Stage 15: 1st 23 riders
Overall standings: No change
With Mark Cavendish sidelined with an overnight stomach upset, André Griepel showed again in Valence that he is the most successful sprinter in this year's Tour taking his third stage win. This moves him onto nine Tour de France stage wins. Griepel will be hoping that he can make it four by winning in Paris on Sunday. If Cavendish is fit again I suspect that he is the only rider capable of beating Griepel on the Champs d'Elysées.
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Stage 16: Bourg de Péage to Gap 201 kms
Today's longish stage (201 kms) to Gap – the gateway to the Alps is a steady climb uphill. The most difficult and challenging part of the stage is the rapid and steep and tricky descent into Gap. This descent is famous or infamous for the crash of Joseba Beloki in the 2003 Tour. The crash effectively ended Beloki's career. In the 2013 Tour Contador crashed.
It seems likely that Valverde and/or Nibali will try to take time back from Froome on this descent into Gap. Just hope everyone gets down safely without crashes.
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Laurent Jalabert disowns his own words!
Laurent Jalabert, who was found through retrospective tests to have used EPO during his racing career – 1988 Tour de France, has been one of the commentators most active on casting doubt on Chris Froome's riding. In this clip he is asked by ITV to to clarify his remarks. See here. Jalabert, however, denies that he ever made those remarks on TV. Did someone steal Jalabert's voice?
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