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An emotional Simon Geschke broke Giant – Alpecin’s duck at the 2015 Tour de France with an amazing solo victory on Stage 17 to the ski resort of Pra Loup.
However, the major talking point of the stage will be the abandonment of third placed Tejay Van Garderen. Unable to keep up with his rivals in the general classification when the pace was high the American was visibly distraught as he was forced to retire from the race due to illness.
Unable to keep up with the pace of the race as the peloton and the breakaway fought a savage battle over who would be allowed up the road to contest the stage victory, Tejay Van Garderen was quickly distanced by the peloton. Not even a trip to the in-car doctor could not solve the American’s woes and Van Garderen pulled over and hopped in his team car at the 91-kilometre mark.
After much effort the breakaway of the day was formed by Tanel Kangert (Astana); Jan Bakelants and Mikaël Chérel (AG2R-La Mondiale); Thibaut Pinot and Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ); Richie Porte and Nicolas Roche (Sky); Rafal Majka and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo); Jonathan Castroviejo, José Herrada and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar); John Degenkolb and Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin); Alberto Losada (Katusha); Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge); Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-Quick Step); Perrig Quémeneur (Europcar); Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo); Kristjian Durasek and Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida); Andrew Talansky and Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin); Nicolas Edet (Cofidis); Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling); Merhawi Kudus, Serge Pauwels and Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka).
Soon after Alberto Contador and Tinkoff – Saxo team mate Michael Rogers launched a surprise attack on the ascent of the Col de la Colle-Saint-Michel in a courageous, all-in attempt to shake up the race. We will never know how effective the attack would have been at dislodging Chris Froome from the top step of the podium as Movistar quickly came to the front of the peloton to reel in the duo and protect Alejandro Valverde’s virtual third place in the general classification.
Back at the front of the race, the 28-strong breakaway remained together until the intermediate sprint in Beauvezer (111km) when Simon Geschke launched his audacious attack for victory 50 kilometres from the finish in Pra Loup. While several attempts to bridge across to the German puncheur were launched from 27-man chase group behind no one could catch Simon Geschke.
Leading the best of the chasers over the summit, Thibaut Pinot’s terrible 2015 Tour de France would continue as he crashed on the descent down from the Col d’Allos. The Frenchman would pick himself off and continue to ride on without injury but the fall had clearly rattled his courage to take risks on the descent.
American climber Andrew Talansky and Colombian climber Rigoberto Uran would pass Thibaut Pinot on the descent and attempt to catch Simon Geschke on the ascent to Pra Loup. Despite the best efforts of Cannondale – Garmin’s Andrew Talansky the American couldn’t close a time gap of one minute within the final six kilometres.
Back in the peloton it was Astana who were forcing the tempo up the climb of the Col d’Allos ahead of the devilish, technical descent for a daring attack by Vincenzo Nibali. Tragedy struck the Tinkoff – Saxo team as during the descent Alberto Contador game unstuck and, according to Peter Sagan and Michael Rogers, fell thanks to a pothole in the road surface.
Led on by Alejandro Valverde, the Maillot Jaune group continued on without the 2015 Giro d’Italia winner. Similar to Stage 16, Chris Froome couldn’t be distanced on the descent by any of the pre-race favourites despite Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde’s best efforts.
On the ascent up to Pra Loup the Movistar team would finally attempt to test the legs of Chris Froome, isolated from his Sky teammates, with multiple attacks from Nairo Quintana. However, once again the Kenyan-born, British-registered stage racer would prove equal to everything the Colombian could throw at him.
A small psychological consolation for the Nairo Quintana will be that he outsprinted Chris Froome to the line, proving that the Colombian still has plenty of fight left in him. Meanwhile, Geraint Thomas and Alberto Contador crossed the finish +1:02” and +2:17” respectively behind the Maillot Jaune.
The result sees Geraint Thomas move ahead of Alberto Contador into fourth place in the general classification by a mere six seconds. IAM Cycling’s Mathias Frank will be considered the biggest winner of the stage after his day in the breakaway saw him climb up in to the top 10 in the general classification, the Swiss rider now sits eighth and +8:47” adrift of the Maillot Jaune.
2015 Tour de France – Stage 17 Results:
01. Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin)… +4:12:17″
02. Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin)… +0:32″
03. Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep)… +1:01″
04. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ)… +1:36″
05. Mathias Frank (IAM)… +1:40″
06. Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo)… +2:27″
07. Nicolas Roche (Sky)… +3:02″
08. Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar)… +3:04″
09. Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka)… +3:05″
10. Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEDGE)… +3:21″
2015 Tour de France – General Classification after Stage 17:
01. Christopher Froome (Sky)… 69:06:49″
02. Nairo Quintana (Movistar)… +3:10″
03. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)… +4:09″
04. Geraint Thomas (Sky)… +6:34″
05. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)… +6:40″
06. Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo)… +7:39″
07. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)… +8:04″
08. Mathias Frank (IAM)… +8:47″
09. Bauke Mollema (Trek)… +11:47″
10. Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin)… +13:08″
The first of the ‘High Mountain’ stages in the French Alps, it is important riders get back into a rhythm after the second rest day or risk suffering a horrible stage. Join The Roar for live coverage of the seventeenth stage of the 2015 Tour De France from 10:00pm (AEST).
After riding a carbon copy of today’s route during Stage 5 of the 2015 Criterium du Daupine, the majority of the general classification riders should have an idea of what awaits them. First-hand experience of the devilish, technical descent down from the summit of the Col d’Allos could prove vital.
Similar to Monday’s sixteenth stage, there is nary a piece of flat land on today’s 161 kilometre-long parcours. In combination with the second rest day this could cause some riders to begin pedalling squares and crack when put under pressure.
While nothing to be scoffed at the Col des Lèques (6-kilometres at 5.3 per cent), Col de Toutes Aures (6.1-kilometres at 3.1 per cent) and the Col de la Colle-Saint-Michel (11-kilometres at 5.2 per cent) will act as mere warm-ups for the decisive final 36-kilometres of the stage.
The business end of the stage begins with the ascent up to the summit of the first category Col d’Allos (14-kilometres at 5.5 per cent). The initial eight kilometres are irregular with gradients from anywhere as low as 2.5 per cent up to as high as 6.5 per cent, while the remaining six kilometres are comparatively regular at around six to 8.5 per cent in gradient.
After cresting the summit of the Col d’Allos the peloton will begin the highly technical descent to the foot of the climb to Pra Loup. Under dry conditions at the Criterium du Dauphine AG2R Le Mondiale’s Romain Bardet pulled a gap of nearly one and a half minutes over the likes of Tejay Van Garderen and Chris Froome, so predictions of rain could see some riders lose minutes on today’s stage.
The ascent to the ski resort atop Pra Loup is just 6.2-kilometres in length and features a pretty consistent slope (average 6.5 per cent) thanks to the design of the road. Designed for busses hauling tourists up to the resort, the climb suits the diesel horsepower of Sky Pro Cycling’s infamous mountain train rather than the nimble, punchy frame of a pure climber like Nairo Quintana.
With three more days in the French Alps still to come Team Sky will be eager to conserve their energy today, especially after the retirement of Peter Kennaugh. So unless someone else takes up the chase in the peloton the breakaway look to be the favourite to ride away with the stage victory.
There are only 29 points on offer today in the King of the Mountains competition so we may see Joaquim Rodriguez save his legs for more profitable stages. However, that shouldn’t stop the likes of Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot chancing their luck again.
Some other riders to keep an eye for today include Pierre Rolland, Louis Meintjes, Steven Kruijswijk, Rigoberto Uran, Jakob Fuglsang, Andrew Talansky, Dan Martin, Pieter Weening and the Yates twins.
But what do you think? Let us know in the comments and join us from 10:00pm (AEST) for live updates, commentary and a chat as we follow Stage 17 of the 2015 Tour De France.
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