Saturday July 19,
2014
177k from Grenoble to Risoul; High Alps; cat-1 summit finish.
Weather: High 80s f
, cloudy; much cooler at elevation.
Rafal Valls (LAM) has
abandoned.
172 riders on the
road today.
A 17-man escape
group has formed:
Rodriguez, Roche, Rogers, Majka, Sagan, De
Marchi, Thomas, Nieve, Kruijswijk, Gautier, Moinard, Edet, Taaramae, Serpa,
Yates, Herrada, Riblon, Timmer.
Most of the break
are expected names, but noticeably absent is Thomas Voeckler.
I would have
thought that the Europcar star would make the break to battle for mountain
jersey points today, and perhaps the win...
The leaders build a
three-minute lead.
 |
| Stage 14 race profile |
-134k: Nieve
punctures
No one bothers to
contest the sprint with Sagan.
km40: INT:
1. Sagan [no other green jersey contenders in
the top 15]
Vincenzo Nibali's
entire Astana team ride at the head of the peloton as they start the long climb
up to the Col du Lautaret...
-125k: the peloton
chases the big lead group by 3:30
-115k: Rain starts
falling on the riders.
This climb features
several tunnels the riders have to go through, on their way up the Lautaret.
-97k: The lead goes
over 5:00.
 |
| The peloton snaking their way through the Alps on stage 14 |
*-95k: The 17
escapees cross over the first cat-1 KOM
line at the summit of the Lautaret (34k at just under 4% Avg) with a 5:00 lead
over the peloton.
Purito leads them
over and takes the top points (10).
*km82; 1st KOM; cat-1 Col du Lautaret (34k at
3.9%):
1. Rodriguez 2. Majka 3. Roche 4. Serpa 5. De Marchi 6. Riblon
The rain has eased
off, as the peloton begins the long descent.
[Bob Roll and
Christian Vande Velde (the American half of the NBCSN on-air talent) continue
to suggest that this break will succeed. I disagree. The peloton is keeping the
break on a steady leash. If they had a 10-minute lead, or more, then I might
agree, but it looks like they don't want to let the leaders approach any of the
climbs with too big a lead. I believe they will be caught on the final climb.
Many of them, especially JRod, the Rogers/Majka pair [I don't think Roche can
do it today], NIeve (my dark-horse pick for today), and maybe Riblon will
probably try to stay out as long as possible, in search of victory atop the
Risoul finish climb. But the GC contenders will want to use this finish to try
and gain time on their rivals, and especially on Nibali. So, I think they will chase hard on the
Izoard descent, and catch whichever escapees remain, on the final climb.]
-81.2k: Team NetApp
send a couple riders to the front of the peloton to do some driving. One is
Dempster.
-73.5k: Sagan
punctures. Quick wheel change and he's back on the road.
Through the
picturesque town of Briancon. It is the highest town in Europe.
The leaders begin
the HC climb up the Col d'Izoard. Their lead has been cut down to about 2:35.
We should see a
rearrangement on this tough climb to the high point of the Tour.
As the peloton
reaches the foot of the climb, NetApp is making a point at the front of the
peloton. They start with a high cadence, starting to thin out the peloton
early. Konig must be planning to go for the win today. He was great yesterday,
finishing third on the HC Chamrousse, just :11 behind the winner, Nibali. He moved himself up from 19th on GC, to
tenth with that performance. He is a great climber, but I question his ability
to remain consistently explosive in the big mountains...
Sagan, and then
Timmer lose contact with the lead group.
15 leaders on the
road now.
 |
| 2nd climb of stage 14: the HC Col d'Izoard, 2360m high |
-51.5k: All the
NetApp-Endura riders are gone from the front of the peloton. Machado, the last
one driving the train, is yo-yoing off the back now.
-51k: Now Pimenta
(TNE) accelerates off the front of the peloton.
5k to the summit:
TNE bring a few riders back up to the front, alongside Team Astana
-49.5k: Sagan is
back in the peloton. Many riders are being shed off the back of the bunch on
these 9% slopes.
Riblon and Gautier
lose contact with the lead group.
13 riders in the
lead group now.
The peloton is
about 2:59 back.
The lead group is
disintegrating on the Col d'Izoard.
Roche drops back
now, from the lead group.
Edet drops off,
too.
-46k: AG2R riders
move to the front of the chasing peloton.
Chris Horner and
Mikal Kwiatkowski are dropping back from the pack.
*(-44.5k: 2nd KOM; HC Col d'Izoard (19k at 6%):
1. Rodriguez 2. Majka 3. Nieve 4.
Herrada 5. Yates 6. Thomas 7. De Marchi 8.
Serpa 9. Kruijswijk 10. Moinard
The peloton cross
the 2nd summit of the day 3:00 behind the leaders.
Early on the
descent, Bardet and another AG2R rider jump ahead. Nibali follows, and they are
gaining a gap on the peloton...
Fuglsang is leading
Nibali down the fast descent, despite his injuries from yesterday's crash.
 |
| Toward a majestic summit finish |
Valverde is chasing
next, then TJVG, Pinot, and a couple others are chasing.
-32k: The steepest
descending behind them, the chasers form a growing chase group, containing:
Nibali, Fuglsang, Bardet, Valverde, Mollema +...
Pinot yo-yos just
behind them. He has been handling his descending issues with aplomb.
Michael Schar, and
Rafal Majka, are trying to go with the elite group...
-24.7k: TJVG and
Rui Costa are close to catching on to the GC chase group.
Peraud is working
hard at the front, for Bardet.
News that Dries Devenyns
has abandoned.
The 11 leaders are
just a few kms from the day's final climb...
Nibali's move
didn't pan out. A bunch of riders,
including TJVG and Rui Costa, catch them before the Risoul climb starts.
20k to go: The 11 leaders have 1:30 on the regrouped peloton. More than
50 riders are off the back.
*The cat-1 climb up
the Risoul is 12.6k at 6.9%, and tops out at 1855m (6085 feet).
Serpa moves to the front of the break as they start the final climb.
Richie Porte is already struggling on the
early part of the climb.
Rui Costa is
falling back, too.
-11.2k: Alessandro De Marchi (ADM) attacks the lead group,
Serpa chases.
The peloton trails
by :40
 |
| Profile of the finish climb; cat-1 Risoul |
*Serpa has joined
De Marchi in the lead.
10k to go: AG2R have 4 men at the front of the peloton.
*-9.4k: ADM attacks
and drops Serpa to take the lead alone.
*-9k: Majka catches ADM to join the lead.
JRod is chasing after the 2 leaders mow
Van Den Broeck is
falling back.
*-8.4k: Majka attacks and drops De Marchi. The
Italian for Cannondale can't hold Majka's pace.
JRod catches ADM;
*-7.5k: Majka still leads alone, with a gap of
:45 to the GC chasers.
Serpa cracks.
*Purito and De
Marchi are the first chase group.
The GC chase group
has eaten up most of the erstwhile escapees.
(Nice aerial shot
of mountain goats running along a high ridge)
-6k: Majka leads;
JRod and ADM chase
at + :35;
The GC chase group (about
18 riders) is at + :51--but they are closing in now.
-5.5k: Simon Yates
gets picked up by the 2nd chase group.
Majka could pull
this off. It depends on how playful the GC guys get.
5k to go: for Majka. The Tinkoff Saxo rider is increasing his lead over
everyone.
-4.5k: Rolland attacks the GC group (chase 2);
Only Peraud gets on his wheel. But Rolland
doesn't really want a partner on this move, so he sits up. Peraud wanted to go.
-4k: Rolland accelerates again.
The other
contenders reel him in again.
Majka looks like
he's got a good chance here...
*Nibali attacks the GC group with gusto,
as they pass under the 4k to go banner.
Only Peraud gets on his wheel. The veteran
AG2R rider definitely feels good today. He just chased after Rolland's failed
move.
 |
| These waters are full of shark attacks |
JRod and ADM have
been picked up by the GC chasers.
JRod starts to drop
back.
3k to go for Majka
Valverde attacks.
TJVG gets on AV's
wheel, as they round a steep switchback.
Pinot and Bardet manage
to get on with AV and TVG.
Rolland is yo-yoing
off the back of the GC group.
Mollema is gone.
The GC pack
regroups as the attacking foursome are brought back by Pinot, Konig, Schleck,
and....It's Laurens Ten Dam! Where
did he come from...again?!
Mollema drops off
and his buddy Ten Dam replaces him; neat trick.
Valverde takes a
long, hard look at the other elite guys riding with him. They're all gauging
each other's strength.
The GC chasers are
splitting up after an attack from Tejay Van Garderen.
TVG brings Pinot,
Bardet, and Schleck with him, as Valverde, Rolland, Konig, and Ten Dam chase.
2k to go for Majka.
2k to go now for
Nibali/Peraud: Nibali accelerates again. Peraud stays with him.
-1.2k for Majka:
Ten Dam attacks the 3rd chase group.
1k to go for Majka.
Nibs and JC Peraud
pass under the red kite :32 behind Majka.
Chase 2: TJVG,
Bardet, and Pinot pass under at about +:50, with Schleck trying to keep up..
Ten Dam is 7th on
the road, at +:1:08; and Konig is a little ways back, riding 8th.
Valverde and
Rolland are 9th and 10th on the road.
Rafal Majka hits
the final ramp to the finish line. No one is in sight behind him. A broad smile
is trying to break through a face distorted in pain. He can't take both hands
off the bars to zip up his kit, but he punches the air, points to the Tinkoff
Saxo logo on his jersey, and takes the win!
That is a big win
to add to his palmares.
Peraud defers to
Nibali for 2nd place at the line. The Frenchman rode on the shark's wheel for
much of the last 4 kms of that climb.
Pinot and Bardet
sprint past Van Garderen to take 4th and 5th.
 |
| Pinot and Bardet dumped Van Garderen before the line |
DNF:
Valls and Devenyns
That was a great
race! Maybe the fewest crashes on any stage so far, too. Maybe.
One man survived
from the early break, Rafal Majka of TCS. He held off the most aggressive and
powerful climbers in the world, to take his first Tour de France stage win--in
his first. Tour. The young Pole was apparently saving it all for the high Alps.
His team's original
plan was probably to save him until yesterday, so that he could be fresh and
ready to aid his original team leader, Alberto Contador, in the high mountains.
In Berto's absence, his stellar support group are finding opportunities for
themselves. Majka will also go down as the first rider to win on this mountain,
the Montée de Risoul.
 |
| Saxo's backup plans proved good today: Majka won his first |
Stage 15 to Nimes is a flat transition stage before the second rest day
on Monday in Carcasonne. The sprinters will get another chance to go for the
bunch sprint. Many of them have survived the Alps.
[I have some
obligations that will keep me away tomorrow, so enjoy stage 15!
I should be back
for stage 16. Thanks fort reading!]
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