Most of the riders will thank the ASP on their knees for putting this short and flat stage between the 2 big Alps-stages. 132 kilometres between Guillestre and Dignes-les-Bains, and a lot of the route is descending a bit. The last 10-15km are ascending with 1-3%.
11km to go
Apparantly, the riders didn't listen to the ASO and decided to make it a very fast stage. Every attack was reeled in, as the pace of the peloton was very high. Lars Ytting Bak is the last of the breakaways to get caught, 11km before the finish.
Finish
With the ascending last 10km, we hoped for Peter Sagan to get a good result (Top 3). But as both he and final lead out man Matti Breschel are suffering with bad legs (daily form -2 for both....) after the first Alps-stage, we can throw away that hope in the garbage can....
Well, all teams but 1 can throw away their hopes and plans. As Lotto - Belisol does a great job bringing Edvald Boasson Hagen in a perfect position. And without any problems, EBH takes his second stage win, almost securing the green jersey!
At a fairly distance, JJ Rojas takes the 2nd place in front of Heinrich Haussler. Sagan (15th) even got outsprinted by Andy Schleck, who finished 13th. A little disaster happened for Jelle Vanendert, as he punctured in the last 10km and lost 2'16, dropping from 9th to 17th in the GC...
One comment that counts for all transfers: at the end of the season, I'll oerlook them all, and chance the strange transfers (Like Lass Boom has actually signed for Team Concordia.... :roll to more expected ones.
2 days before Paris and we have the queen's stage of the centennial edition of Le Tour. 196 kilometres with 5 Alp cols, including the 2740m high Col de la Bonette and the finish at the Col de Lombarde. This makes a total of 6412 (!!) height metres, so be ready for huge time gaps!
157km to go
Already at the 2nd of 5 climbs of the day, the Col des Champs (10.7km at 7.6%), the first attack out of the peloton occurs. And it is done by some pretty good riders: Steven Kruijswijk (GC 18), Vasil Kiryienka (GC 15) , Nicholas Roche (GC 24) and Brice Feillu (GC 21).
The peloton took it pretty easy during the ascend of the Col d'Allos, the first climb of the day.
148km to go
As Feillu is a threat for the KOTM-jersey from Vanendert, we increase the pace of the peloton. As a result, the 4 attackers get caught and Vanendert crosses the line of the KOTM-sprint as the first one, thus almost securing his KOTM-jersey.
But as a result of th eincreased pace, only 19 riders are present in this first group, whereas 5 (!) top 10-riders are missing: F. Schleck (5), Velits (6), Kern (8), Van den Broeck (9) and Pellizotti (10). But they'll join th efirst peloton in the descend.
115km to go
With the pace dropping to "normal" speed, Roman Klimov (Katusha) and Blel Kadri (AG2R) see this as an opportunity to attack. The peloton lets them take a gap of 3 minutes at the summit of the 3rd climb of the day, the Col de la Cayolle (19.2km at 6.8%).
107km to go
Suddenly, in the descend of the Cayolle a voice shouts over Radio Tour: Chute! Crash! Valpartij! Sturz!
All Tour followers and the DS's hold their breath and wait for the camera to show who is the unfortunate rider. The first image is that of a light blue jersey, with some white and yellow accents: Astana.... Then someone shouts Duarte! Yes, GC's number 4 Fabio Duarte lost his front wheel in a hairpin and crashed. He has some team mates waiting for him, but he will loose more than 18 minutes today, dropping from 4th to 19th in the GC....
56km to go
There is no time to get in shock because of Duartes crash, as the 22.7 kilometre (average gradient of 6.6%) ascend of the Col de la Bonette awaits. Lampres Simon Spilak, who had more expectations of this Tour, has attacked out of the peloton and closed the gap to the leading duo. He is the first rider to arrive at the roof of the Tour, at an altitude of 2740 metres. The peloton follows at 5'11.
45km to go
And another crash in the first peloton, this time in the descend of the Bonette. Sky's Christopher Froome hits the tarmac, and will loose minutes today.
He gets passed by Jelle Vanendert, who couldn't follow the first group and got dropped shortly before the summit of the Bonette.
20km to go
A group of 27 riders arrives at the foot of the last climb of the day, the Col de Lombarde, 2'29 behind the 3 leaders. All but one Top 10 of the GC are present, only Duarte is missing.
11km to go
Simon Spilak is the last of the 3 leaders to be caught at 11km before the finish. This is the moment for Alberto Contador to launch his attack, looking for his 4th Tour-win. Both Nibali and Andy Schleck don't counter immediately, but continue at their own pace.
5km to go
And the 2 close the gap to Contador, just as a few others. So with 5km to go, 8 riders form the leading group. Besides the top 3, also Fränk Schleck, Basso, Kern, Velits and Hesjedal. Robert Gesink has been dropped, after helping his Luxembourg team mate in the first part of the climb.
2km to go
Vincenzo Nibali increases the pace of the leading group, and as a result, Bass, Kern, Velits and Hesjedal get dropped. Only the best 4 riders of this Tour are present with 2km to go. And it looks like the maillot jaune is starting to crack....
1km to go
And the weakness is noticed by Nibali, who increased the pace once again, and by Fränk. Yes, the older brother attacks just before the flamme rouge, meaning his younger brother, who is about to win his first Tour de France, is getting dropped!!!! The gap is 13 seconds already with 1 km to go, and also Contador is passing Andy....
Finish
Fränk's efforts of winning the stage are crushed by Nibali. The Sicilian shark takes his 2nd stage win, and possibly also the Tour de France overall win!! The clock starts ticking for exhausted Andy to cross the line....
Wow, what a race. I hope he remains in yellow. Nibali is strong!
I love that stage, I was at that region a couple of years ago, where I did col d'Allos, col de la Cayolle and Col de la Bonette. Very beautiful climbs (especially Cayolle!)
Finish
In the last hundred metre towards the finish, numerouw thoughts are running through Andy's mind: "I'm gonna loose it" - "I'm not buying Fränk a X-mas present" - "Why did I get a daily form of -2 from Cyanide in this stage?" - "I...must...give...it...all...".
When Andy crosses the line, he bows his head and feels it wasn't enough to win the Tour. Spectators and journalists start screaming and he is surrounded by journalists and tv-camera's. "Go away, I need some time for myself" he says. But suddenly his DS (yep, me) comes running from behind: You did it Andy, 3 seconds....... 3 seconds..... Nibali needed to gain 38 seconds and it's only 35!
Word from the DS
Unbelievable..... I think that is the only word that can describe the finish of this stage. Okay, there are 2 more flat stages to go, and Andy must be very attentful not to loose time.
but you never know.
