STAGE 16 REPORT:
Tuesday, July 22,
2014
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| Stage 16 on the map |
After the transfer
west, from Nimes to Carcasonne, the riders enjoyed the final rest day on
Monday. Today the peloton headed out of Carcasonne and into the Pyrenees for
the longest stage of the race. 237.5 kilometers From Carcasonne to
Bagneres-de-Luchon, featuring the hors
categorie climb of the Port de Bales late in the stage. The finish line comes
just after the fast 20k descent off the big mountain.
The weather was
clear and sunny for the riders, as they prepared for a long day in the saddle. Everybody
wondered who would benefit and who would suffer after the rest day. Simon Yates
of OGE was a non-starter, as was World Champion Rui Costa, who is suffering
from pneumonia.
Rafal Majka of
Tinkoff Saxo grabbed the first category-4 climb at km25. The single KOM point
was all he needed to take the lead away from Joaquim Rodriguez in the king of
the mountains competition.
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| Stage 16 profile; into the Pyrenees |
Various breakaway
attempts failed, until after almost two hours, 21 riders broke free to form the
day's main break. They were:
Kwiatkowski, Bakelants, Voeckler, Gautier,
Reza, Albasini, Keukeleire, Rogers, Gallopin, Serpa, Izaguirre, Van Avermaet,
Slagter, Roy, Montaguti, S. Dumoulin, Delaplace, Kiryienka, Vachon, Eisel, and Kluge.
The highest placed
rider in the break was Kwiatkowski, who came into the stage in 16th place, down
19:24 to the overall race leader, Vincenzo Nibali. Europcar's Thomas Voeckler
had won here in Luchon twice before: on stage 16 of the 2012 Tour De France,
and on his way to winning the 2013 Route du Sud, so it was no surprise to see
him make the break.
