Le Tour 2014 – Stage 18

Pau – Hautacam

Distance: 145.5 kilometers.

This is a real bear of a stage that has a couple of Category 3’s in the first half and a pair of Hors Catégorie climbs. The first HC is the Col du Tourmalet which has the 5,000 Euro Souvenir Jacques Goddet waiting for the first rider to reach 2,115 meter summit. Another summit finish at the end of the Hautacam climb. Lots of points for the Polka Dots available.

Blel Kadri took home the €5K but Vincenzo Nibali reminded the field why he was in the Yellow Jersey and won the stage giving him a 7 minute lead over his nearest competitor.

Rafal Majka had to catch up to be the third rider over the top which gives him the Polka Dot Jersey as King of the Mountains. Thibaut Pinot took over second place and increased his hold on the White Jersey.

Heinrich Haussler had to withdraw because of stomach flu, and José Joaquin Rojas was disqualified for drafting a car [riding in the vehicle’s slipstream].

The mountains are over.

Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – AST – 041 ) [Yellow] 80h 45′ 45″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – CAN – 051 ) [Green] 408 points
Rafal Majka ( Pol – TCS – 034 ) [Polka Dot] 181 points
Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 127 ) 2 [White]

Team: AG2R La Mondiale ( ALM – 081-089 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – AST – 041 )
Combative: Mikel Nieve Iturralde ( Esp – SKY – 005 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – AST – 041 )
2 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 127 ) + 07′ 10″
3 Jean-Christophe Péraud ( Fra – ALM – 081 ) + 07′ 23″
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte ( Esp – MOV – 011 ) + 07′ 25″
5 Romain Bardet ( Fra – ALM – 082 ) + 09′ 27″
6 Tejay Van Garderen ( US – BMC – 141 ) + 11′ 34″
7 Bauke Mollema ( Ned – BEL – 061 ) + 13′ 56″
8 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – BEL – 067 ) + 14′ 15″
9 Leopold Konig ( Cze – TNE – 201 ) + 14′ 37″
10 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre ( Esp – TFR – 169 ) + 16′ 25″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 151 ) + 17′ 48″
12 Frank Schleck ( Lux – TFR – 161 ) + 21′ 33″
13 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 131 ) + 29′ 58″
14 Yury Trofimov ( Rus – KAT – 029 ) + 32′ 30″
15 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – BEL – 064 ) + 34′ 30″
16 Brice Feillu ( Fra – BSE – 211 ) + 37′ 37″
17 Christopher Horner ( US – LAM – 114 ) + 39′ 28″
18 Mikel Nieve Iturralde ( Esp – SKY – 005 ) + 41′ 34″
19 John Gadret ( Fra – MOV – 013 ) + 41′ 41″
20 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 007 ) + 50′ 01″
21 Tanel Kangert ( Est – AST – 046 ) + 50′ 34″
22 Ben Gastauer ( Lux – ALM – 085 ) + 52′ 40″
23 Geraint Thomas ( GB – SKY – 008 ) + 56′ 26″
24 Cyril Gautier ( Fra – EUC – 154 ) + 57′ 15″
25 Jan Bakelants ( Bel – OPQ – 072 ) + 01h 01′ 06″
26 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 074 ) + 01h 08′ 55″
27 Michael Rogers ( Aus – TCS – 038 ) + 01h 12′ 36″
28 Peter Velits ( Svk – BMC – 149 ) + 01h 18′ 27″
29 Tony Gallopin ( Fra – LTB – 134 ) + 01h 24′ 55″
30 Arnold Jeannesson ( Fra – FDJ – 124 ) + 01h 26′ 53″

Did not finish:

Heinrich Haussler ( Aus – IAM – 194 )

Disqualified:

José Joaquin Rojas Gil ( Esp – MOV – 018 )

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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