Le Tour 2016 – Stage 10

Escaldes-Engordany to Revel

Distance: 197 kilometers.

A transition stage that crosses the border back into France. It starts with a Cat 1 climb over the highest point in this year’s Tour, the 2408 meter Port d’Envalirat. Near the end of the stage is the Cat 3 Côte de Saint-Ferréol. The rest day won’t help a lot.

Australian Michael Matthews won his first TDF stage as team mates set him to beat Peter Sagan in the sprint at the end. If you see a few of these endings you get a feeling for the work of lead off riders to set up their sprinter to take and hold the lead.

Sebastian Langeveld had to give up. While they haven’t all been as spectacular as the fall of the inflatable arch on Stage 7, there have been crashes on every stage that left riders hurting. I thought the climb at the start would have taken out more riders.

Christopher Froome ( GBR – SKY – 001 ) [Yellow] 49h 08′ 20″
Peter Sagan ( SVK – TNK – 032 ) [Green] 242 points
Thibaut Pinot ( FRA – FDL – 121 ) [Polka Dot] 80 points
Adam Yates ( GBR – OBE – 209 ) 2 [White]

Team: BMC Racing Team ( BMC – 091-099 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Michael Matthews ( AUS – OBE – 207 )
Combative: Peter Sagan ( SVK – TNK – 032 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Christopher Froome ( GBR – SKY – 001 )
2 Adam Yates ( GBR – OBE – 209 ) + 00′ 16″
3 Daniel Martin ( IRL – EQS – 184 ) + 00′ 19″
4 Nairo Quintana ( COL – MOV – 011 ) + 00′ 23″
5 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ( ESP – KAT – 141 ) + 00′ 37″
6 Bauke Mollema ( NED – TFS – 061 ) + 00′ 44″
7 Romain Bardet ( FRA – ALM – 041 ) + 00′ 44″
8 Sergio Luis Henao ( COL – SKY – 002 ) + 00′ 44″
9 Louis Meintjes ( RSA – LAM – 157 ) + 00′ 55″
10 Alejandro Valverde ( ESP – MOV – 012 ) + 01′ 01″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 099 ) + 01′ 01″
12 Roman Kreuziger ( CZE – TNK – 036 ) + 01′ 16″
13 Fabio Aru ( ITA – AST – 021 ) + 01′ 23″
14 Richie Porte ( AUS – BMC – 091 ) + 02′ 10″
15 Warren Barguil ( FRA – TGA – 111 ) + 02′ 51″
16 Geraint Thomas ( GBR – SKY – 009 ) + 03′ 20″
17 Pierre Rolland ( FRA – CDT – 081 ) + 04′ 01″
18 Sébastien Reichenbach ( SUI – FDL – 126 ) + 05′ 22″
19 Wilco Kelderman ( NED – TLJ – 051 ) + 05′ 28″
20 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( BEL – KAT – 147 ) + 05′ 33″
21 Damiano Caruso ( ITA – BMC – 094 ) + 05′ 35″
22 Mikel Nieve ( ESP – SKY – 005 ) + 07′ 30″
23 Emanuel Buchmann ( GER – BOA – 131 ) + 08′ 48″
24 Frank Schleck ( LUX – TFS – 065 ) + 11′ 20″
25 Mathias Frank ( SUI – IAM – 071 ) + 12′ 00″
26 Tanel Kangert ( EST – AST – 025 ) + 15′ 30″
27 Thibaut Pinot ( FRA – FDL – 121 ) + 15′ 39″
28 Eduardo Sepulveda ( ARG – FVC – 211 ) + 16′ 57″
29 Alexis Vuillermoz ( FRA – ALM – 049 ) + 19′ 44″
30 Domenico Pozzovivo ( ITA – ALM – 048 ) + 20′ 50″

Did not finish:

145 Sebastian Langeveld ( NED – CDT – 086 )

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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