Please join us for live blogging of stage 16 of the 2012 Tour de France. Live coverage will begin from 8:30PM with full coverage from 10PM AEST.
The final rest day is over and we enter the business end of the race – and what a way to restart proceedings.
It is being referred to in some quarters as ‘The Circle of Death’, which as melodramatic as it might first appear you only need to have a look at the course profile to get an understanding of where the term was coined.
Starting with the Col d’Aubisque, moving to the Col du Tourmalet, then the Col d’Aspin and finally the Col de Peyresourde the riders will climb nearly 7000 meters of vertical elevation across the course of this 197km stage.
It is quite simply, massive. Not simply from the sheer amount of climbing, but also in terms of shaping the general classification.
If Vincenzo Nibali or Cadel Evans have any designs of moving higher up the GC then today is one of the few remaining mountain stages when they might look to put Bradley Wiggins and his Sky armada under pressure.
For Evans, it’s not curtains (Cadel may be accused of many things, however a quitter has never been one) but he is running out of opportunities to claw back time.
In his favour would be memories of how Wiggins performed in the final week of the 2011 Vuelta a Espana – fading and eventually being forced to concede the position of team leader to Chris Froome.
Cadel has been in this position before, he knows what his body is capable of and he knows how well and what he needs to do to recover.
Today will be a test to see if Wiggins has learned from the mistakes of last year, as although Brad has dominated the minor stage races this year none of them have run for three weeks.
Prepare yourselves for what will certainly be an entertaining day of racing. Incredible Pyrenean scenary notwithstanding!
Please, join me from 8:30PM for live blogging of stage 16 of the 2012 Tour de France.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Thanks guys, that's me for the night. I need some shut eye.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Tomorrow will be interesting to see if Voeckler has anything left to defend his new Polka Dot jersey. Kessiakoff still every chance to reclaim it.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Top 10 for Polka Dot jersey 1. VOECKLER Thomas 21 TEAM EUROPCAR 107 pts 2. KESSIAKOFF Fredrik 187 ASTANA PRO TEAM 103 pts 3. SORENSEN Chris Anker 178 TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 77 pts 4. ROLLAND Pierre 29 TEAM EUROPCAR 55 pts 5. FEILLU Brice 94 SAUR-SOJASUN 38 pts 6. MARTIN Daniel 65 GARMIN-SHARP 34 pts 7. SCARPONI Michele 41 LAMPRE - ISD 33 pts 8. FROOME Christopher 105 SKY PROCYCLING 32 pts 9. PINOT Thibaut 146 FDJ-BIGMAT 32 pts 10. VOIGT Jens 18 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 31 pts
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Top 10 for the stage 1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 5:35:02 2 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:01:40 3 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:03:22 4 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:22 5 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:03:58 6 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:04:18 7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 0:06:08 8 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:06:08 9 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team 0:06:08 10 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:06:11
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Sad to see Cadel drop, but that's racing. You can't be "on" every time, every year. Will be interesting to see how he looks at the final year of his contract. One thing is certain, write him off at your peril!
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
The new GC top 10: 1.) Wiggins 2.) Froome 3.) Nibali 4.) Van Den Broeck 5.) Zubeldia 6.) Van Garderen 7.) Evans 8.) Brajkovic 9.) Rolland 10.) Pinot
Colin N
Guest
I wouldn't blame Nibali. If he went earlier, he might have risked cracking. Sky had four riders on that final climb - it's a bloody tough team to crack!!
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Still waiting for Cadel to cross the line. He's going to be lucky to stay in the top 10 by the end of today...
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Wiggins, Nibali and Froome all in. Wiggins gives away nothing on the line.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
True. Was all too little too late from Nibali. But then with all the strength of Sky, there was not a great deal that he could do.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Vino pulls his foot out of the cleat, Izaguirre takes 3rd.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
And Chris doesn't disappoint with a few more pain faces.
Colin N
Guest
I think that's the first time I've seen Nibali or Wiggins hurting on this tour, but Wiggins and Froome did well to close the gap
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Sorensen will take 2nd.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
1km to go for Voeckler. He's celebrating already, lapping it up. And as well he should, hell of a ride today!
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Evans has shut his pace off. Maybe conserving energy for a dip at a stage win in the TT?
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Less than 4km to go!
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Tommy looks as mad as a box of frogs, but he certainly knows how to perform on the biggest stage. Another stage win beckons.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Nibali goes again, one final dig. He's going nowhere, Wiggins drags him back.
Tinea Pedis
Roar Guru
Froome is busting out a wicked pace. Hurting Nibali and....dare I say it...Wiggins too.