TDF 2022:- Stage 17: Saint Gaudens - Peyragudes 129.7km ***Spoilers***

Stage 17: Saint Gaudens - Peyragudes 129.7km

Start Time: 13-15CET.

Not even 130 km for the second day on the Pyrenees, that’s supposed to be the short and explosive day of the race, but the first 50 km are totally flat. All vertical metres are crammed together is the second part of the race. In fact, more than half of the last 76 kilometres go uphill. All of which means that by the time the race reaches the first climb, there will have been no respite as until Arreau, half the peloton will most surely attack, looking for the break.



The Tour returns to Saint-Gaudens, one of the Pyrenean towns whose name is familiar to cycling fans. Last year, it was Austrian Patrick Konrad who took advantage of a successful breakaway to clinch the 16th stage from Andorra. The race is set to finish on the runway of the airport of Peyragudes. The altiport in the Pyrenees hosted a Tour de France stage in 2012 and 2017, yet earlier fame befell the place in 1997 with a scene in the James Bond-movie Tomorrow never Dies.
In between, the riders tackle three intermediate climbs, including the often used, Col d'Aspin.



The Climbs:

The Col d'Aspin has been part of the Tour de France 71 times, largely because it is the middle link in a chain of three road climbs, the other links being the Col du Tourmalet (2,115 m (6,939 ft)) and Col de Peyresourde (1,569 m (5,148 ft)). The first time the Col d'Aspin was crossed was in 1910, when the leader over the summit was Octave Lapize.





A 6 km valley will lead to Saint-Lary-Soulan where the Col d’Azet starts, arguably the hardest ascent of the day with its middle section of 6 km at 8,5%.



Final Kms.
The full finish climb is not the same as on the two previous occasions, although the last 2.4 kilometers are. An 8.4% average, including some brutal ascending with pitches as steep as 16 percent leading to the altiport at Peyragudes.





What to Expect:

Are we going to see the stage winner emerge from the breakaway, or will it be a GC rider? It depends largely on the place where the breakaway establishes itself. I suspect that the successful breakaway will not form until the slopes of the Aspin, so should contain some more than useful climbers, which ups the chances for the breakaway to be successful.
Whether the break can gain sufficient time to avoid the inevitable GC battle, is another matter.

Saint-Gaudens

Population: 11,600
Specialities: veal reared under the mother, Pyrenean lamb, mounjetado (cassoulet), Napoléon commingeois (sheep's cheese), millasson (pastry).

SAINT-GAUDENS AND CYCLING


Some of the great mountain stages in the history of the Tour ended in St Gaudens, like in 1955 when Louison Bobet finally donned the Yellow Jersey making him the first winner of three consecutive Tours de France. It was also after a start in Saint-Gaudens that Lucien Van Impe, in 1976, left Joop Zoetemelk more than three minutes adrift, taking a firm option on the final victory in Saint-Lary-Soulan.
Situated at the crossroads of the different Pyrenean routes, the town has hosted nine stage finishes and twelve starts. In 1970, for example, Bernard Thévenet started from Saint-Gaudens to win his first stage in La Mongie.
In the 1976 edition, the Saint-Gaudens - Saint-Lary-Soulan stage was decisive in the fight for the Yellow Jersey between Lucien Van Impe and Joop Zoetemelk.



Pyrenean lamb chops with Tumeric.



Millasson


Along the Route.

Km 97.8

SAINT-LARY-SOULAN (Pop: 877)
In the heart of the Aure valley, at an altitude of 800 m and at the gateway to the most beautiful natural areas of the Pyrenees, Saint-Lary is one of the most important ski resorts in the Pyrenees and a regular village of the Tour de France.

Pic de Bastan.


Peyragudes

Population: 40
Specialities: frênette (drink made from the ash), cheese, honey. In the department: garbure, black pig of Bigorre (AOC), Barèges-Gavarnie sheep, Tarbais beans, Trébons onions, spit cake, wine (Madiran, Pacherenc).



PEYRAGUDES AND CYCLING

In 2017, for the second and last finish in the Pyrenean resort, it was Romain Bardet who emerged on the final ramp leading to the line to take one of his two stage victories in the Grande Boucle, ahead of all the other specialists of short steep finishes, including Chris Froome, who stalled on the last climb. The Frenchman won ahead of Rigoberto Uran and Italian Fabio Aru, who took a short-lived Yellow Jersey. The Tour passed through Peyragudes again the following year on its way to Saint-Lary-Soulan, where Tanel Kangert was up front.
For the first visit of the Tour in 2012, Alejandro Valverde triumphed with a solo attack with 35 kilometres to go. His win was helped by the wait-and-see attitude of Chris Froome, who was still devoted to his leader Bradley Wiggins at the time and did not budge when the Spaniard went. The following year, Alexandre, Geniez won a stage of the Vueltain Peyragudes. In 2010, the organisers of the Route du Sud staged an uphill time trial here, in which David Moncoutié set the best time. A hotspot for snowboarding in the winter and longboarding, a variety of skateboarding, in the summer, Peyragudes is located in the immediate vicinity of the Peyresourde pass, which the Tour de France peloton has climbed 69 times since 1910.



Frênette


Tarbais beans: (Salade de haricots Tarbais made with mint and parsley)














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Comments

  • commuterlegs
    commuterlegs Posts: 268
    So, the key question is whether I can fit in an hour’s ride 12-1pm (BST) or will this all be kicking off in the first hour!?
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,892
    The Aspin is a pretty gentle climb (unless someone goes full Ricco) and the descent is wide and fast. Similarly the Hourquette is a pretty straightforward climb, but I wonder if there will be action on the descent. When I rode it in 2020 the surface was pretty sketchy, which may catch out nervy descenders and create more chances for gaps than the climb itself.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032

    So, the key question is whether I can fit in an hour’s ride 12-1pm (BST) or will this all be kicking off in the first hour!?

    No, in the final 2-3km,
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  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    phreak said:

    The Aspin is a pretty gentle climb (unless someone goes full Ricco) and the descent is wide and fast. Similarly the Hourquette is a pretty straightforward climb, but I wonder if there will be action on the descent. When I rode it in 2020 the surface was pretty sketchy, which may catch out nervy descenders and create more chances for gaps than the climb itself.

    There has to be

    "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 pm
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    Majka has done his knee in, twisted or strained something when his chain snapped. Not looking good for UAE here.
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  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    Tim Wellens out with covid
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  • commuterlegs
    commuterlegs Posts: 268
    Tim Wellens has been covid'd, hopefully he wasn't coughing all over Wout in the breakaway yesterday.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    Majka DNS
    UAE down to 4
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  • DeadCalm
    DeadCalm Posts: 4,099

    Majka DNS
    UAE down to 4

    One of whom is Hirschi, who has been next to useless.
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  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137

    Majka DNS
    UAE down to 4



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  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,091
    DeadCalm said:

    Majka DNS
    UAE down to 4

    One of whom is Hirschi, who has been next to useless.
    Ninth on LR, and we've seen what happens to people going for long range attacks. I'm not going to criticise him simply riding to protect his position right now.
  • larkim
    larkim Posts: 2,474
    edited July 2022
    If you were Pog, what would you try today?

    Vingegaard has it easy - he just has to react and get his team to set a pace which is hard to attack from.

    Thomas just has to hang on and hope both of them blow up.
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  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    3 of the top 5 from 2017 are in the race.
    Bardet, who won the stage, Uran, who was second and in fifth, the non GC rider, Louis Meintjes.

    Also remembered for Bottle gate, when Bennett got slapped with a time penalty for taking a late bottle but Bardet initially wasn’t……until footage got media plastered.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • commuterlegs
    commuterlegs Posts: 268
    Movistar not wanting to take Froome to the finish, nothing changes.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    Running out of road to get a break going
    "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 pm
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137

    3 of the top 5 from 2017 are in the race.
    Bardet, who won the stage, Uran, who was second and in fifth, the non GC rider, Louis Meintjes.

    Also remembered for Bottle gate, when Bennett got slapped with a time penalty for taking a late bottle but Bardet initially wasn’t……until footage got media plastered.


    That was the only time Sky ever lost the Yellow Jersey - to Fabio Aru
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  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,091
    Hatch's rider identification has gone to pot and Blyth is giving him some stick. I'm sure Eurosport wasn't this laid back a couple of years ago.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    Pog a bit absent
    "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 pm
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,718
    edited July 2022
    larkim said:

    If you were Pog, what would you try today?

    Vingegaard has it easy - he just has to react and get his team to set a pace which is hard to attack from.

    Thomas just has to hang on and hope both of them blow up.

    Not much he can do - push the descents and have a real go on the final climb and accept he may lose time to Ving in the process is about it for me.
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  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    larkim said:

    If you were Pog, what would you try today?

    Vingegaard has it easy - he just has to react and get his team to set a pace which is hard to attack from.

    Thomas just has to hang on and hope both of them blow up.

    Rock and hard place ...attack super early risk all?

    Attacking the descent ...he is not bad but nothing amazing down hill ..

    Jonas looks too good
    "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 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    edited July 2022
    It's better for pog if the break never gets really established.. no riders up the road for Jonas to help if pig drags them both off the front ..
    "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 pm
  • commuterlegs
    commuterlegs Posts: 268
    I really hope Cav doesn't go to B&B, nothing team. They should be in every breakaway attempt!?
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    But it's ineos making the play ..
    "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 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    WvA covering
    "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 pm
  • bianchi_dave
    bianchi_dave Posts: 847
    This could be the break now. Pidcock and WvA in there
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  • commuterlegs
    commuterlegs Posts: 268
    WvA makes crossing a gap look so effortless.
  • bianchi_dave
    bianchi_dave Posts: 847
    Aaaand no. Coming back together
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  • bianchi_dave
    bianchi_dave Posts: 847
    WvA secures green
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  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    The inevitable, ASO planned stalemate goes on and on and on..........
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    Felline climbs off
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