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Jon Izaguirre (Movistar) has handed Spain their first stage win of the 2016 Tour de France, with a brilliant recovery effort on the final climb while Chris Froome (Sky) held the yellow jersey in convincing fashion before the ride to Paris tomorrow.
After a very unsettled start to the stage, and with rain hampering the progress of all the riders a massive group of 36 riders got away.
Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff) made it into the move and threatened the General Classification contenders all day, with the breakaway moving out to seven minutes ahead at one point. He was provisionally second but will finish the tour tenth overall.
The attacks eventually came out of the breakaway, with Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx) and Jarlinson Pantano (IAM) getting away from the group. None of the others could follow, and there would be an eight-rider group that followed them about a minute back onto the final climb.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) would then attack, catching the leading duo very quickly and with a couple of kilometres still going on the climb. He would have to put in a number of moves before cracking them, but never gained much more than 15 seconds.
Jon Izaguirre then attacked, chasing Pantano and Alaphilippe down, before attacking himself and taking Pantano with him. They would catch Nibali before the top of the climb and the three would head down the treacherous descent together.
Back in the peloton, there were no moves coming from the general classification riders after Astana and Orica Bike exchange had done the work early on. Joaquin Rodriguez made a move though, which bought him some time overall and moved him up to seventh.
Bauke Molllema (Trek) would put an attack in, but be dropped backwards alongside Fabio Aru (Astana) who both lost time and were bundled out of the top ten overall.
Jon Izaguirre would ride the descent faster than Pantano and Nibali, with both of them over running a corner and never catching back on.
There were simply no attacks coming on the descent, and despite a few little changes on the leaderboard, Chris Froome will complete his third Tour de France victory in demanding fashion.
Top 10
1. Jon Izaguirre (Movistar) @ 4:06:45
2. Jarlinson Pantano (IAM) + 0:19
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) + 0:42
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx) + 0:49
5. Rio Costa (Lampre) + 1:43
6. Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff) + 1:44
7. Wilco Kelderman (Lotto NL-Jumbo) + 2:30
8. Joaquin Riodriguez (Katusha) + 3:24
9. Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) + 4:12
10. Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) + 4:12
General Classification
1. Chris Froome (Sky) @ 86:21:40
2. Romain Bardet (Ar2r) + 4:05
3. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) + 4:21
4. Adam Yates (Orica-Bikeexchange) + 4:42
5. Richie Porte (BMC) + 5:17
6. Aljeandro Valverde (Movistar) + 6:16
7. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) + 6:58
8. Louis Meintjes (Lampre) + 6:58
9. Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) + 7:04
10. Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff) + 7:11
The Tour de France might look over on the results sheet, but with more rain expected on Stage 20, another trek through the mountains and a long last descent, anything is possible. Join The Roar for live coverage from 8:55pm (AEST).
Setting off in Megeve, it is another short stage of only 146.5 kilometres, which should pave the way for plenty of attacking – although we said that yesterday and it wasn’t exactly expected.
The rain of course probably had something to do with it. After Astana had set a blistering pace for most of the stage, all of Bauke Mollema, Richie Porte and Chris Froome would crash. Mollema was the big loser, dropping to tenth on the general classification.
All of the riders will be continuing today, but it will be interesting to see how much the crashes have affected them, particularly with more adverse weather on the way.
Breaking from Tour tradition, the final mountain stage before the race parades into Paris tomorrow will finish on a downhill, and there won’t be too many riders excited about that when you put it next to the forecast.
The first 9.5 kilometres of the stage are lumpy, before the first climb of the day – the Category 2 Col des Aravis begins. Following a 12 kilometre descent the peloton will go through the intermediate sprint in Le Grand Bornand.
From there the peloton will hit the Col de la Colombiere, which is long but not all that steep only averaging 6 per cent for the 12 kilometres.
From the top it is over 30 kilometres of descending and valley roads before the Category 1 Col de la Ramaz is climbed – almost 14 kilometres at 7.1 per cent with a chance for attacking to start.
Following the descent, there are more valley roads – albeit only about 10 kilometres before the final climb of the Tour – the ‘hors categorie’ Col de Joux Plane begins. It is 11.6 kilometres at 8.5 per cent and the gradient never drops below 6.8 per cent with maximum’s reaching well over ten.
The summit is reached with 12 kilometres to go, and making it even more difficult the descent doesn’t start right away – rather it gradually drops, then goes back uphill for a kilometre before dropping all the way to the last kilometre, where it goes back up at 3 per cent.
There are no questions the descent is almost as pivotal as the climb, and with the rain thrown in any risk taking could be rewarded in a big way.
Prediction
Chris Froome might be a little down on power if he has a problem with the knee, but he won’t lose four minutes.
It’s hard to predict the final make-up of the podium. Romain Bardet has looked good so expect him to be there while Quintana looks to be following wheels and struggling to do that. Adam Yates should rebound and take third, holding off a challenge from Richie Porte.
On the other hand, it looks like a day for the breakaway to take the stage after Astana’s hard work backfired yesterday.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage pf Stage 20 from 8:55pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below as the action unfolds on the final day in the mountains.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde