2017 Tour de France: Matthews wins in Rodez, Froome grabs Yellow. Stage 15 preview

 Michael Matthews wins Stage 14, Chris Froome 

one second behind retakes Yellow

 Overall: Chris Froome back in Yellow

Green Jersey: Matthews reduce 

deficit to Kittel to 99 points 

Michael Matthews won his second Tour de France stage with a finely judged sprint beating Greg van Avermaet and Philippe Gilbert, who started his sprint too early and faded a bit at the end. This win has allowed Matthews to close the Green Jersey Points deficit on Marcel Kittel to 99 points. 

In yesterday's preview I suggested that the steep uphill finish, the 570 metres at 9.6% Col de Saint-Pierre, could well see some overall contenders gain a few seconds. Like Chris Froome I never expected Fabio Aru to come in 25 seconds behind Matthews and 24 behind Froome – all because of lousy tactics by Aru and Astana and impeccable ones by Sky.   

The last 10 kilometres into Rodez were very fast and technical with lots of roundabouts, especially as the Col de Saint-Pierre approached. It was noticeable that Sky rode together not far off the front for most of the stage and in front of Astana. In the last 13 kilometres or so they came to the front and guided Froome all the way to the base of the climb. In contrast Aru was isolated on the fast descent into Rodez, which hit 85 kph in places. I kept checking for Aru's position during the descent and saw he was well back, so thought he was likely to lose some time of the col – a finish reminiscent of an Ardennes classic. Even so I was surprised he came in 24 seconds after Froome, who did a great ride to come in just a second behind Matthews. Dan Martin and Rigoberto Uran also did great rides finishing on the same time as Froome. Of course Martin always does well in the Ardennes classics. Romain Bardet lost four seconds on Froome, while Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador lost over 20 seconds each. 

Although the time gaps are still small I reckon it will be very tough to pull the jersey off Froome's shoulders but today's stage is a chance.   

Stage 15: Laissac-Severac L'Eglise to Le Puy-en-Velay 189.5 kms

Still lumpy until final three kms

This is a tough stage through the Massif Central, which could well see further changes to the Overall Classification as well as perhaps being a rare opportunity for a breakaway to win the stage.  The stage includes the steep Col de Peyra Taillade, which has never been included in the Tour before and hits 14%.

Will Aru recover enough to challenge Froome and  can he continue to challenge if the Astana team can't get themselves sorted? What about the other contenders. 

If they race hard today we could see a great stage and fireworks. Can Michael Matthews get over the first category climb – Montée de Naves d'Aubrac – well ahead of Kittel and pick up some more valuable Green jersey points? This climb comes very early – around the 17 km mark – 8.9 kms at just under 7%. Could be crucial!

2017 Tour de France: Warren Barguil wins on Bastille Day. Stage 14 preview

French ecstasy as Warren Barguil wins in Foix  

Fabio Aru still in Yellow but changes in Top 10

with Landa, Quintana and Contador all moving up

Mountains classification: Warren Barguil 
leads with 61 point advantage

As predicted yesterday's short mountain stage (101 kms) gave us very exciting racing. Warren Barguil made the French very happy with his stage win in Foix on Bstille Day, the French national holiday that celebrates the start of the French Revolution. This is the first time in 12 years that there has been a French winner. David Moncoutié was the last Frenchman to win on Bastille Day back in 2005.  
 

The day was notable for the return to form for both Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana. The stage's excitement was generated by an early attack by Alberto Contador, who was swiftly followed by Sky's Mikel Landa. They were eventually joined by Quintana and Warren Barguil. At the end Barguil won the sprint for the line. 

Although there were some attacks Fabio Aru kept the Yellow Jersey despite having to ride without support from his depleted team – down to seven riders. Although isolated the other teams have get to put Aru under serious pressure. Sky will need to do this during the remaining stages.

Astana were further weakened by Jakob Fulsang having to retire because of small fractures in his hand and elbow making it painful to ride and difficult to control his bike. It was, however, a very brave effort by Fulsang, winner of the Dauphiné to attempt to ride on. 

Stage 14 Preview: Blagnac to Rodez 181.5 kms

This is the first of two stages featuring the Massif Central, which ought to provide some interesting racing and perhaps some changes to the overall classification. The first 80 kilometres are fairly flat, while the last 100 are quite lumpy, mainly uphill with a couple of Cat 3 climbs. The finish in Rodez is a 570 metre uphill with a average of 9.6%. A chance for an overall contender to gain a few seconds in the sprint for the line. I think Sky ought to be trying to put pressure on Aru over the next two days. Tomorrow's stage to Le Puy is the more challenging. 

The Intermediate Sprint is at 55 kms, so expect Marcel Kittel to shadow Michael Matthews, who may also feature in the steep finish, which is likely to be too much for Kittel.  

The forecast is dry and comfortably warm but the wind is quite strong for part of the middle section of the stage, so splits in the peloton could happen.       

#TDF2015: Greg Van Avermaet holds off Sagan/ Mende's tough finish today

 Stage 13: top 23 at Rodez headed by Greg Van Avermaet 

After Stage 13: overall standings 

In the short steep finishing climb in Rodez Greg Van Avermaet held off Peter Sagan to take his first stage win in the Tour de France. Once again Sagan has lost out on a Tour Stage victory as this is the 15th time he has been second. When he took his 4th Tour Stage victory in 2013 in Albi the odds would have been long that Sagan would not have won a single stage since then. See list of overall stage winners here. He does have the consolation of now having a pretty firm grip on the Green jersey with a 24 point lead on André Griepel, who was dropped some way from the finish, although André had briefly and provisonally got the jersey back by one point following the intermediate sprint.

Overall there was no change with all the leading contenders coming in together a few seconds behind Van Avermaet.  

The day's long breakaway nearly held out with the last three riders only caught on the climb to the finish.

••

Stage 14: Rodez to Mende 178.5 kms

    

Stage 14 is another challenging transitional stage with a tougher finish than yesterday's finish in Rodez. The riders have to climb the 3 kilometre Côte de la Croix Neuve that has a steady average gradient of 10%. From the top it is then 1.5 kilometre drag to the finish. 

Today looks to be a more promising stage for GC riders to put Sky and Chris Froome under pressure over the very lumpy last 40 kms of the stage. Yesterday Sky had a relatively easy ride as Giant-Alpecin and Tinkoff-Saxo did most of the chasing on the front of the peloton tring to catch the breakaway.

Météo France forecasting violent storms 

this afternoon in parts of Southern France 

Race in area – 29 G

It is going to be another hot day but with storms forecast during the afternoon, which could make the descents in the final part of the stage very tricky. Hope all the riders come through safely.

I expect to see some of the GC riders lose at least a little time today on the Côte de la Croix Neuve. Who?