TDF 2023: Stage 15: - Les Gets to Saint Gervais, 180km ***Spoilers***
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Stage 15: - Les Gets to Saint Gervais, 180km
Sunday, July 16
Start Time: 12-05pmBST.
The 15th stage of Le Tour is a race with five KOM climbs and an elevation gain of over 4,500 metres.
The race opens in Les Gets, a village in the Portes du Soleil ski area, and following a series of no less than four, unclassified climbs – which should inspire a furious battle for the breakaway, the real climbing begin.
It’s been seven years since Le Tour last visited the ski resort in the shadow of Mont Blanc.
Between this first and the last climb, however, there are three more tough climbs, the Col de la Forclaz, Croix Fry and Col des Aravis, which will take their toll and could lead to some surprises. The two-part final climb begins with the Côte des Amerands with steep sections of up to 17 percent and an average gradient approaching 11 percent.
The stage winner in Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc succeeds Thierry Claveyrolat (1990), Rolf Jaermann (1992), and Romain Bardet (2016). The Frenchman attacked seven years ago from the lead group with 3 kilometres to go.
The Climbs.
Col de la Forclaz de Montmin: A 7.2 kilometres climb at 7.3%
The Col de la Croix Fry (11.3 kilometres at 7%)
Côte des Amerands (2.7 kilometres at 10.9%)
Final Kms.
The route then levels out for a bit, only to continue vertical again for 7 kilometres at 7.7%.
What to Expect.
Drama.
The route lends itself perfectly for a grand battle between the GC stars, although a successful breakaway is always a possibility in cycling.
Les Gets
Stage town for the first time
Population: 1,230
Between Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, Les Gets will be the starting town for the Tour de France 2023 for the first time in its history. Les Gets is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The village's first single-person chair lift was opened in 1938 with the first chair lift on Mont Chéry in 1954.
LES GETS AND CYCLING
The Tour de France has often ridden through Les Gets, notably during the stages finishing in the neighbouring resort of Morzine but the race had never set up its village and its barriers for a proper stage in the village. It is now the case and it was about time since the Critérium du Dauphiné already stopped there three times in the past. In 2016, Alberto Contador won the prologue of the race for his last time trial victory at this level. And in 2021, it was Ukrainian Mark Padun who won one of his two stages in this edition in Les Gets.
Gastronomy.
Raclette.
The word 'raclette' comes from the French verb racler, meaning to scrape. It's an allusion to the way in which the melted cheese is scraped from the half-wheel once it's been held up to a heating apparatus. Like fondue, raclette is a typical après-ski or post-ski meal invented in Switzerland. Traditionally, the cheese would be held up to the fire to get it nice and melty.
For a traditional raclette, diners first assemble a variety of ingredients onto which the cheese is to be scraped. At the very least, this includes boiled potatoes, but most of the time, various types of ham are also on offer. Small cornichon pickles and white onions complete the dish and add a welcome bit of vinegar to cut through the fat.
Saint Gervais Mont-Blanc.
Nestled at the foot of Mont-Blanc, in the Haute Savoie region of France, the village boasts a past rich in history and natural heritage whilst looking to the future. Saint-Gervais acquired an international reputation from the 19th century onwards and rapidly became a prestigious tourist destination with its palaces, its parks and its casino. The resort of Saint-Gervais is home to the Mont-Blanc and the most direct route of access to its summit; a summit that dominates its four villages, its two ski areas and its thermal baths.
SAINT-GERVAIS AND CYCLING
In 2016, Romain Bardet won the 19th stage of the Tour de France in Saint-Gervais to restore France's pride with two days to go before the finish line in Paris, where he finished runner-up behind Chris Froome. The Tour stopped for the first time in Saint-Gervais in 1990, where the late Thierry Claveyrolat won after a solo breakaway of nearly 70 kilometres. It was the first victory in the Tour of the Eagle of Vizille, who took the polka-dot jersey at the same time, which he finally kept all the way to Paris. Ronan Pensec was the other rider to make the best of this stage as he took the Yellow Jersey on his 27th birthday. The Breton rider only kept it for two days. More recently, Christopher Froome won the 2015 Critérium du Dauphiné in Saint-Gervais and went on to win the Tour in July.
Mont Blanc gin
It is in an old donkey shelter, rehabilitated with recycled materials, that James Abbott, a Scot turned Savoy man, founded the highest distillery in Europe, at an altitude of 1,365 m. Mont Blanc Gin is made from ingredients and plants picked in the mountains. It was developed with the help of Tom Nichol, a world-class distiller who has worked at the Tanqueray distillery for 42 years and is one of only two people to have received a Gin Guild Award of Honour.
Farcement
Hailing from the Arve valley in Haute-Savoie, farcement used to be the traditional Sunday dish. With a surprising mix of sweet and savoury, it can be served with a simple green salad. It is essentially a potato loaf with bacon and dried fruits cooked for several hours in a bain-marie. The Farcement Savoyard is made in a special mould with a chimney in the middle a “moule a farcement”. This mould looks like a larger version of a Kougelhopf mould.
Sunday, July 16
Start Time: 12-05pmBST.
The 15th stage of Le Tour is a race with five KOM climbs and an elevation gain of over 4,500 metres.
The race opens in Les Gets, a village in the Portes du Soleil ski area, and following a series of no less than four, unclassified climbs – which should inspire a furious battle for the breakaway, the real climbing begin.
It’s been seven years since Le Tour last visited the ski resort in the shadow of Mont Blanc.
Between this first and the last climb, however, there are three more tough climbs, the Col de la Forclaz, Croix Fry and Col des Aravis, which will take their toll and could lead to some surprises. The two-part final climb begins with the Côte des Amerands with steep sections of up to 17 percent and an average gradient approaching 11 percent.
The stage winner in Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc succeeds Thierry Claveyrolat (1990), Rolf Jaermann (1992), and Romain Bardet (2016). The Frenchman attacked seven years ago from the lead group with 3 kilometres to go.
The Climbs.
Col de la Forclaz de Montmin: A 7.2 kilometres climb at 7.3%
The Col de la Croix Fry (11.3 kilometres at 7%)
Côte des Amerands (2.7 kilometres at 10.9%)
Final Kms.
The route then levels out for a bit, only to continue vertical again for 7 kilometres at 7.7%.
What to Expect.
Drama.
The route lends itself perfectly for a grand battle between the GC stars, although a successful breakaway is always a possibility in cycling.
Les Gets
Stage town for the first time
Population: 1,230
Between Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, Les Gets will be the starting town for the Tour de France 2023 for the first time in its history. Les Gets is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The village's first single-person chair lift was opened in 1938 with the first chair lift on Mont Chéry in 1954.
LES GETS AND CYCLING
The Tour de France has often ridden through Les Gets, notably during the stages finishing in the neighbouring resort of Morzine but the race had never set up its village and its barriers for a proper stage in the village. It is now the case and it was about time since the Critérium du Dauphiné already stopped there three times in the past. In 2016, Alberto Contador won the prologue of the race for his last time trial victory at this level. And in 2021, it was Ukrainian Mark Padun who won one of his two stages in this edition in Les Gets.
Gastronomy.
Raclette.
The word 'raclette' comes from the French verb racler, meaning to scrape. It's an allusion to the way in which the melted cheese is scraped from the half-wheel once it's been held up to a heating apparatus. Like fondue, raclette is a typical après-ski or post-ski meal invented in Switzerland. Traditionally, the cheese would be held up to the fire to get it nice and melty.
For a traditional raclette, diners first assemble a variety of ingredients onto which the cheese is to be scraped. At the very least, this includes boiled potatoes, but most of the time, various types of ham are also on offer. Small cornichon pickles and white onions complete the dish and add a welcome bit of vinegar to cut through the fat.
Saint Gervais Mont-Blanc.
Nestled at the foot of Mont-Blanc, in the Haute Savoie region of France, the village boasts a past rich in history and natural heritage whilst looking to the future. Saint-Gervais acquired an international reputation from the 19th century onwards and rapidly became a prestigious tourist destination with its palaces, its parks and its casino. The resort of Saint-Gervais is home to the Mont-Blanc and the most direct route of access to its summit; a summit that dominates its four villages, its two ski areas and its thermal baths.
SAINT-GERVAIS AND CYCLING
In 2016, Romain Bardet won the 19th stage of the Tour de France in Saint-Gervais to restore France's pride with two days to go before the finish line in Paris, where he finished runner-up behind Chris Froome. The Tour stopped for the first time in Saint-Gervais in 1990, where the late Thierry Claveyrolat won after a solo breakaway of nearly 70 kilometres. It was the first victory in the Tour of the Eagle of Vizille, who took the polka-dot jersey at the same time, which he finally kept all the way to Paris. Ronan Pensec was the other rider to make the best of this stage as he took the Yellow Jersey on his 27th birthday. The Breton rider only kept it for two days. More recently, Christopher Froome won the 2015 Critérium du Dauphiné in Saint-Gervais and went on to win the Tour in July.
Mont Blanc gin
It is in an old donkey shelter, rehabilitated with recycled materials, that James Abbott, a Scot turned Savoy man, founded the highest distillery in Europe, at an altitude of 1,365 m. Mont Blanc Gin is made from ingredients and plants picked in the mountains. It was developed with the help of Tom Nichol, a world-class distiller who has worked at the Tanqueray distillery for 42 years and is one of only two people to have received a Gin Guild Award of Honour.
Farcement
Hailing from the Arve valley in Haute-Savoie, farcement used to be the traditional Sunday dish. With a surprising mix of sweet and savoury, it can be served with a simple green salad. It is essentially a potato loaf with bacon and dried fruits cooked for several hours in a bain-marie. The Farcement Savoyard is made in a special mould with a chimney in the middle a “moule a farcement”. This mould looks like a larger version of a Kougelhopf mould.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
5
Comments
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The randomness of Tour climb rankings continues.1
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I've only been skiing once, and the finish is where you get the ski lift to from the town.0
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Which one would you change? La Croix Fry is a hard Cat 1/"Easy" HC. Not being at the end, these ones tend to take the lower rank. I think it's more "system's not too fine-grained" rather than "random".Pross said:The randomness of Tour climb rankings continues.
EDIT: Fair enoug for Pross' reply0 -
I've ridden the Croix Fry a couple of times, it isn't really a Cat 1 in difficulty, so I suppose it's location three-quarters along the stage (where a decisive move by a rider or team may be made) plays a role in its classification.drhaggis said:
Which one would you change? La Croix Fry is a hard Cat 1/"Easy" HC. Not being at the end, these ones tend to take the lower rank. I think it's more "system's not too fine-grained" rather than "random".Pross said:The randomness of Tour climb rankings continues.
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The unclassified climb at the start feels like it should be a 3rd cat.drhaggis said:
Which one would you change? La Croix Fry is a hard Cat 1/"Easy" HC. Not being at the end, these ones tend to take the lower rank. I think it's more "system's not too fine-grained" rather than "random".Pross said:The randomness of Tour climb rankings continues.
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When was the last time that the top 5 on GC at the Tour had all won a stage apart from the yellow jersey wearer?0
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Despite Jumbo riding all day for 1 second the way yesterday's stage ended just seems (to me) to have tipped the balance in Vingegaard's favour. Pogacar looked rattled when he fumbled a bottle and the way he let Vingegaard take the initiative in the bonus sprint looked odd.
Is Pog going to crack and let his attacking instincts take over - if he does them that probably plays into Vingegaard's hands.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]1 -
I didn't think much of it at the time but agree after watching the highlights show. I think Vingergaard is holding a bit back for the Courcheval stage and is staying calm, happy to lose the odd second. Pogacar looked genuinely wound up yesterdayDeVlaeminck said:Despite Jumbo riding all day for 1 second the way yesterday's stage ended just seems (to me) to have tipped the balance in Vingegaard's favour. Pogacar looked rattled when he fumbled a bottle and the way he let Vingegaard take the initiative in the bonus sprint looked odd.
Is Pog going to crack and let his attacking instincts take over - if he does them that probably plays into Vingegaard's hands."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
The comparison yesterday was quite telling - on the final climb Jonas was handing bidons to Danish fans - deliberately waiting to spot them, while Pog was fumbling his bottle and ice.
But Jumbo's strategy the whole time has been attrition, a belief that Jonas will come good in the third week and they'll be able to blunt Pog by then. They're not worried about a few seconds here ad there, the aim is to be able to deliver knockout punches on either the TT on Tuesday or Courcheval on Wednesday.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
I noticed that Pog was throwing away depleted bottles with gels still attached.No_Ta_Doctor said:The comparison yesterday was quite telling - on the final climb Jonas was handing bidons to Danish fans - deliberately waiting to spot them, while Pog was fumbling his bottle and ice.
But Jumbo's strategy the whole time has been attrition, a belief that Jonas will come good in the third week and they'll be able to blunt Pog by then. They're not worried about a few seconds here ad there, the aim is to be able to deliver knockout punches on either the TT on Tuesday or Courcheval on Wednesday.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.1 -
I think it may boil down to who has the best legs after 2 hard days.DeVlaeminck said:
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Is Pog going to crack and let his attacking instincts take over - if he does them that probably plays into Vingegaard's hands.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 -
I think you lot are reading far too much into one dropped bottle.6
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I think pog will crack himself ... Not convinced pog will be better in the TT either ."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
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He blew his chances yesterday with impatience"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 pm1
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I think yesterday was a big opportunity for Pog to take a chunk of time outside of little 10s nibbles.DeVlaeminck said:Despite Jumbo riding all day for 1 second the way yesterday's stage ended just seems (to me) to have tipped the balance in Vingegaard's favour. Pogacar looked rattled when he fumbled a bottle and the way he let Vingegaard take the initiative in the bonus sprint looked odd.
Is Pog going to crack and let his attacking instincts take over - if he does them that probably plays into Vingegaard's hands.
I think JVs only chance is the stage to Courchevel...
I still think it's advantage Pog
(I ignore the TT because I simply can't decide if there will be any difference whatsoever. I would not be surprised if they end up on the same time...)We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
Awesome raceandyp said:When was the last time that the top 5 on GC at the Tour had all won a stage apart from the yellow jersey wearer?
"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 -
Oh it's all just reading the tea-leaves, that's for sure. 10" in it, but people thought it was all over stage 5!andyp said:I think you lot are reading far too much into one dropped bottle.
Not one of those close-but-cagey Tours either (see the Giro this year) - they've been going toe-to-toe and trading punchesWarning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
Another stage where you can see how you do against the pros, Col des Aravis is on the new Zwift climb portal.
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/series/zwift-climb-portal================
2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo0 -
No Dani Martinez, a concussion was diagnosed after his crash yesterday so he's withdrawn from the race. This after he was on the attack within an hour of that crash.
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Quite possibly - it was the bonus sprint that really made me wonder where his head was though. Of course losing his cool for a few minutes doesn't necessarily mean he's losing his cool full stop. Based on not that much evidence though this kind of race seems to suit Vingegaard's personality more than it suits Pog's.andyp said:I think you lot are reading far too much into one dropped bottle.
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
I think at the bonus sprint pog's head was a blaze of white light and an inability to focus his eyes as he breathed in through them"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 pm2
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That's all it was, if that, imo.DeVlaeminck said:
Quite possibly - it was the bonus sprint that really made me wonder where his head was though. Of course losing his cool for a few minutes doesn't necessarily mean he's losing his cool full stop. Based on not that much evidence though this kind of race seems to suit Vingegaard's personality more than it suits Pog's.andyp said:I think you lot are reading far too much into one dropped bottle.
The fact that he got jumped with only 100 metres to the bonus sprint leads me to wonder whether or not his view was obscured by the crowds.
Normally, he wouldn't leave it anywhere near so late to start his sprint. The fact that he got jumped so close to the line, leads me to this piece of speculation.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
The Breakaway lot are in no doubt that chucking the motorbike malfeasants was the correct decision, as they interfered not just once, but twice with the race.
Anyway, we are off."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Usual suspects"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
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The irony being they have a motorbike out there that adds nothing to the coverage (Gilbert gets a few mildly interesting snippets but even that isn’t worth it).blazing_saddles said:The Breakaway lot are in no doubt that chucking the motorbike malfeasants was the correct decision, as they interfered not just once, but twice with the race.
Anyway, we are off.0 -
Errr... bunny hopping the wrong way round the roundabout... looked a bit dodgy thereWarning No formatter is installed for the format0
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Peleton split, Bilbao in the 2ndWarning No formatter is installed for the format0
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Sorry to jump ahead.
I don't think I appreciated just how close pog and vinnie are against the clock
Stage 20
Stage 1
Stating the obvious I know. Unless one can break the other this is going to squeaky
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