2015 Tour de France: Stage 16 results, blog

Stage Result:

An attack on the climb of the Col de Manse saw Lampre – Merida’s Ruben Plaza win Stage 16 of the 2015 Tour de France ahead of Peter Sagan, who once again finished in second.

With the teams predicting history would repeat itself and that the breakaway would steal the limelight in Gap the battle to be part of the breakaway was fierce. 29 riders would escape up the road from kilometre zero in an attempt to be be involved in the race winning move but only 23 of them would survive the incredible fast opening to the stage.

The breakaway split into two groups of twelve around the 15-kilometre mark before coming back together to form one cohesive, whole group again. Jarlinson Pantano, Serge Pauwels, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Daniel Teklehaimanot, Peter Sagan, Simon Geschke, Luis Angel Mate, Daniel Navarro, Bob Jungels, Markel Irizar, Andriy Grivko, Ruben Plaza, Nelson Oliveira, Thomas Voeckler, Pierrick Fedrigo, Pierre-Luc Perichon, Christophe Riblon, Matteo Trentin, Michal Golas, Thomas De Gendt, Adam Hansen, Marco Haller and Imanol Erviti would all make the cut.

There was never any doubt that the stage victory would go to someone within the breakaway of the day as the peloton let the escapees build a maximum advantage of over twenty minutes. The first attack and sign of disorganisation within the break happened with 50 kilometres to go, it was brought back before Adam Hansen and Marco Haller escaped off the front of the group with a maximum advantage of 50 seconds.

It was not long before Adam Hansen and Marco Haller were caught by a reduced chase group, split apart by Peter Sagan on the slopes of the Col de Manse, and a new series of attacks was launched. Weary of dragging Peter Sagan to the finishing line with them it was up to Peter Sagan to close down each attack, the Slovakian couldn’t realistically hope to mark every move however and eventually Ruben Plaza broke free.

Establishing an advantage of about a minute by the summit of the Col de Manse, lone stage leader Ruben Plaza wouldn’t be seen again by his former breakaway companions until the finish. Sensing the stage victory slipping through his fingers Peter Sagan attacked on the descent, with Jarlinson Pantano not far behind.

Despite a insane, daredevil descent from Peter Sagan, which at times reached over 100-kilometres per hour in speed, the Slovakian could only close half of the gap up to Ruben Plaza by the finish. IAM Cycling’s Jarlinson Pantano would round out the podium in third six second behind Peter Sagan on Colombian Independence Day.

Beginning the climb of the Col de Manse eighteen minutes later, Tinkoff – Saxo and Astana decided to test Team Sky’s strength up the ascent. Isolated at several points by his rivals due to the high tempo being ridden Maillot Jaune Chris Froome would prove equal to almost every attack launched.

However, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali would manage to break free of Team Sky and Chris Froome over the Col de Manse and utilised his superb descending skills and bravery to claw back 28 seconds on his rivals by the finishing line. The Italian moves closer to seventh place Robert Gesink in the general classification while also distancing himself from ninth place Bauke Mollema.

While Chris Froome survived the descent without incident there was some drama involving team mate Geraint Thomas. Warren Barguil overcooked it into one of the descent’s corners and accidentally crashed into the Welshman and sent him careering over the edge of the nearby embankment.

Perhaps fortunate not to be seriously injured after the incident, Geraint Thomas would dust himself off and eventually finish the stage 38 seconds the Maillot Jaune group. The Welshman will have a day to recover from the shock as the 2015 Tour de France pauses for the second rest day in Gap before heading deeper into the French Alps on Wednesday.

2015 Tour de France – Stage 16 Results:
01. Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida)… 04:30:10″
02. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo)… +0:30″
03. Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling)… +0:36″
04. Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin)… +0:40″
05. Bob Jungels (Trek)… ST
06. Christophe Riblon (AG2R)… ST
07. Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka)… +0:53″
08. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal)… +1:00″
09. Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis)… +1:22″
10. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)… ST

2015 Tour de France – General Classification after Stage 16:
01. Chris Froome (Sky)… 64:47:16″
02. Nairo Quintana (Movistar)… +3:10″
03. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC)… +3:32″
04. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)… +4:02″
05. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)… +4:23″
06. Geraint Thomas (Sky)… +5:32″
07. Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo)… +6:23″
08. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)… +7:49
09. Bauke Mollema (Trek)… +8:53″
10. Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin)… +11:03″

Stage Preview:

Ahead of the second rest day and three difficult ‘High Mountain’ stages the peloton make the almost customary journey to the town of Gap. Join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 16 of the 2015 Tour De France from 10:00pm (AEST).

Beginning in the town of Bourg-de-Péage, the race dips its toes into the surrounding Alps en route to Gap. A tough ‘Medium Mountain’ stage, most of the 201 kilometre-long journey is uphill, offering the riders little respite.

There are just two categorised ascents out on today’s course but both are second category climbs. En route to Gap the peloton will climb the Col de Cabre (9.1-kilometres at 4.6 per cent) before heading out to the Col de Manse (8.9-kilometres at 5.6 per cent) upon reaching Gap for the first time.

The stage is perhaps most famous for when Samuel Sanchez, Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans put almost a minute into the Schleck brothers on the descent down the other side of the Col de Manse. A similar move was launched in 2013 in an attempt to dislodge an unwavering Sky Pro Cycling and Chris Froome but that time it came to naught.

Fast forward to 2015 and the situation is eerily similar to the 2013 Tour de France, once again Chris Froome leads and his rivals must create opportunities to claw back time. The rest day on Tuesday provides Nairo Quintana and co the chance to dig deeper than usual but a crucial x-factor from 2011, rain, will be missing, the weather forecast to be hot and sunny.

The road descends almost all the way to the finishing line within the town from the Col de Manse, slowly flattening out within the final 1000-metres. Three roundabouts within the final 1500-metres offers cunning riders a chance to shake a rival off their rear wheel and slipstream when used with a cleverly timed burst of acceleration.

The breakaway has a history of winning the stage to Gap and I suspect Stage 16 of the 2015 Tour de France will no different. However, if there is an impetus to win the stage within the peloton then perhaps it will be third time lucky on Stage 16, the third consecutive time the race visits Gap on the sixteenth stage oddly.

Picking the composition of the breakaway will be a nightmare as everyone and their dog tries to get involved in what should be a certain victory for one lucky escapist, if history repeats itself. The stage suits a rider who can not only climb but who also has well rounded characteristics, with a head-to-head or small group sprint a possibility if no one can force a gap over the Col de Manse.

Look out for riders strong, punchy riders like Jarlinson Pantano, Thomas Voeckler, Ramunas Navardauskas, Thomas De Gendt, Daniel Oss, Peter Sagan, Matteo Trentin and Michal Kwiatkowski.

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 16 of the 2015 Tour De France.