2013 Tour de France Race Wrap-up

I posted my picks for the jerseys and the top ten in the General Classification in my stage 1 preview.

Here is a brief look at how I did on my top 10 picks for 2013 Tour de France:

MY PICKS:                                                   ACTUAL RESULTS:

1. Froome 2. Contador 3. Valverde 4. Evans 5. Rodriguez 6. Van Den Broeck 7. Mollema 8. Quintana 9. Porte 10. Fuglsang

1. Froome 2. Quintana 3. Rodriguez 4. Contador 5. Kreuziger 6. Mollema 7. Fuglsang 8. Valverde 9. Navarro 10. Talansky

  

Seven of my ten picks made the top ten in the final classification; Valverde notably finishing lower than I expected, and Quintana, higher. My three picks that did not finish in the top 10 were:

Evans couldn't podium in two Grand Tours

1) Cadel Evans, who finished 39^th, ninety minutes off the winner’s time. I believe I commented before the Tour that Evans had more miles in his legs this year than any of the top contenders. Racing to third place at the Giro d’Italia in May turned out to be more draining than training for the veteran Aussie and 2011 TDF Champ. (Perhaps interestingly, this Tour’s winner and runner up, Froome and Quintana, had come into the race having ridden the fewest miles this season, out of any of the top GC contenders).

Stage 21 Report 2013 Tour De France Final Stage Results

134k from Versailles to Paris

Weather: sunny, 33c (92f)

Versailles

The riders left Versailles for the final stage of the 100^th Tour De France under sunny skies. It is shaping up to be the hottest day of the Tour.  By the time they finish, the skies will have darkened, as the race concludes with its first ever twilight finish.

Hundreds of ex-Tour riders will be on hand for the celebrations at the end. 170 riders will celebrate finishing the 2013 Tour De France after three weeks of intense competition on the roads of France.

Chris Froome will officially solidify his win when he crosses the finish line on the Champs-Élysées, and he will earn Team Sky its second consecutive Tour victory. The Kenyan-born talent who rides for Dave Brailsford’s British team asserted his will all over the race, and finishes with an indisputable five-minute win over second place Nairo Quintana of Team Movistar.

Stage 21 profile

All the jerseys have been decided. Peter Sagan coasts into Paris with the green sprinter’s jersey. The young Slovakian speedster was diligent in both the finish sprints and the intermediate sprints, which have become more significant with the changes in the points system. He also rides into Paris with a green dyed goatee.  Read on...

Stage 21 Preview 2013 Tour De France

134k Versailles to Paris, FLAT

Stage 21 finishes, as always, in Paris

The 2013 100^th edition of the Tour De France comes to a conclusion on Sunday.  Chris Froome of Britain’s Team Sky has sown up the win after defending his lead for two weeks. He won on top of Ax 3 Domaines on stage 8, and has worn yellow ever since. He even had to defend himself, literally, when he shoved a fan out of the way who had gotten too close to the elite breakaway trio.

The other jerseys are all decided too. All that is left to contest is Sunday’s sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées. The winners will enjoy a leisurely ride into Paris from Versailles, and a nighttime finish has been scheduled for the first time, in honor of the centenary celebration. The finish is scheduled for around 9:30 pm local time. 

Stage 21 Profile

Stage 21 route

Mark Cavendish will try to grab his fifth career win on the famed Boulevard between the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde. Peter Sagan will probably pop another wheelie or two. Let’s hope he comes up with some new tricks soon.

André Greipel and Marcel Kittel wouldn’t mind another notch on their stage-win belts. There is not much more to say about the stage, except, enjoy the pageant and pick your sprinter.

MY PICK: My last pick of the race is going to the Manx Missile from Omega Pharma. Mark Cavendish

I will post full results after the stage, and then a race wrap-up later on, with conclusions from the race, and I will see how I did on my picks and predictions overall. [I think nine of my stage picks came in second]

Stage 20 Report and Results 2013 Tour De France

125k from Annecy to Annecy-Semnoz

High Mountains, MTF;

Weather: partly cloudy, 27c (80f), chance of rain: 30%

Stage 20 on the map

Today’s stage is a short 125k, and will probably be fast and furious. The stage ends on top of the HC Annecy-Semnoz climb.

Stage 20 is the last chance for riders to try and change their positions in the General Classification. Chris Froome of Team Sky still leads with a commanding 5:11 over second place Alberto Contador of Team Saxo-Tinkoff. The battle for Contador’s spot is in the minds of Movistar’s Nairo Quintana and Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez. Either one of them or Saxo’s Roman Kreuziger will likely get the third podium position. Who will be denied a spot on the podium in Paris?

The stage 20 route around Annecy

We will also see who has the legs to fight for the king of the mountains jersey today. Chris Froome leads Pierre Rolland of Europcar by one point in the mountains competition. Mikel Nieve of the Basque Euskaltel squad is third with just five fewer points than Rolland. Quintana lies fourth, and Christophe Riblon of Ag2R is fifth, just 11 points off the lead.

The difficult category-1 Mont Revard, which tops out at km 78.5, may cause some decisive splits, although its summit is almost 50k from the finish. In any case, it will show who does not have the legs to contest the stage win today.

TO THE ACTION:

170 riders will take the start in the picturesque city of Annecy today.

Sun is shining as the riders take the start.

*Pierre Rolland (EUC) attacks as soon as the flag drops. It looks like the French climber is interested in the polka dot jersey after all.

Jens Voigt (RSL) is the next to jump away from the peloton.

Stage 20 Preview and Profile 2013 Tour De France

125k from Annecy to Annecy-Semnoz

Stage 20 around Annecy

The final showdown for the contenders in the General Classification has arrived. Stage 20 is the last mountain stage of the Tour De France. It is the last opportunity for the climbers to impose their will on the road, and the last opportunity for any reshuffling on the overall leaderboard.

The final stage into Paris on Sunday will be a flat one for the sprinters, and unless something awful happens, a stress-free celebration of a dominant Tour win for Team Sky’s Chris Froome. Before that, they have the six categorized climbs of stage 20.

A few smaller climbs in the first 50k will offer opportunities for breakaways and mountain jersey points for the contenders in the polka dot jersey competition. The stage is very short, at 125 kilometers, so it will probably be very fast, and very aggressive. A lot of teams will be hoping for results in Annecy.

Stage 20 profile

The Annecy-Semnoz mountaintop finish is a newcomer to the Tour. It is an HC rated climb measuring 10.7k and averaging 8.5%. The GC contenders will most likely have resigned themselves to Froome winning, but the fight for the next few places is still hot.

Profile of the final climb on stage 20

The battle for the mountains jersey should also be hotly contested Saturday, with five riders within eleven points of each other at the top of the standings in that competition. Two mountain points are available over two category-4 climbs on the final stage Sunday, so if the king of the mountains is too close to call by the end of stage 20, It is possible it could not be decided until Sunday.

Pick your favorite climber. Stage 20 could see another break succeed, or it could come down to the GC favorites. I would expect Joaquim Rodriguez is still very hungry for a stage win, so if it comes down to the favorites, he is my pick. He has been getting stronger, and is perfectly tailored for the steep finish. He is also very keen to finish on the podium in Paris, and may throw caution to the wind to get there. Purito is currently fifth overall, but just :47 behind second place Alberto Contador.

The weather forecast for Annecy on Sunday:

Clear with a chance of a thunderstorms and rain in the afternoon. High of 82F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 30%.