TDF 2019, Stage 20: Albertville > Val Thorens 27/07/2019 - 130 km *Spoilers*
blazing_saddles
Posts: 22,725
TDF 2019, Stage 20: Albertville > Val Thorens 27/07/2019 - 130 km
Stage 20 on the Tour de France is explosive material. Merely 130 kilometres long and featuring 4,450 vertical metres, the route runs from Albertville to a summit finish in Val Thorens. Albertville hosted four stage starts – in the Tour de Frances of 1998, 2012, 2016 and 2018. Last year’s stage traveled to La Rosière and was won by Geraint Thomas ahead of Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome. So the final GC podium in Paris.
The long 33.4km climb to Val Thorens has only been used once before, in 1994, on that day Nelson Rodriguez of Colombia won, the climb is not so steep, but is very long. There are two climbs before the monster to Val Thorens; the Cormet de Roseland (1,968m) and the Côte de Longfoy (1,190).
The opener is flat, but it doesn’t take long for the road to point upward. Shallow gradients at first but then it kicks up until the riders reach the Cormet de Roselend at kilometre 36. The ascent is a proper way to get into the groove of the last mountain stage of this year’s Tour de France, as it climbs for 19.9 kilometres at 6.6%.
The route descends to Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs and after a flat section of some 10 kilometres the Côte de Longefoy appears – 6.6 kilometres at 6.5%. At kilometre 77 the summit is reached, but the downhill starts 4 kilometres later.
A short section in the valley leads to the last climb of the 2019 Tour de France. The road starts to rise in Moûtiers and continues to do so for quite a while. The Val Thorens climb is 33.4 kilometres at 5.5%, although that statistic is biased by a number of downhills on the way to Europe’s highest ski resort (2,365 metres). The steepest kilometre slopes at 9.1% and is located 5 kilometres before the finish.
Val Thorens high altitude finish was included only once. In 1994, Colombian Nelson Rodriguez climbed to victory on the hors catégorie slopes.
The 20th stage of the 2019 Tour de France starts at 13.45 and the race is expected to finish around 17.45 – both are local times.
Favourites 20th stage 2019 Tour de France
The 20th stage is the last chance for GC riders. Whether to move up in the top 10 or to attack the maillot jaune, it has to happen on the road to Val Thorens. How the race unfolds depends on the GC situation after stage 19, so this list is subject to change.
*** Steven Kruijswijk, Geraint Thomas, Thibaut Pinot, Egan Bernal
** Mikel Landa, Rigoberto Uran, Simon Yates, Nairo Quintana, Emanuel Buchmann
* Bauke Mollema, Vincenzo Nibali, Romain Bardet, Richie Porte
Albertville
Four previous stages
Population: 19,714, 62,284 in for the Arlysère agglomeration community
For a long time, Tour riders would just cross Albertville to access the valleys of the Tarentaise or Beaufortain, but recently they stopped here regularly since it will be the third visit of the pack in four years. The first two allowed the French to shine. In 2012, Pierre Rolland took advantage of the dynamic format of the stage to win at La Toussuire-Les Sybelles. In 2016, Romain Bardet staged a show of strength in the finale to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to grab the stage and the second place in the overall standings. Finally, last year, it was in La Rosière that Geraint Thomas seized the yellow jersey that he kept all the way to Paris.
Specialties: diots (sausages), polenta. Beaufort cheese region, Bauges tome, Savoy wines from Albertville vines (white & red).
On the Route:
Km 15 - Beaufort.
Beaufort (Pop: 2,060)
Overlooking the Doron, the vestiges of the château de Beaufort, built on the site of a Roman villa, reflect the long history of the village. Home of the Beaufort lords, the King of France and the House of Savoy, the castle has been inhabited since the 16th century by religious congregations. Beaufort is also famous for giving its names to a famous cheese.
Beaufort cheese
Dubbed the Prince of Gruyères, Beaufort is a smooth, ivory to pale yellow cheese with a fruity taste of extreme finesse. This cooked pressed cheese is made from the milk of the purebred cows or Abundance populating the mountain pastures in the summer. More than 10 kilos of milk are needed to get a kilo of Beaufort. Once demoulded, the cheese is refined in a cellar for 5 to 12 months, regularly returned and rubbed with a mixture of salt and cheese crust called "morge". If the monks and farmers of the region have always produced cheese, the Beaufort appeared towards the end of the 17th century. Highly esteemed in the middle of the 18th century, it found its definite identity around 1860, when two local carpenters invented the circles of wood that wrap it.
Km 36
Cormet de Roselend (1,968 m)
Linking the Beaufortain Valley to the Mont-Blanc massif, Cormet de Roselend has been ridden 11 times by Tour riders since 1979. The latest rider to lead the race at the top was Warren Barguil in 2018.
Val Thorens
One previous stage
Population: 300. 3,525 in the town of Les Belleville
The Tour de France already climbed to the top of the highest ski resort in Europe in 1994. At the end of an eventful stage, Colombian Nelson Rodriguez outsprinted breakaway companion Piotr Urgumov of Latvia. The long climb to Val Thorens claimed a heavy toll as 68 riders missed the time cut before being allowed back in contention. Nelson Rodriguez, aka "Cacaïto", never repeated his success in the Tarentaise resort and the year 1994, when he took 6th place in the Giro, remains by far his best.
Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world for the fifth time in November 2018, a distinction received at the World Ski Awards held in Kitzbühel. With 1.8 million votes, it beat other world famous resorts like Kitzbühel or Verbier. Val Thorens was also voted best French resort for the sixth time in a row.
Specialties: rissoles and serac cheese from Pepe Nicolas (bread with thick crust), Beaufort, goat cheese Tomme and sheep, blueberry tart valthorinoises,
sweet farçon (applesauce), Génépi.
Stage 20 on the Tour de France is explosive material. Merely 130 kilometres long and featuring 4,450 vertical metres, the route runs from Albertville to a summit finish in Val Thorens. Albertville hosted four stage starts – in the Tour de Frances of 1998, 2012, 2016 and 2018. Last year’s stage traveled to La Rosière and was won by Geraint Thomas ahead of Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome. So the final GC podium in Paris.
The long 33.4km climb to Val Thorens has only been used once before, in 1994, on that day Nelson Rodriguez of Colombia won, the climb is not so steep, but is very long. There are two climbs before the monster to Val Thorens; the Cormet de Roseland (1,968m) and the Côte de Longfoy (1,190).
The opener is flat, but it doesn’t take long for the road to point upward. Shallow gradients at first but then it kicks up until the riders reach the Cormet de Roselend at kilometre 36. The ascent is a proper way to get into the groove of the last mountain stage of this year’s Tour de France, as it climbs for 19.9 kilometres at 6.6%.
The route descends to Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs and after a flat section of some 10 kilometres the Côte de Longefoy appears – 6.6 kilometres at 6.5%. At kilometre 77 the summit is reached, but the downhill starts 4 kilometres later.
A short section in the valley leads to the last climb of the 2019 Tour de France. The road starts to rise in Moûtiers and continues to do so for quite a while. The Val Thorens climb is 33.4 kilometres at 5.5%, although that statistic is biased by a number of downhills on the way to Europe’s highest ski resort (2,365 metres). The steepest kilometre slopes at 9.1% and is located 5 kilometres before the finish.
Val Thorens high altitude finish was included only once. In 1994, Colombian Nelson Rodriguez climbed to victory on the hors catégorie slopes.
The 20th stage of the 2019 Tour de France starts at 13.45 and the race is expected to finish around 17.45 – both are local times.
Favourites 20th stage 2019 Tour de France
The 20th stage is the last chance for GC riders. Whether to move up in the top 10 or to attack the maillot jaune, it has to happen on the road to Val Thorens. How the race unfolds depends on the GC situation after stage 19, so this list is subject to change.
*** Steven Kruijswijk, Geraint Thomas, Thibaut Pinot, Egan Bernal
** Mikel Landa, Rigoberto Uran, Simon Yates, Nairo Quintana, Emanuel Buchmann
* Bauke Mollema, Vincenzo Nibali, Romain Bardet, Richie Porte
Albertville
Four previous stages
Population: 19,714, 62,284 in for the Arlysère agglomeration community
For a long time, Tour riders would just cross Albertville to access the valleys of the Tarentaise or Beaufortain, but recently they stopped here regularly since it will be the third visit of the pack in four years. The first two allowed the French to shine. In 2012, Pierre Rolland took advantage of the dynamic format of the stage to win at La Toussuire-Les Sybelles. In 2016, Romain Bardet staged a show of strength in the finale to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to grab the stage and the second place in the overall standings. Finally, last year, it was in La Rosière that Geraint Thomas seized the yellow jersey that he kept all the way to Paris.
Specialties: diots (sausages), polenta. Beaufort cheese region, Bauges tome, Savoy wines from Albertville vines (white & red).
On the Route:
Km 15 - Beaufort.
Beaufort (Pop: 2,060)
Overlooking the Doron, the vestiges of the château de Beaufort, built on the site of a Roman villa, reflect the long history of the village. Home of the Beaufort lords, the King of France and the House of Savoy, the castle has been inhabited since the 16th century by religious congregations. Beaufort is also famous for giving its names to a famous cheese.
Beaufort cheese
Dubbed the Prince of Gruyères, Beaufort is a smooth, ivory to pale yellow cheese with a fruity taste of extreme finesse. This cooked pressed cheese is made from the milk of the purebred cows or Abundance populating the mountain pastures in the summer. More than 10 kilos of milk are needed to get a kilo of Beaufort. Once demoulded, the cheese is refined in a cellar for 5 to 12 months, regularly returned and rubbed with a mixture of salt and cheese crust called "morge". If the monks and farmers of the region have always produced cheese, the Beaufort appeared towards the end of the 17th century. Highly esteemed in the middle of the 18th century, it found its definite identity around 1860, when two local carpenters invented the circles of wood that wrap it.
Km 36
Cormet de Roselend (1,968 m)
Linking the Beaufortain Valley to the Mont-Blanc massif, Cormet de Roselend has been ridden 11 times by Tour riders since 1979. The latest rider to lead the race at the top was Warren Barguil in 2018.
Val Thorens
One previous stage
Population: 300. 3,525 in the town of Les Belleville
The Tour de France already climbed to the top of the highest ski resort in Europe in 1994. At the end of an eventful stage, Colombian Nelson Rodriguez outsprinted breakaway companion Piotr Urgumov of Latvia. The long climb to Val Thorens claimed a heavy toll as 68 riders missed the time cut before being allowed back in contention. Nelson Rodriguez, aka "Cacaïto", never repeated his success in the Tarentaise resort and the year 1994, when he took 6th place in the Giro, remains by far his best.
Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world for the fifth time in November 2018, a distinction received at the World Ski Awards held in Kitzbühel. With 1.8 million votes, it beat other world famous resorts like Kitzbühel or Verbier. Val Thorens was also voted best French resort for the sixth time in a row.
Specialties: rissoles and serac cheese from Pepe Nicolas (bread with thick crust), Beaufort, goat cheese Tomme and sheep, blueberry tart valthorinoises,
sweet farçon (applesauce), Génépi.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
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Comments
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*deleted*0
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Blazing Saddles wrote:Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world
:shock: :shock:We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
Just want to take this opportunity to thank BS for all these threads. As ever, they’ve been fantastic. Large amounts of hat to you sir!0
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It took 4 hours for me to do this climb in about 2008... in car... after a dump of 30cm of snow during the day."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0
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I wonder will Kwiatkowski and Moscon drop off at 15kms to buy some cheese for the team?
At least it would be a contribution."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:I wonder will Kwiatkowski and Moscon drop off at 15kms to buy some cheese for the team?
At least it would be a contribution.
Got some of that lovely Beaufort from the Laitiere in the town last week. Good place to stop...0 -
lettingthedaysgoby wrote:Just want to take this opportunity to thank BS for all these threads. As ever, they’ve been fantastic. Large amounts of hat to you sir!
^^^what he said0 -
Alan Ha Ha wrote:lettingthedaysgoby wrote:Just want to take this opportunity to thank BS for all these threads. As ever, they’ve been fantastic. Large amounts of hat to you sir!
^^^what he said
21 enormous hats to BS.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
Yeah, that's nonsense.ddraver wrote:Blazing Saddles wrote:Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world
:shock: :shock:0 -
bobmcstuff wrote:
Yeah, that's nonsense.ddraver wrote:Blazing Saddles wrote:Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world
:shock: :shock:
Well that's the ASO for you."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:I wonder will Kwiatkowski and Moscon drop off at 15kms to buy some cheese for the team?
At least it would be a contribution.
Nah some Genepi, but not that green stuff, the clearer the better.
Have a bottle of the good stuff for these fantastic thread starters!
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Sorry, I've missed something, what does it have to do with ASO?Blazing Saddles wrote:bobmcstuff wrote:
Yeah, that's nonsense.ddraver wrote:Blazing Saddles wrote:Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world
:shock: :shock:
Well that's the ASO for you.
I'm sure it won the award but there is no way Val Thorens is the best ski resort in the world (or in France either, but probably a bit more debate on that one).
It's got no trees so theres nowhere to ski in bad weather/vis for a start.0 -
I almost can't bear to watch the stage tomorrow, the excitement is going to be unbearable.0
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My plan is to record the stage and then somehow ignore all spoilers.
That will be difficult as Google has been spying on me too much and gives me news updates all the time. Also if Thomas was to win (probably unlikely) I am sure BBC would also decide to send a breaking news notification. In fact they might do this anyway. Aaaaaaa!0 -
bobmcstuff wrote:
Sorry, I've missed something, what does it have to do with ASO?Blazing Saddles wrote:bobmcstuff wrote:
Yeah, that's nonsense.ddraver wrote:Blazing Saddles wrote:Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world
:shock: :shock:
Well that's the ASO for you.
I'm sure it won the award but there is no way Val Thorens is the best ski resort in the world (or in France either, but probably a bit more debate on that one).
It's got no trees so theres nowhere to ski in bad weather/vis for a start.
I thought you meant they hadn't won the award. The info came from the Tour website, hence the ASO..."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
hypster wrote:I almost can't bear to watch the stage tomorrow, the excitement is going to be unbearable.
There is rain forecast for here (and that usually means landslides) so I think I'll get to watch it.
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Above The Cows wrote:hypster wrote:I almost can't bear to watch the stage tomorrow, the excitement is going to be unbearable.
There is rain forecast for here (and that usually means landslides) so I think I'll get to watch it.
You already had them, the road to Grenoble has been blocked since this morning.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
Instagramme0 -
G to attack. Bernal to follow. When will it happen?0
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Blazing Saddles wrote:bobmcstuff wrote:
Sorry, I've missed something, what does it have to do with ASO?Blazing Saddles wrote:bobmcstuff wrote:
Yeah, that's nonsense.ddraver wrote:Blazing Saddles wrote:Val Thorens was voted best ski resort in the world
:shock: :shock:
Well that's the ASO for you.
I'm sure it won the award but there is no way Val Thorens is the best ski resort in the world (or in France either, but probably a bit more debate on that one).
It's got no trees so theres nowhere to ski in bad weather/vis for a start.
I thought you meant they hadn't won the award. The info came from the Tour website, hence the ASO...
Ah yeah, no I think me and ddraver were questioning the idea that VT is the best ski resort in the world because it patently isn't!0 -
If you can bear to watch it, then the excitement can't be unbearable surelyhypster wrote:I almost can't bear to watch the stage tomorrow, the excitement is going to be unbearable.
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bobmcstuff wrote:My plan is to record the stage and then somehow ignore all spoilers.
That will be difficult as Google has been spying on me too much and gives me news updates all the time. Also if Thomas was to win (probably unlikely) I am sure BBC would also decide to send a breaking news notification. In fact they might do this anyway. Aaaaaaa!
Oh FFS. We really don't need another stage stopped by the weather.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6gmb0rWarning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
bobmcstuff wrote:
If you can bear to watch it, then the excitement can't be unbearable surelyhypster wrote:I almost can't bear to watch the stage tomorrow, the excitement is going to be unbearable.
You're right! But don't call me Shirley. 0 -
Right then, what are we expecting?
More Movistar Madness?
Ineos Interloper Incineration?
Kruijswijk Cruise Control?
Bora Buchmann Bomb?
It's short and it goes straight up. Sprint after just 11km.
Alaphilippe probably unexpectedly (to him) still on the podium. More valiant attempt to stay in touch, but who will make the race now Ineos are in defence mode?Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
G goes all in. Bernal to defend jersey.0
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Non-GC threats such as Bardet and Yates (S) will be allowed to go in a breakaway. Thomas and Bernal will cover all GC threats from Kruijswijk, Buchmann et al and finish in the GC bunch. Alaphilippe will come in several minutes down playing up to the crowd as the plucky loser.0
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INRNG twitter:
Stage 20 route change, landslide blocks the Cormet de Roselend. Route could still start in Albertville but take main valley road to Moûtiers, skipping Cormet and the Col du Tra0 -
Moutiers is a dump0
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Landslides on the descent of the Cormet de Roseland so it, and the second cat climb, are out.0
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Blazing Saddles wrote:Colombian Nelson Rodriguez outsprinted breakaway companion Piotr Urgumov of Latvia.
that was the biggest wheelsuck in history Nelson stuck to ugramovs wheel for the entire stage as piotr went long
didn't come through once. nelson never won anything ever again i think?
got a lot of stick... strange day that was. the gruppetto came in way way way outside the limit by a big margin.
Rolf Sorenson manfully fought to make the cut and was miffed when they reinstated them.. if they hadn't only about 70 riders would have made it to Paris
rolf was super annoyed the next day not being able to make the fight to get into the transition day break which was made up with riders who came in outside the time limit at Val Thorens"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0
