Le Tour 100 – Stage 19

Bourg-d’Oisans to Le Grand-Bornand

Distance: 204.5 kilometers.

Since yesterday ended with a pair of Hors Catégorie climbs the sadists in charge decided to start with a pair: Col du Glandon and Col de la Madeleine. While not as steep as yesterday, they are both about 20 km climbs. They throw in a sprint just to wear people out before the category 2 Col de Tamié, which is followed by a pair of category 1 climbs, Col de l’Épine and Col de la Croix Fry.

At the end of the stage the Jerseys should be known.

Rui Costa has taken his second stage, and Movistar has a lot to celebrate.

The Polka Dot is still up for grabs with Rolland only one point behind Froome after today, and there are more mountains tomorrow. Pierre’s chances are very good because the teams will not want to risk the current standings of Froome and Quintana.

RadioShack-Leopard will really be trying to make up their 3+ minute deficit in the team competition and beat Saxo-Tinkoff. Given Contador’s wish to be in Yellow, that will make tomorrow a very ‘interesting’ stage and the last real racing of the Tour.

Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 ) [Yellow] 77h 10′ 00″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – CAN – 011 ) [Green] 380 points
Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) [Polka Dot] 104 points [Froome]
Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas ( Col – MOV – 128 ) 3 [White]

Team: Saxo-Tinkoff ( TST – 091-099 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 124 )
Combative: Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 )
2 Alberto Contador ( Esp – TST – 091 ) + 05′ 11″
3 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas ( Col – MOV – 128 ) + 05′ 32″
4 Roman Kreuziger ( Cze – TST – 094 ) + 05′ 44″
5 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ( Esp – KAT – 101 ) + 05′ 58″
6 Bauke Mollema ( Ned – BEL – 164 ) + 08′ 58″
7 Jakob Fuglsang ( Den – EUC – 063 ) + 09′ 33″
8 Daniel Navarro ( Esp – COF – 139 ) + 12′ 33″
9 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 121 ) + 14′ 56″
10 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) + 16′ 08″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – BEL – 167 ) + 16′ 09″
12 Andrew Talansky ( USA – GRS – 178 ) + 16′ 24″
13 Mikel Nieve Iturralde ( Esp – EUS – 116 ) + 17′ 49″
14 Michael Rogers ( Aus – TST – 098 ) + 19′ 04″
15 Maxime Monfort ( Bel – RLT – 047 ) + 20′ 00″
16 Romain Bardet ( Fra – ALM – 082 ) + 24′ 53″
17 Daniel Moreno Fernandez ( Esp – KAT – 106 ) + 30′ 22″
18 Jan Bakelants ( Bel – RLT – 042 ) + 33′ 12″
19 Robert Gesink ( Ned – BEL – 162 ) + 37′ 11″
20 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 006 ) + 37′ 53″
21 Andy Schleck ( Lux – RLT – 041 ) + 38′ 08″
22 José Serpa ( Col – LAM – 149 ) + 40′ 40″
23 Igor Anton ( Esp – EUS – 111 ) + 42′ 13″
24 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 124 ) + 42′ 16″
25 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) + 43′ 42″
26 John Gadret ( Fra – ALM – 086 ) + 44′ 24″
27 Peter Velits ( Svk – OPQ – 159 ) + 48′ 30″
28 Andreas Klöden ( Ger – RLT – 046 ) + 50′ 55″
29 Wouter Poels ( Ned – VCD – 201 ) + 51′ 26″
30 Arnold Jeannesson ( Fra – FDJ – 077 ) + 52′ 07″

Did not finish:

Marcel Sieberg ( Ger – LTB – 028 )
Christophe Le Mevel ( Fra – COF – 135 )
Jack Bauer ( NZ – GRS – 172 )
Tom Veelers ( Ned – ARG – 199 )
Kris Boeckmans ( Bel – VCD – 202 )

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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