Le Tour – Stage 17

Bagnères-de-Luchon to Peyragudes

Distance: 143.5 kilometers.

This is a short and nasty end to the mountain stages: Category 1 – Col de Menté (1349m), Category 2 – Col des Ares (797 m), Category 3 – Côte de Burs, intermediate sprint, HC – Port de Bales (1755 m), and the Category 1 climb to the finish in Peyragudes. The stage is a series of hairpin turns and switchbacks. This was a route designed for pitons, not pelotons.

Alejandro Valverde won the stage with a charge worthy of the Red numbers, but the larger story was that Wiggins and Froome made it clear that they won’t give up anything to the competition and actually increased their leads over Nibali et al. Barring accidents, the podium in Paris appears to be settled, but no one should celebrate until it is official.

In a bit of oddness, Jan Ghyselinck ( Bel – COF – 086 ) was listed as a non-finisher yesterday, but today he is back on the road and is the current Lanterne Rouge. It may have been an ‘outside of time’ case that was protested.

Bradley Wiggins ( GB – SKY – 101 ) [Yellow]
Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) [Green] 356 points
Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) [Polka Dot] 134 points
Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) 5 [White]

Team: RadioShack-Nissan ( 011-019 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 161 )
Combative: Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 161 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Bradley Wiggins ( G B – SKY – 101 )
2 Christopher Froome ( G B – SKY – 105 ) + 02′ 05”
3 Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – LIQ – 051 ) + 02′ 41”
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 111 ) + 05′ 53”
5 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) + 08′ 30”
6 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 001 ) + 09′ 57”
7 Haimar Zubeldia ( Esp – RNT – 019 ) + 10′ 11”
8 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 029 ) + 10′ 17”
9 Janez Brajkovic ( Slo – AST – 181 ) + 11′ 00”
10 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 146 ) + 11′ 46”

The Rest of the Top 50:

11 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – ALM – 079 ) + 12′ 58”
12 Andréas Klöden ( Ger – RNT – 015 ) + 14′ 09”
13 Christopher Horner ( USA – RNT – 014 ) + 14′ 22”
14 Chris Anker Sorensen ( Den – STB – 178 ) + 18′ 34”
15 Denis Menchov ( Rus – KAT – 131 ) + 22′ 42”
16 Maxime Monfort ( Bel – RNT – 016 ) + 24′ 24”
17 Egoi Martinez ( Esp – EUS – 035 ) + 25′ 32”
18 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 163 ) + 29′ 43”
19 Eduard Vorganov ( Rus – KAT – 139 ) + 33′ 07”
20 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 161 ) + 33′ 38”
21 Jérôme Coppel ( Fra – SAU – 091 ) + 35′ 59”
22 Sandy Casar ( Fra – FDJ – 141 ) + 41′ 47”
23 Michael Rogers ( Aus – SKY – 108 ) + 48′ 20”
24 Jelle Vanendert ( Bel – LTB – 119 ) + 49′ 52”
25 Michele Scarponi ( Ita – LAM – 041 ) + 52′ 36”
26 Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) + 53′ 01”
27 Ivan Basso ( Ita – LIQ – 052 ) + 54′ 29”
28 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – RAB – 157 ) + 55′ 00”
29 Peter Velits ( Svk – OPQ – 199 ) + 58′ 30”
30 Levi Leipheimer ( USA – OPQ – 191 ) + 59′ 02”
31 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo ( Esp – MOV – 162 ) + 01h 02′ 05”
32 Alexandre Vinokourov ( Kaz – AST – 189 ) + 01h 08′ 24”
33 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – RAB – 152 ) + 01h 09′ 08”
34 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 107 ) + 01h 10′ 38”
35 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti ( Esp – EUS – 034 ) + 01h 11′ 07”
36 Daniel Martin ( Irl – GRS – 065 ) + 01h 20′ 30”
37 Rein Taaramae ( Est – COF – 081 ) + 01h 20′ 53”
38 Gianpaolo Caruso ( Ita – KAT – 132 ) + 01h 21′ 35”
39 George Hincapie ( USA – BMC – 005 ) + 01h 25′ 29”
40 Rafael Valls Ferri ( Esp – VCD – 128 ) + 01h 27′ 14”
41 Fredrik Kessiakoff ( Swe – AST – 187 ) + 01h 28′ 33”
42 Philippe Gilbert ( Bel – BMC – 004 ) + 01h 32′ 30”
43 Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) + 01h 33′ 16”
44 Andriy Grivko ( Ukr – AST – 184 ) + 01h 33′ 52”
45 Jean-Christophe Peraud ( Fra – ALM – 071 ) + 01h 33′ 54”
46 Amaël Moinard ( Fra – BMC – 006 ) + 01h 34′ 13”
47 Pierrick Fedrigo ( Fra – FDJ – 142 ) + 01h 34′ 36”
48 Michael Schär ( Sui – BMC – 008 ) + 01h 37′ 48”
49 Dominik Nerz ( Ger – LIQ – 055 ) + 01h 37′ 58”
50 Fabrice Jeandesboz ( Fra – SAU – 095 ) + 01h 39′ 00”

Out of the race: Everyone finished.

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

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