Le Tour 100 – Stage 14

Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule to Lyon

Distance: 191 kilometers.

Two category 4 climbs; the sprint; two category 3 climbs, and then three more category 4 climbs before the finish. This is stage for the General riders, i.e. too tough for sprinters, but not tough enough to give the climbers a big advantage. Froome should be in good shape, but the White Jersey could go back to Quintana.

The peloton decided to relax on this stage, so it was a break away and race among the domestiques, with Matteo Trentin, normally Mark Cavendish’s lead off rider, taking the stage. Julien Simon made an attempt at becoming the first French rider to win a stage, but he was caught at the last minute.

The leaders were saving their energy for tomorrow’s slice of hell.

Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 ) [Yellow] 55h 22′ 58″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – CAN – 011 ) [Green] 357 points
Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) [Polka Dot] 50 points
Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) 7 [White]

Team: Saxo-Tinkoff ( TST – 091-099 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Matteo Trentin ( Ita – OPQ – 158 )
Combative: Julien Simon ( Fra – SOJ – 218 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 )
2 Bauke Mollema ( Ned – BEL – 164 ) + 02′ 28″
3 Alberto Contador ( Esp – TST – 091 ) + 02′ 45″
4 Roman Kreuziger ( Cze – TST – 094 ) + 02′ 48″
5 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – BEL – 167 ) + 03′ 01″
6 Jakob Fuglsang ( Den – EUC – 063 ) + 04′ 39″
7 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) + 04′ 44″
8 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas ( Col – MOV – 128 ) + 05′ 18″
9 Jean-Christophe Péraud ( Fra – ALM – 081 ) + 05′ 39″
10 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ( Esp – KAT – 101 ) + 05′ 48″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Daniel Martin ( Irl – GRS – 175 ) + 05′ 52″
12 Andrew Talansky ( USA – GRS – 178 ) + 05′ 54″
13 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 031 ) + 06′ 54″
14 Michael Rogers ( Aus – TST – 098 ) + 07′ 28″
15 Andy Schleck ( Lux – RLT – 041 ) + 08′ 32″
16 Maxime Monfort ( Bel – RLT – 047 ) + 10′ 16″
17 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 121 ) + 12′ 10″
18 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 124 ) + 14′ 22″
19 Daniel Navarro ( Esp – COF – 139 ) + 14′ 50″
20 Sylvain Chavanel ( Fra – OPQ – 152 ) + 14′ 57″
21 Mikel Nieve Iturralde ( Esp – EUS – 116 ) + 16′ 49″
22 Daniel Moreno Fernandez ( Esp – KAT – 106 ) + 18′ 36″
23 Igor Anton ( Esp – EUS – 111 ) + 19′ 43″
24 Steve Morabito ( Sui – BMC – 036 ) + 19′ 59″
25 Romain Bardet ( Fra – ALM – 082 ) + 20′ 35″
26 José Serpa ( Col – LAM – 149 ) + 21′ 01″
27 Wouter Poels ( Ned – VCD – 201 ) + 21′ 54″
28 Jan Bakelants ( Bel – RLT – 042 ) + 24′ 12″
29 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) + 25′ 33″
30 Davide Malacarne ( Ita – EUC – 056 ) + 26′ 42″

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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