If we don’t know the winner of this year’s Tour de France already, we will after tonight’s short but sharp 125 kilometre stage from Saint Gaudens to Saint Lary Pla d’Adet. Join The Roar from 9:30pm (AEST) for all the action.
It may be the shortest stage of the Tour but it will certainly pack a punch. As well as being one of the last chances for the general classification boys to put in a concerted push to displace Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) from the top of the table, the King of the Mountain aspirants will be eagerly chasing points in that hotly contested competition.
In fact, a massive 70 KOM points are on offer tonight as the race tracks over three category one climbs followed by a mountain top finish on the ‘hors categorie’ Pla d’Adet.
Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Nibali are within three points of each other at the top of the KOM table, and given the nature of today’s stage, it could be overall race leader Nibali who finds himself leading the competition going into tomorrow’s final day in the mountains.
The only ones left on the final climb will be the heavy hitters from the general classification, and the heaviest of those hitters will be Nibali. With double KOM points on the line for finishing on a climb rated HC, the Shark of Messina is odds on to add the polka-dot jersey to his ever growing collection of yellow ones.
While Australia’s Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) claimed victory for the breakaway yesterday, today’s short stage and uphill finish will ensure that only a select group of overall contenders will be fighting for line honours today.
Things will be fairly sedate for the first 50 kilometres, but by the time the television coverage begins you’ll have no time to look away, so make sure all your drinks and snacks are pre-prepared.
The Col du Portillon (8.3km @ 7.1%) is crested just 57 kilometres into the race and after that the parcours follows a repeated pattern of hair-raising descents and quad cramping climbs. Only the strongest will survive.
There is an intermediate sprint at 31 kilometres, but of more concern to the sprinters will be making it to the finish before the cutoff. If Nibali, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and the French Connection of Thibaut Pinaut (FDJ), Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R) and Romain Bardet (AG2R) start trading blows at the front of the race, then the flatlanders may find themselves scrambling to get home in time.
The climbs and when they appear are as follows –
57.5km – Col du Portillon (8.3km @ 7.1%) cat 1
82km – Col de Peyresourde (13.2km @ 7%) cat 1
102.5km – Col de Val Louron-Azet (7.4km @ 8.3%) cat 1
124.5km – Pla d’Adet (10.2km @ 8.3%) cat HC
Join us for all the thrills and spills of a red hot stage, live from 9:30pm AEST.
Sean Lee
Expert
But just before i do go, here is a revised GC (the other one was wrong!) 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 76:41:28 2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:26 3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:06:00 4 Jean-Christophe Péraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:08 5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:34 6 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:10:19 7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling 0:11:59 8 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling 0:12:16 9 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Netapp-Endura 0:12:40 10 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:13:15
Sean Lee
Expert
Agreed Matt, The GC that SBS just put up was different to the one cyclingnews just published.
Sean Lee
Expert
Thanks for joining me. I'm off to bed. Don't forget to continue to follow The Roar for all your Tour news and of course for the best live blogs. Goodnight.
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
Think that provisional General Classification will be getting amended fairly soon. Leopold Konig only came in about two minutes down on Rafal Majka, which should still leave him with a better time than Frank Schleck in the GC for example.
Sean Lee
Expert
And the updated General Classification - 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 76:41:28 2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:26 3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:06:00 4 Jean-Christophe Péraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:08 5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:34 6 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:10:19 7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling 0:11:59 8 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling 0:12:16 9 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:13:15 10 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:18:03
Sean Lee
Expert
The top ten - 1 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 3:35:29 2 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:00:29 3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:46 4 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00 5 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale 0:00:49 6 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:52 7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:01:12 8 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:00 9 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:01:25 10 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:35
Sean Lee
Expert
De Marchi was actually fifth, i missed him crossing the line. Full results shortly.
Sean Lee
Expert
Valverde has recovered to cross the line ahead of Pinot and retain his second place on the overall.
Sean Lee
Expert
Nibali is third, Peraud fourth, Rolland fifth and Frank Schleck sixth.
Sean Lee
Expert
Visconti is second at 29 secs.
Sean Lee
Expert
Majka is grimacing and starting to celebrate. The crowd cheers. He crosses the line. Well done.
Sean Lee
Expert
Majka has 500 metres to go.
Sean Lee
Expert
Nibali and Peraud have 1km to go.
Sean Lee
Expert
Makja has one kilometre to go. He leads Rolland by 47 seconds. He should claim the stage and a big lead in the KOM competition.
Sean Lee
Expert
Valverde is fighting back. He is 10 seconds by Pinot, just barely protecting his second place on GC.
Sean Lee
Expert
Makja attacks Visconti at the front. Rolland is behind them Then comes Nibali and Peraud. Then a group with Pinot, Van garderen, Bardet Valverde has been distanced by them all
Sean Lee
Expert
Visconti and Makja lead the race with 3km to go. Nibali and Peraud are at 1:30.
Sean Lee
Expert
Sorry, it is not Bardet with Nibali, it is Peraud. My bad!
Sean Lee
Expert
Visconti is joined by Majka at the front of the race. Nibali is at 1:38. Pinot @ 1:57 Valverde @ 2:13
Sean Lee
Expert
Only Bardet can go with Nibali as he catches Van den Broeck and Rodriguez. Nibali is just 1:40 behind Visconti.