TdF 2016 Stage 15 *Contains spoilers*

pottssteve

Cavendish smashed it yesterday, helped considerably by the Ettix train dropping Marcel off about 100m too early. He's got to be thinking about number 5 in Paris.
Cav flipped everyone the bird at Parc des Oiseaux, taking his fourth stage win. Kittel cried fowl, but the commissaires told him to pluck off.
I've a feeling that the sprinters will find today a little less to their liking, with the profile looking like Bart Simpson's haircut:



Six categorised climbs, including two Cat 1s and the HC Grand Colombier.

The route enters the Alps for 160 km of climbs and descents:


However, the run in to the line is flat on a circuit near Culoz:




The weather continues to be sunny and warm, in the valleys at least. The wind remains from the North, but is relatively light, meaning a slight cross-tail wind.

Enjoy!

gsk82

Cavendish to miss the time cut off today? Given how bad he has apparently climbed so far I can't see him making it to Paris.

Bo Duke

I expect some pretty determined challenges on the Lanterne Rouge... could be a long day for some.

above_the_cows

gsk82 wrote:

Cavendish to miss the time cut off today? Given how bad he has apparently climbed so far I can't see him making it to Paris.

He hates the Pyrenees though.

Anyway today hopefully these...



Will keep these ladies away.



Remember the whole stage is broadcast live so get out for a ride pronto and this in the oven soonish.



And finally who of the top 10 on GC is going to loose time today? I'll start by saying TJVG (this is wishful thinking).

above_the_cows

Bo Duke wrote:

I expect some pretty determined challenges on the Lanterne Rouge... could be a long day for some.

Things are looking promising for Bernie today after he dropped out of the top 10. Hopefully Cav will pay him back for all his work on the flat stages and ride for Bernie's Lanterne efforts today.

Bo Duke

Y'know I had Bernie in mind as I wrote my post! He's clearly under performing, time for him to knuckle down.

blazing_saddles

C'mon now, we have to have one of these:-



Not the best to accompaniment, but beggars can't be choosers:-



And for after:-

pottssteve

Mmmmmmm, cheese porn. I like the rind on that Comte! One thing I miss over here in Asia is really good quality cheese...

DeadCalm

Above The Cows wrote:

Remember the whole stage is broadcast live so get out for a ride pronto...

Oh is it? Awesome news. Should be an interesting fight for the break with all those mountain points on offer plus I'd expect the GC teams to want to get guys up the road.

Barguil to try and infiltrate the break?

And back from my ride just before a torrential downpour started. This is turning into a great day.

Lanterne_Rogue

Above The Cows wrote:

Bo Duke wrote:

I expect some pretty determined challenges on the Lanterne Rouge... could be a long day for some.

Things are looking promising for Bernie today after he dropped out of the top 10. Hopefully Cav will pay him back for all his work on the flat stages and ride for Bernie's Lanterne efforts today.

He's siting fourth?!

181. NZLARCHBOLD Shane 132 BORA-ARGON 18 66h 24' 52'' + 02h 38' 12''
182. AUTEISEL Bernhard 105 TEAM DIMENSION DATA 66h 27' 32'' + 02h 40' 52''
183. AUSHOWARD Leigh 77 IAM CYCLING 66h 31' 59'' + 02h 45' 19''
184. DENBAK Lars Ytting 162 LOTTO SOUDAL 66h 40' 33'' + 02h 53' 53''
185. IRLBENNETT Sam 135 BORA-ARGON 18 66h 46' 51'' + 03h 00' 11''

(I got asked to post the stage top ten yesterday as well as the GC, so did it separately, which may have caused some confusion. The sprinter's teams did a superb job of keeping the pace nice and slow so that nobody could easily sneak off the back and that limited the losses)

blazing_saddles

The really good weather returns today.
I guesstimate there to be no more than 20kms of what I would call flat, plus several more, uncatagorised climbs.
Proper Injun territory, with the potential for ambush around every corner.
The question is: are the Indians hostile or peaceful?

FocusZing

RonB

Looking forward to seeing the riders on the Lacets this afternoon.

bobmcstuff

Trying to find somewhere to watch it in Barcelona.

Might be WiFi in the pub again...

blazing_saddles

On the roll out.

DeadCalm

Froome and Quintana have been drafting that car for ages. Surely the commisaires should do something about this.

Lanterne_Rogue

You get the impression Millar misses days like this.

kleinstroker

Looking forward to this. First decent stage I have actually managed to sit down and watch.

blazing_saddles

Breakaway: Reichenbach, Rolland, best in the GC.

Majka, Zakarin, Kangert, Vuillermoz, Zubeldia, Clement, Navarro, Pantano, Nibali, Pozzovivo, Pauwels, Dumoulin, Huzarski, Morabito, Bennett, Alaphilippe, Plaza, Losada, Ion Izagirre, Polanc, Grmay, Slagter, Coppel, Durasek, Voeckler, Oliveira, van Baarle

jscl

Happy to see Zakarin in there.

If you look back to his Giro crash, it certainly looked nasty (lucky only collarbone). So it's great to see him up there today and sure hope he has a crack to the finish too.

pottssteve

Boulting - "Quaternary period". Haha

blazing_saddles

Movistar man down.
Herrada has climbed off.

above_the_cows

underlayunderlay wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

Bo Duke wrote:

I expect some pretty determined challenges on the Lanterne Rouge... could be a long day for some.

Things are looking promising for Bernie today after he dropped out of the top 10. Hopefully Cav will pay him back for all his work on the flat stages and ride for Bernie's Lanterne efforts today.

He's siting fourth?!

181. NZLARCHBOLD Shane 132 BORA-ARGON 18 66h 24' 52'' + 02h 38' 12''
182. AUTEISEL Bernhard 105 TEAM DIMENSION DATA 66h 27' 32'' + 02h 40' 52''
183. AUSHOWARD Leigh 77 IAM CYCLING 66h 31' 59'' + 02h 45' 19''
184. DENBAK Lars Ytting 162 LOTTO SOUDAL 66h 40' 33'' + 02h 53' 53''
185. IRLBENNETT Sam 135 BORA-ARGON 18 66h 46' 51'' + 03h 00' 11''

(I got asked to post the stage top ten yesterday as well as the GC, so did it separately, which may have caused some confusion. The sprinter's teams did a superb job of keeping the pace nice and slow so that nobody could easily sneak off the back and that limited the losses)

Ah that is what confused me. Phew. I was wondering how he managed to make up all those minutes without putting in a TT that would have left Dumoulin for dust. All is right with the world. I can rest easy now. Thanks.

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Not the best to accompaniment, but beggars can't be choosers:-

Is that a slab of butter on the right?

ben@31

Above The Cows wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Not the best to accompaniment, but beggars can't be choosers:-

Is that a slab of butter on the right?

Is that some lumps of rock and stones on the back right ? A scale model of the Grand Colombier perhaps ?

above_the_cows

Poor Cav and the ever faithful Bernie. It reminds me of a parent taking their child out for a wee cycle on the fietspad.

above_the_cows

ben@31 wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Not the best to accompaniment, but beggars can't be choosers:-

Is that a slab of butter on the right?

Is that some lumps of rock and stones on the back right ?

It's like the Generation Game crossed with some Claesz' still life.

above_the_cows

COWS!

blazing_saddles

Jurrasic rock?

adr82

I've just realised Zubeldia is in the break... is he going to win the stage and force people to notice him for once???

above_the_cows

adr82 wrote:

I've just realised Zubeldia is in the break... is he going to win the stage and force people to notice him for once???

Is he? And you still can't see him.

FocusZing

A couple of glasses of wine and it seems to make more sense.