Stage
19 Race Report:
 |
| Stage 19 on the map |
208.5k from Maubourguet Pays du Val d'Adour to Bergerac;
FLAT.
Weather: Rain and
thunderstorms, 68f; Wind ~10mph
164 riders took the
start on Friday. The rain seemed to follow the riders through the course.
A 5-man breakaway
group escaped by km 15, and built a lead of about 3:30 early on:
Slagter, Gautier, Elmiger, Taaramae, and
Gerard.
(All five riders
succeeded in making it into multiple breakaways in this race; this was at least
Gautier's 5th break (stages 9, 14, 16, 17, and 19).
By km75 the lead
had been brought down to about 2:30. The peloton kept the gap at about 2:30 for
the next 50k, and then started to reel the break in. Inside of 30k to go,
Garmin Sharp's Tom Jelte Slagter attacked and broke away from the peloton. The
early escapees were all swept up by the peloton by 20k to go, when Omega's Jan
Bakelants attacked from the bunch.
 |
| Profile of stage 19; northward |
Garmin had more
cards to play, clearly intent on making something happen today. Alex Howes
attacked, but was soon brought back. Riders fought to be in front for the
narrow, technical cat-4 hill that topped out with 13k to go to the finish. The
rain fell heavily at times, probably dissuading more attackers.
 |
| Recidivist escapees: Gautier, Elmiger and Taaramae (R to L) |
With about 13.5k to
go, another Garmin rider, Navardauskas
attacked and bridged up to his teammate Slagter, who still led the race about
10 or 15 seconds up the road. Slagter led Navardauskas over the KOM line at the
top of the Côte de Montbazillac (1.3k at 7.6%), and then Navardauskas pushed on
alone.
Navardauskas clung
to a 12-second lead with 11k to go, but then started to gradually build it up
until it leveled out between 22 and 24 seconds with about 7k left to the
finish. Navardauskas slogged through heavy downpours, and as he crossed the
Dordogne River with about 3k to go, the chasing peloton was gaining ground on
him again.
Just inside of 3k
to go, the peloton was chasing the Garmin rider through Bergerac, when a crash
near the front of the peloton created a big pile-up. Many big names were
involved, including Peter Sagan, Andre Greipel, Frank Schleck, Greg Van
Avermaet, Romain Bardet, Leopold König, and more. Later Sagan apologized and
took responsibility for the carnage, saying, "I crashed first". Known
for his excellent bike-handling skills, Sagan was a big favorite to win on
today's technical run-in.
 |
| The Tour's biggest fan watched the race go by today |
A group of about 15
riders survived to chase after Navardauskas. They were at + :13 as the strong
Lithuanian sped under the flamme rouge.
Navardauskas
rounded a 90-degree left turn onto the soaked finish straight. He looked behind
to see the chase group coming fast, but his lead was sufficient.
He coasted over the
line first, taking a much-appreciated win for his hard-working Garmin
teammates.
John Degenkolb won
the sprint for second, ahead of Alexander Kristoff and Mark Renshaw.
 |
| Tom Jelte Slagter lit up the race for Garmin |
It was a great attack
and win for the Lithuanian Navardauskas, but a rather disappointing finish
otherwise, since we were denied a proper bunch sprint. Fortunately for all those involved, the
crash occurred inside of 3k to go, so everybody there got the same time as the sprint
group. Jack Bauer appeared to have suffered the worst from the crash, but is
reported to be ok, and was able to take solace in the fact that his teammate
scored the win.
 |
| Garmin got a win from Ramunas Navardauskas |
STAGE 20 PREVIEW:
Tomorrow is the big
54k individual time trial. The standings will certainly get a shakeup, and
then we will find out what the final 2014 Tour De France podium will look like.
The course is hilly, but without any major climbs. The sheer length of it will
destroy some riders hopes of a high finish, and we may see some surprise
results.
 |
| Stage 20 ITT profile |
I expect Nibali,
Peraud, Valverde, and Van Garderen will do well. The other top GC contenders
will have to throw every last ounce of their energy into the stage 20 ITT.
Thibaut Pinot should be especially worried about losing his podium position.
The strong time
trialists outside of the top GC contention who I expect to excel on Saturday
include Tom Dumoulin of Giant-Shimano and Sylvain Chavanel of IAM. Chavanel has
expressed the desire to "do something special" in the TT.
Other typically
good TT-ers like Richie Porte and Michal Kwiatkowski are less of a sure bet, as
they both showed weakness in the mountains. But put those guys in a skinsuit
and an aero helmet, and you usually get fireworks.
 |
| Compatriots JC Peraud and Thibaut Pinot |
Some of the veteran
TT-ers like Lieuwe Westra, Mick Rogers, and Vasil Kiryienka may be able to come
up with decent performances. Kiryienka and Rogers particularly showed a lot of
strength in the mountains.
Orica's Luke
Durbridge and Svein Tuft would love to put on good performances tomorrow, and
look out for Ion Izaguirre, Jan Barta, Maciej Bodnar, and Geraint Thomas. Any
of them could be capable of a good show in the race of truth.
MY PICKS:
I think this course
will suit JC Peraud very well, as
well as Tom Dumoulin and Ion
Izaguirre. In top form I would like Kwiatkowski,
Porte, and Valverde for this
course, but I'm not sure how their legs will be after the Pyrenees. Valverde
will fight hard for a podium finish however, so I would still say he is a good
pick.
 |
| I think Tony Martin means "turbo boosted" in German |
But at the end of
the day, we are talking about a time trial; and you can't have a TT and not
talk about the German locomotive, Tony
Martin. I wouldn't bet on him finishing worse than second, and in this
case, I am picking him for the win.
It will all be
decided tomorrow...
...Enjoy the race!
