TDF 2018, Stage 15: Millau > Carcassonne 22/07/2018 - 181,5 km *Spoilers*
blazing_saddles
Posts: 21,812
Millau > Carcassonne 22/07/2018 - Stage 15 - 181,5 km
In its 15th stage the Tour de France sets sail for the Pyrenees. At 181.5 kilometres, the race runs from Millau to Carcassonne, which is the gateway to the last days of action in the high mountains. Three intermediate climbs before an mega-long descent leads to a finale on the flat.
The riders start near the Millau Viaduct, which is the tallest cable-stayed road bridge in the world, and set off for a hilly stage with the Col de Sié and Pic de Nore standing out.
Shortly after the start the peloton is offered to stretch the legs on the Côte de Luzençon, while others may want to use the hill as a launch platform to take. The 3.1 kilometres climb at 5.9% is crested at kilometre 9.
The route continues on rolling roads until the Col de Sié appears at kilometre 54. It is a 10.2 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 4.9%. The first half is steepest, while the second half features some flat sections.
A long drop – yet, with intermediate uphill stretches – takes the riders to the foot of the Pic de Nore. The first 7 kilometres are averaging 7.5%, while the seventh kilometer is steepest at 9.4%. The next 4 kilometres go up at 5.4%, while the climb flattens out to a false flat just before the summit, which is crested with 41.5 kilometres left to race. A mega-long plunge runs to 6 kilometres on the flat before the ultimate kilometre once again is a false flat.
The last time the Tour de France visited Carcassonne was in 2016. The 11th stage left here for a stormy race on the roads to Montpellier. Chris Froome and Peter Sagan attacked in the finale with the World Champion winning the stage honours and the Briton putting some time into his opponents.
The 15th stage of the 2018 Tour de France starts at 13:20 and the finish is expected around 17:47cet.
Millau
Five previous stages
Sub-prefecture of Aveyron (12)
23,000 inhabitants (Millavois)
30,000 inhabitants for the 15 communes of the Millau Grands Causses community of communes
2,460 m long and 343 m high at its highest point, the Viaduct of Millau, on which runs the A75 motorway, stands majestically above the Tarn valley. Commissioned in December 2004, it receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year: tourists, architecture enthusiasts or simple motorists. The collaboration between engineer Michel Virlogeux and architect Norman Foster was a tremendous success: the Viaduct is today hailed as a major architectural work of the 21st century. The cable-stayed viaduct solution was adopted in 1996 from four other projects. The first stone was laid on December 14, 2001. After a few weeks, the first piles of the viaduct rose and reached the world record fort the highest pile, hung at 245 m. The concrete works ended in December 2003. Two open pit sites were being run in parallel to prepare the deck. On February 25, 2003, a first section of 171 metres was lifted and stood on its own above the void. Seventeen more similar operations followed until the junction of the northern and southern parts of the deck in May 2004, an operation carried out 270 metres above the Tarn. The installation of the pillars began the next day, followed by that of 154 stays to support the deck. On December 14, the building was inaugurated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. On December 16, 2004, the viaduct was open to the public.
MILLAU AND CYCLING
While Ferdi Kubler won the first of five Tour de France stages held in Millau in 1954, the sub-prefecture of Aveyron earned worldwide fame fifty years later with the inauguration of the highest viaduct in the world. The peloton since paid several visits to the huge building by riding along the Tarn that the gigantic bridge dominates by 230 metres. This year, the race will go beneath the viaduct. While the Tour did not stop in town since 1990, Millau was a regular stage of races like the defunct Grand prix du Midi Libre with victories by the likes of Jan Janssen, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Thévenet, Francesco Moser or Claude Criquiélion. On the Tour, the last stage winner was indefatigable Spaniard Marino Lejarreta, 5th overall that year like in 1989. The Basque rider, who won the Vuelta in 1982, took part in 27 Grand Tours and rode the three of them the same year four times.
Specialities: aligot, estofinade (dry fish and potato mash), Roquefort, Fleur d’Aubrac (beef), Aveyron veal, spit cake, farçous, truffade (cheese and potato mash), fouace, soleil de Marcillac (cakes), tripes (guts), trénels (pork guts and carrots), cheese soup, flaune, échaudés (dry pastry)…
Flaune of Millau.
Carcassonne
9 previous stages
Prefecture in the Aude (11)
47,550 inhabitants (Carcassonnais)
110,555 inhabitants within the 82 communes comprising the Carcassonne municipality
Carcassonne celebrates in 2018 the 20 years of its inscription as a World Heritage site. Twenty years ago, the city was celebrating the centenary of the “Embrasement”, a huge fireworks setting the medieval town alight every year on July 14. Located on the right bank of the river Aude, the fortified city is unique in Europe by its size and its state of preservation with its 52 towers and barbicans stretching over three kilometres of rampart. Its history is marked by 2,000 years of conquest and the imprint of the Cathars and the Crusades. Every year in July a major music festival takes place in the fortified city. Sting, Massive Attack, Shakaponk, Julien Clerc, Moby, Jamiroquai were among the artists to take part in it.
CARCASSONNE AND CYCLING
Among the riders who shone in Carcassonne, Jean Stablinski won a stage in 1962, one of his best seasons with a Vuelta stage win as well as a French and a world champion title. Recent starts given in Carcassonne proved favourable to aggressive riders of various pedigrees. In 2014, on the road to Bagneres-de-Luchon, Australian Michael Rogers attacked from afar to snatch his singles victory on the Tour. Two years later, Chris Froome and Peter Sagan broke clear in the finale on the outskirts of Montpellier. The Slovakian had the final say.
While Carcassonne is noted for its spectacular fireworks on Bastille Day, Albert Bourlon celebrated July 14 three days early in 1947 by surging from the start of a stage in the medieval city never to be seen again by the rest of the peloton before the finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon. Gone to snatch a bonus, the former worker at a Renault plant in Paris went all the way, staying on his own for 253 km for what remains the longest solitary breakaway in the history of the Tour. He reached Luchon with a 16 minutes lead over the pack.
“I didn’t go for the stage. I was quite happy with the bonuses which were already twice as much as my monthly salary,” he said. It was also a revenge for this humble rider, who had been left out of the rankings a couple of days before by the race jury.
“You saw me this time?” he shouted to a race official at the finish. Thanks to this feat, he finished the Tour in 21st position at the age of 30. It was the only major victory of a man who definitely left the field in October 2013 at the age of 96.
Specialities: cassoulet, petit carcassonnais (madeleine), Micheline, Or Kina (herbs liquor). Wines of Aude: Minervois, Cabardes, Corbières, Malepère, Limoux …
In its 15th stage the Tour de France sets sail for the Pyrenees. At 181.5 kilometres, the race runs from Millau to Carcassonne, which is the gateway to the last days of action in the high mountains. Three intermediate climbs before an mega-long descent leads to a finale on the flat.
The riders start near the Millau Viaduct, which is the tallest cable-stayed road bridge in the world, and set off for a hilly stage with the Col de Sié and Pic de Nore standing out.
Shortly after the start the peloton is offered to stretch the legs on the Côte de Luzençon, while others may want to use the hill as a launch platform to take. The 3.1 kilometres climb at 5.9% is crested at kilometre 9.
The route continues on rolling roads until the Col de Sié appears at kilometre 54. It is a 10.2 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 4.9%. The first half is steepest, while the second half features some flat sections.
A long drop – yet, with intermediate uphill stretches – takes the riders to the foot of the Pic de Nore. The first 7 kilometres are averaging 7.5%, while the seventh kilometer is steepest at 9.4%. The next 4 kilometres go up at 5.4%, while the climb flattens out to a false flat just before the summit, which is crested with 41.5 kilometres left to race. A mega-long plunge runs to 6 kilometres on the flat before the ultimate kilometre once again is a false flat.
The last time the Tour de France visited Carcassonne was in 2016. The 11th stage left here for a stormy race on the roads to Montpellier. Chris Froome and Peter Sagan attacked in the finale with the World Champion winning the stage honours and the Briton putting some time into his opponents.
The 15th stage of the 2018 Tour de France starts at 13:20 and the finish is expected around 17:47cet.
Millau
Five previous stages
Sub-prefecture of Aveyron (12)
23,000 inhabitants (Millavois)
30,000 inhabitants for the 15 communes of the Millau Grands Causses community of communes
2,460 m long and 343 m high at its highest point, the Viaduct of Millau, on which runs the A75 motorway, stands majestically above the Tarn valley. Commissioned in December 2004, it receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year: tourists, architecture enthusiasts or simple motorists. The collaboration between engineer Michel Virlogeux and architect Norman Foster was a tremendous success: the Viaduct is today hailed as a major architectural work of the 21st century. The cable-stayed viaduct solution was adopted in 1996 from four other projects. The first stone was laid on December 14, 2001. After a few weeks, the first piles of the viaduct rose and reached the world record fort the highest pile, hung at 245 m. The concrete works ended in December 2003. Two open pit sites were being run in parallel to prepare the deck. On February 25, 2003, a first section of 171 metres was lifted and stood on its own above the void. Seventeen more similar operations followed until the junction of the northern and southern parts of the deck in May 2004, an operation carried out 270 metres above the Tarn. The installation of the pillars began the next day, followed by that of 154 stays to support the deck. On December 14, the building was inaugurated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. On December 16, 2004, the viaduct was open to the public.
MILLAU AND CYCLING
While Ferdi Kubler won the first of five Tour de France stages held in Millau in 1954, the sub-prefecture of Aveyron earned worldwide fame fifty years later with the inauguration of the highest viaduct in the world. The peloton since paid several visits to the huge building by riding along the Tarn that the gigantic bridge dominates by 230 metres. This year, the race will go beneath the viaduct. While the Tour did not stop in town since 1990, Millau was a regular stage of races like the defunct Grand prix du Midi Libre with victories by the likes of Jan Janssen, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Thévenet, Francesco Moser or Claude Criquiélion. On the Tour, the last stage winner was indefatigable Spaniard Marino Lejarreta, 5th overall that year like in 1989. The Basque rider, who won the Vuelta in 1982, took part in 27 Grand Tours and rode the three of them the same year four times.
Specialities: aligot, estofinade (dry fish and potato mash), Roquefort, Fleur d’Aubrac (beef), Aveyron veal, spit cake, farçous, truffade (cheese and potato mash), fouace, soleil de Marcillac (cakes), tripes (guts), trénels (pork guts and carrots), cheese soup, flaune, échaudés (dry pastry)…
Flaune of Millau.
Carcassonne
9 previous stages
Prefecture in the Aude (11)
47,550 inhabitants (Carcassonnais)
110,555 inhabitants within the 82 communes comprising the Carcassonne municipality
Carcassonne celebrates in 2018 the 20 years of its inscription as a World Heritage site. Twenty years ago, the city was celebrating the centenary of the “Embrasement”, a huge fireworks setting the medieval town alight every year on July 14. Located on the right bank of the river Aude, the fortified city is unique in Europe by its size and its state of preservation with its 52 towers and barbicans stretching over three kilometres of rampart. Its history is marked by 2,000 years of conquest and the imprint of the Cathars and the Crusades. Every year in July a major music festival takes place in the fortified city. Sting, Massive Attack, Shakaponk, Julien Clerc, Moby, Jamiroquai were among the artists to take part in it.
CARCASSONNE AND CYCLING
Among the riders who shone in Carcassonne, Jean Stablinski won a stage in 1962, one of his best seasons with a Vuelta stage win as well as a French and a world champion title. Recent starts given in Carcassonne proved favourable to aggressive riders of various pedigrees. In 2014, on the road to Bagneres-de-Luchon, Australian Michael Rogers attacked from afar to snatch his singles victory on the Tour. Two years later, Chris Froome and Peter Sagan broke clear in the finale on the outskirts of Montpellier. The Slovakian had the final say.
While Carcassonne is noted for its spectacular fireworks on Bastille Day, Albert Bourlon celebrated July 14 three days early in 1947 by surging from the start of a stage in the medieval city never to be seen again by the rest of the peloton before the finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon. Gone to snatch a bonus, the former worker at a Renault plant in Paris went all the way, staying on his own for 253 km for what remains the longest solitary breakaway in the history of the Tour. He reached Luchon with a 16 minutes lead over the pack.
“I didn’t go for the stage. I was quite happy with the bonuses which were already twice as much as my monthly salary,” he said. It was also a revenge for this humble rider, who had been left out of the rankings a couple of days before by the race jury.
“You saw me this time?” he shouted to a race official at the finish. Thanks to this feat, he finished the Tour in 21st position at the age of 30. It was the only major victory of a man who definitely left the field in October 2013 at the age of 96.
Specialities: cassoulet, petit carcassonnais (madeleine), Micheline, Or Kina (herbs liquor). Wines of Aude: Minervois, Cabardes, Corbières, Malepère, Limoux …
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
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Comments
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That bridge really is magnificent.0
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I
the Millau viaduct.
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Above The Cows wrote:I the Millau viaduct.
Feelings about it may diverge when Kirby inevitably asks "whether today is a bridge too far for G, Sean?"0 -
underlayunderlay wrote:Above The Cows wrote:I the Millau viaduct.
Feelings about it may diverge when Kirby inevitably asks "whether today is a bridge too far for G, Sean?"
Correlation is not causation.0 -
The viaduct is a superb bit of engineering. should be a good stage0
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Drove over that viaduct a couple of weeks ago travelling down to the Pyrenees from near Claremont Ferrand - think it's about a 12 euro toll each way just for the viaduct. I'm sure it's impressive but you don't really get the impression of height when you are on it - the sight of two vultures flying low over the motorway a bit further up was far more memorable.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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from the town with Le Viaduc to the town restored by Viollet-Le-DucBlazing Saddles wrote:In its 15th stage the Tour de France sets sail for the Pyrenees. At 181.5 kilometres, the race runs from Millau to Carcassonne
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That's why ag2r have been shipping riders. They can't afford to pay the toll for the entire team.DeVlaeminck wrote:Drove over that viaduct a couple of weeks ago travelling down to the Pyrenees from near Claremont Ferrand - think it's about a 12 euro toll each way just for the viaduct. I'm sure it's impressive but you don't really get the impression of height when you are on it - the sight of two vultures flying low over the motorway a bit further up was far more memorable.Team My Man 2022:
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet0 -
DeVlaeminck wrote:Drove over that viaduct a couple of weeks ago travelling down to the Pyrenees from near Claremont Ferrand - think it's about a 12 euro toll each way just for the viaduct. I'm sure it's impressive but you don't really get the impression of height when you are on it - the sight of two vultures flying low over the motorway a bit further up was far more memorable.
Oh no, hope there’s no vultures circling today or it will be the cue for another Kirbyism!0 -
Mmm...spit cake and tripeEcrasez l’infame0
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So, is this stage going to be a stinker as far as the race for yellow is concerned?
If not, who will light it up? Another hail Mary attack from LottoNL-Jumbo? Can't see anyone else having the legs, team or position on GC to worry Sky.
Froome to go for it Giro style in an attempt to gain the time he needs on TD and Geraint? Or will he wait until after the rest day?Team My Man 2022:
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet0 -
It should be another huge break because you'd think this one would stick - that could make it a hard day for Sky if someone within 15 minutes on GC slipped in there which admittedly isn't likely to happen. In the absence of that you'd expect Sky to have the riders to control it on the final climb and any GC action to be some of those already struggling to go out the back and ship a bit more time though if the GC aren't pushing on you'd have to crack badly not to get back on the descent.
Should be a great run in for the stage win though.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
For the GC looking forwards I'm thinking Roglic can use the descents of the Aubisque or Portillon, though I don't know either so depends on how technical they are and the weather. He seems to be is decent form too.
I reckon Froome will be looking at the Portet as it's a monster and if he can get clear the potential for him to ride into yellow is there - then if he needs to gamble the last mountain stage offers the terrain for a long ranger. Thomas looks like he's going to ride defensively and I guess Dumoulin with he weakness in his team will have to keep testing the others react and attack if an opponent shows weakness.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
This loos like the sort of stage where AG2R would have tried something last year. Can't see it happening this year, with them down to 5 riders though.
Outside bet for excitement (do NOT put money on this unless you want to lose it): Sunweb put two riders in the break, Søren Kragh leads an attack for Dumoulin over the top/on the descent to join up with them and TTT the hell out of the flat finish. It would only work if the race was already hard and at least one of Froome/Thomas looked in poor shape on the final climb.
About the only positive thing is that this is before the rest day, so there might be a little more risk taken with expenditure of effort.
Main interest is likely to be seeing how a large break fights for the stage winWarning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
If they had a bit more time I'd have expected Movistar to try for a stage win, but I can't see them being allowed off the leash by either Sky or Sunweb.0
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Thinking about this, Dumoulin must be reasonably happy about the position he's in.
11 secs down on Froome, only an 'untested' Thomas further ahead, Nibali and Porte out, and the field starting to slip back.“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
I think if anything is going to happen, GC wise, it's going to be in the last 30kms where there is the potential for tail, crosswinds."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0
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Demare already in trouble and slipping out the back.Correlation is not causation.0
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Yates looking for the break today, Valgren as well.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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Rowe on a late bid for Lanterne victory.Correlation is not causation.0
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My notes from the Portillon.DeVlaeminck wrote:For the GC looking forwards I'm thinking Roglic can use the descents of the Aubisque or Portillon, though I don't know either so depends on how technical they are and the weather. He seems to be is decent form too.
I reckon Froome will be looking at the Portet as it's a monster and if he can get clear the potential for him to ride into yellow is there - then if he needs to gamble the last mountain stage offers the terrain for a long ranger. Thomas looks like he's going to ride defensively and I guess Dumoulin with he weakness in his team will have to keep testing the others react and attack if an opponent shows weakness.
Col Du Portillon -
8.5km, 583m, 7.2% average,
1293m summit.
Nice long climb with some views and a beautiful surface. Brilliant descent. Nice waterfalls near the bottom.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Sagan looks interested as well. Pozzovivo has also had a peek.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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Greipel leaving Lotto confirmed.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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Yates, Barguil and Mühlburger have a few seconds, but peloton isn't finished yet.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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Think there are loads of riders today threatened with losing dessert privileges if they don't get in the break.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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KLAXON...?Correlation is not causation.0
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Ah nee, short lived chance. Some hills got in the way of the crosswinds.Correlation is not causation.0
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Above The Cows wrote:KLAXON...?
Nah, it's just Sky dropping wheels en masse to try and let a break go.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
Such a fast start!..0
