2017 Tour de France: carnage on stage 9 – Uran wins, Froome still in Yellow

As I feared very steep descents on wet roads brought carnage to the Tour yesterday with Geraint Thomas and then Richie Porte the headline riders who crashed out. Other riders out include Robert Gesink (crash), Arnaud Démare along with three team mates, Mark Renshaw, Matteo Trentin and Peter Sagan's brother – Juraj – all were outside the time limit for yesterday's brutal stage.

  

Despite a damaged bike – unable to change gear from the top 11 sprocket with only the option of moving from the big ring to the small, Rigoberto Uran just managed to hold off Warren Bargueil to win the stage – his first ever TdF stage win. Bargueil, who rode very well, has the compensation of being in the climbers' jersey with a healthy 30 point lead plus several days to recover before the next set of mountains. 

Chris Froome came through this tough test showing on the final climb Mont du Chat that he was the strongest climber on the day. The Yellow Jersey overall classification is now clearer with now only three riders – Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet and Rigoberto Uran within a minute of Froome. Nairo Quintana faded on the last climb and is now at 2.13 while Alberto Contador had a terrible time and is now 12th overall at 5.15 down. 

Sprinter Michael Matthews did an amazing ride to get over two HC climbs to pick up maximum points in the Intermediate Sprint. With Démare out – not sure why FDJ sacrificed three team mates to assist the clearly ill and weak Démare – Matthews looks to be Marcel Kittel's only serious challenger for the Green Jersey. However, he is still 52 points behind Kittel with several sprinters' stages still to come. Kittel must be the favourite for Green. 

Today is a very welcome rest day to be followed by a couple of likely sprint stages. 

 

2017 Tour de France: Aru wins, Froome in Yellow. Stage 6 Preview

Stage 5 result: fine and convincing win by Fabio Aru

Overall standing: Chris Froome takes Yellow from Geriant Thomas

The first mountain stage was won in convincing fashion by Fabio Aru who attacked with some two kilometres to go.  Prior to this Team Sky had been setting a fast pace up the Planche des Belles Filles. After hesitating a while Chris Froome set off after Aru with Richie Porte, Dan Martin and Romain Bardet, while dropping Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Geraint Thomas.

After initially starting to catch Aru, the Froome quartet eased up and started looking at each other, while Aru motored on up. This allowed some of the dropped riders to close the gap on the quartet. 

Aru won the stage, his first TdF stage win by 16 seconds from Dan Martin who finished strongly with Froome next (20 seconds) and Porte at the same time. Other riders Bardet (24 secs), Simon Yates (26), Rigoberto Uran and Contador (26), Quintana (34) and Thomas (40). Froome now takes over the Yellow Jersey with Thomas in second place. It was clear in the ride up the Planche des Belles Filles that Froome was Sky's protected rider. Will Froome now wear Yellow all the way to Paris? 

Although dangerous to read too much into this first mountain stage, it does look like Fabio Aru, Dan Martin and Richie Porte are Chris Froome's biggest rivals with Aru just (14 seconds behind) and Martin on 25. There are now question marks over the form of Contador (52 seconds down) and Quintana (54 secs).

You have to question the tactics of Richie Porte and BMC yesterday who spent a large part of the 160 kilometres leading the peloton chase of the strong breakaway group using up a lot of energy. Although the time gap yo-yoed between about 2.50 and 1.30 it was back to about 2.40 as the final climb approached and other teams joined in. BMC wasted a lot of energy and Porte didn't make an attack on the climb. Although he finished with the same time as Froome it was Froome who got third place and the four bonus seconds. 

Stage 6 Preview: Vesoul to Troyes: 216 kms

This is going to be a long, hot, fairly flat stage with a couple of Category 4 climbs. I expect a break to go early only to be swallowed up close to the finish where the sprinters will fight it out. The finish is flat but with a roundabout around 120 metres from the line, which could make the sprint dangerous. Hopefully there won't be any big crashes. 

Favourites today: Marcel Kittel, Arnaud Démare, Michael Matthews and André Griepel. In addition to getting the stage win the sprinters will be up for the Green Jersey competition in the absence of Peter Sagan.    

2017 Tour de France: Démare wins, Cav and Sagan out. Preview of Stage 5

Having shown good form on Stages 2 and 3 Arnaud Démare duly won his first Tour de France stage in Vittel. Unfortunately his victory was overshadowed by the serious crash involving Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan. From the footage Sagan veers across the road to get on Démare's wheel taking Cav over towards the barrier. Then Sagan's elbow is raised. Whether his elbow actually connected with Cav is now hotly debated or whether Cav was now so close the barrier he was crashing anyway.

Whatever – the result is that Cav is out of the Tour with a broken shoulder blade and Sagan has been disqualified and thrown off the Tour. Initially the commissaires penalised Sagan by docking time and Green Jersey points before deciding to disqualify him, which has now caused a huge controversy. 

It is a great shame that the 2017 Tour has now lost two of its biggest stars.It has also blown the Green jersey competition wide open. 

Although involved in another crash within the last kilometre Geraint Thomas remains in Yellow. This crash held up Marcel Kittel. 

Stage 5 Vittel to La Planche des Belles Filles 160.5 kms

The final climb – last part is 20%

After the opening Time Trial this stage, which finishes is the first real test for the overall contenders. La Planche des Belles Filles was first used in 2012 and then again in 2014, so to feature three times in the last five years shows it has rapidly become a favourite. In 2012 Chris Froome won the stage and Bradley Wiggins took the Yellow Jersey and never lost it. The same thing happened in 2014 when Vincenzo Nibali won here and kept the Yellow jersey all the way to Paris. 

I fancy that either Geraint Thomas or Chris Froome will be in Yellow tonight unless a breakaway is allowed to stay away. If other overall contenders want to shake up Sky it would make sense as well as making the race more exciting if they started attacking well before the start of La Planche. It will be interesting to see how Richie Porte goes today – will he put in a big attack? Equally the steepness of the climb should suit Nairo Quintana, so will be an indication whether he has recovered from the Giro. Although time gaps are unlikely to be very big, I think we may well see Alberto Contador lose some time today.

Guillaume Van Keirsbulck was the sole breakaway ride of the day – riding almost the whole stage on his own not getting caught until just over 10 kms to go.

2017 Tour de France; Sagan wins Stage 3; Stage 4 another snoozefest preview

 Stage 3: top 10
Peter Sagan wins

Stage 3 Overall 

Geraint Thomas retains the Yellow Jersey

Despite pulling a foot out of his pedal within sight of the line Peter Sagan won the gallop up the Côte des Religieuses closely chased by Michael Matthews, Dan Martin and Greg van Avermaet. This brings Peter Sagan's tally of Tour stage wins is now up to eight.

As I suspected the Côte proved to be too steep for the pure sprinters with the exception of Arnaud Demarre, who came in with most of the overall contenders at two seconds down. Only Simon Yates dropped time on his overall rivals coming in 10 seconds down so losing 8 seconds on Thomas, Froome, Quintana etc.

Geraint Thomas retained the Yellow Jersey with Chris Froome now in second as the other riders in front of him have dropped down the order. In contrast Dan Martin picked six seconds on his overall rivals. 

Unfortunately there was little to get excited about this stage. The breakaway was established quite early. Within the break there was a bit of a tussle of the King of the Mountains, which Tour debutant Nathan Brown won. The break rarely got than an advantage of two minutes. Another debutant Lilian Calmejane was the last breakaway to be caught and certainly impressed.   

It was only in the last 20 kilometres of the race that things really came exciting, although it had started to get stressful for the riders before that. 

Stage 4 Preview: Mondorf-les-Bains to Vittel 207.5 kms 

This I fear will be another long stage snoozefest until the last 20 kms or so when the sprinters' teams start jousting for position. This is a largely flat stage with one Category 4 climb about 40 kms from the finish. I expect an early break to get away only to be swallowed up by the peloton towards the end of the stage.

The finish is slightly uphill but not enough to trouble the sprinters, though it may give a slight advantage to Sagan. Otherwise it is the usual sprinters who are favourite to take the win – Marcel Kittel, Arnaud Demarre, who is going well, André Griepel and possibly Mark Cavendish, who seems to be going well despite his illness this year.         

2017 Tour de France: Marcel Kittel wins + Stage 3 preview

Stage result

  Marcel Kittel wins in Liège, Arnaud Demarre 2nd, 

André Griepel 3rd, Mark Cavendish 4th  

Overall standings 

Geraint Thomas retains Yellow Jersey, Kittel up to 3rd

Marcel Kittel won the close and massed bunch sprint in Liège, although the day's two breakaways nearly made it to the line. They were swallowed up just over one kilometre from the finish. After his illness Mark Cavendish must be pretty satisfied with his fourth place. He had latched onto Marcel Kittel's wheel but didn't have the pace nor really the space to come through. Kittel moved up to 3rd overall. He now has 10 TDF stage wins to his name just one behind André Griepel. 

As I mentioned in my preview of Stage 2 there is always a danger of crashes in the early stages of the Tour. Unfortunately Chris Froome and Romain Bardet were involved in a pile up about 30 kilometres from the finish. Both managed to get back onto the peloton and there were no serious injuries. 

Early on in the stage Luke Durbridge was forced to abandon following injury sustained from crashing during Saturday's Time Trial. He had hoped to ride through today but his proved impossible. 

Côte des Religieuses 1.6 kms @ 5.8%

The final climb

Stage 3 preview: Verviers to Longwy  212.5 kilometres 

Today's stage will be another longish day in the saddle. Starting in Belgium going into Luxembourg before finishing in France this is will be a decidedly lumpy stage with very little flat. Instead continuously up and down – three 4th category climbs and two 3rd category that includes the last 1.6 kms.

After the TT this finish will be a test for the overall contenders not to lose time on the sharp final climb. The steepest section (11%) is lower down, while at the top it flattens out. 

This would have suited Valverde but he is out after his crash in the TT. Contenders for the stage include Philippe Gilbert, Peter Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet, Dan Martin and Edvard Boassen Hagen as well as the overall contenders. Chris Froome has shown good form on these types of finish. Nor can you discount Richie Porte. Overall contenders are unlikely to lose any significant time but gaining a few seconds is always good for morale. 

With an uphill finish splits on the line are back to one second.  

It seems unlikely that Marcel Kittel and other straight out sprinters will be in contention at this finish, so little chance of Kittel adding to his 10 bonus seconds gained yesterday to take the Yellow Jersey from Geraint Thomas. 

It is just possible that rather than a procession to the final hill that some riders will look to shake up the race over the lumpy terrain. Let's hope so!       

2017 Tour de France: Geraint Thomas wins, Valverde crashes out + Stage 2 preview

Top 20 after Stage 1

 

Stage 2: Düsseldorf to Liège

Geraint Thomas (Sky) was a popular but surprise winner yesterday winning not just taking his first ever Tour de France stage but the Yellow Jersey. This ten years on from Thomas' first Tour start in London in 2007.   

Despite a very good ride in the 2017 Giro's TT when injured, Geraint Thomas was not listed amongst the favourites. The TV cameras didn't follow his ride so there is only a brief clip of Thomas crossing the finish line with the new fastest time, which none of the later riders, including local favourite Tony Martin could beat.   

It was unfortunate that rain throughout the spoiled Düsseldorf's big day as well as making the TT more dangerous and difficult as Alejandro Valverde and Ion Izaguirre found to their cost crashing out on a corner around halfway through the course.  

Yesterday Team SKY were the big winners with Thomas and three other riders including Chris Froome (+ 12 seconds) in the top eight on the stage and so also on General Classification. Froome put seconds into all of his rivals for the overall win. Simon Yates is 25 seconds behind Froome, Richie Porte (35), Nairo Quintana (36) plus the big loss of Valverde, Thibaut Pinot (38), Romain Bardet (39), Fabio Aru (40), Alberto Contador (42) and Bauke Mollema (1.06).

Stage 2: Düsseldorf to Liège (203.5 kms)
Widely expected to be a sprinters stage with just two category 4 climbs. The first very early on and the second 20 kilometres from the finish. Much of the longish stage is pretty flat getting a little bumpy as Liège approaches but not enough to upset the top sprinters.
 

Unfortunately the forecast is for light rain. Furthermore, the first few stages of the Tour de France are always nervous with the risk of crashes. Hopefully there won't be any serious crashes today.



A new time and important measure at the finish has just been introduced - splits on the finish will be taken as three minutes instead of just one. This means that the general classification riders can now hang back a little bit leaving more space to the sprinters and their lead-out trains, so hopefully fewer crashes in the last kilometre of a stage. 

Favourites for the first stage are sprinters: André Greipel, Peter Sagan, Arnaud Démare, Mark Cavendish, John Degenkolb, Michael Matthews, Nacer Bouhanni and Alexander Kristoff. 

I'm going to opt for either Griepel or Kittel. It will be interesting to see how Cavendish goes after his illness. Difficult to count out Cav, even if not fully fit, as he does have a very good sprint team including Bernard Eisel, Mark Renshaw and Edward Boassen Hagen.   

#TDF2015: Ruben Plaza Molina wins in Gap + Geraint Thomas has very lucky escape

Ruben Plaza Molina took his first Tour de France stage win in Gap yesterday winning by 30 seconds from a charging Peter Sagan. Molina attacked on the climb up the Col de Manse and gained around a minute on Sagan and the rest of the breakaway. Despite Sagan's fantastic descending skills this gap proved to be enough for Molina to hold off Sagan on the steep and tricky descent, so once gain Peter had to settle for second place. He does, however, now have a comfortable lead in the Green Jersey competition with 406 points to André Griepel's 316. 

Geraint Thomas had a very lucky escape on the descent when Warren Barguil went into Thomas pushing him off the road and into a telegraph post. For a short while I feared the worst as Thomas's head appeared to hit the post at a fair speed. Fortunately Thomas' head must be stronger than the post as he was soon back on his bike and finished just 38 seconds behind the main GC contenders and holds onto his 6th place overall. 

Vincenzo Nibali attacked at the top of the Col de Manse and gained 28 seconds on Chris Froome and the other GC contenders. However, he is still 7.49 down on Froome. Tony Gallopin lost time, fell out of the Top 10 and Warren Barguil is now the leading Frenchman. 

Today is a doubtless very welcome rest day for the riders but the Alps beckon!