit of a dig.

Movistar solo kick … one Sky rider done .. Froome seems willing to hang back a little ?

2km to go, Dan Martin now having a go, Valverde back in the bunch.

Is anybody watching live? Live tracking showing Quintana’s foxtail as not responding.

Is he still in the leader group?

Yep, Nairo sat on Froome’s tail, group all back together.

Camera currently on Zakarin …

Last Maillot Jaune group shot it looked like Quintana was still on Froome’s wheel but there’s two Movistar riders in that group so could have been the other rider.

Edit: yep Quintana just sat there

2km to go, all still together.

Movistar boss reckons they’re going to attack at sme point but if they are waiting to ambush Froome in the last two days that’s a ballsy strategy, or a shit one.

Porte having a little dig here.

He’s got a gap too, I reckon Froome is struggling.

Porte and Quintana (I think it’s him) attack!

Porte goes Froome not looking bothered, Quintana neither