Le Tour – Stage 16

Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon

Distance: 197 kilometers.

This is definitely a mountain stage following an intermediate sprint the riders face: HC – Col d’Aubisque (1709 m), HC – Col du Tourmalet (2115 m), Category 1 – Col d’Aspin (1489 m), and Category 1 – Col de Peyresourde (1569 m). The Tour is truly climbing the Pyrenees. This is no place for sprinters.

Thomas Voeckler has repeated his Stage 10 feat by taking the stage, the red numbers, and the Polka Dot jersey [by 2 points]. Cadel Evans has lost 5 minutes on Bradley Wiggins, leaving Vincenzo Nibali as his main competitor for the Yellow.

The BBC reports that Frank Schleck fails drugs test at Tour de France: “The 32-year-old, who finished third in last year’s race, tested positive for the diuretic Xipamide on 14 July.”

Xipamide is not a performance enhancer. It is a powerful diuretic used primarily to treat hypertension. It would dehydrate anyone taking it while exercising vigorously, leading to all kinds of medical problems. This sounds like a different form of “tacks in the road”.

Bradley Wiggins ( GB – SKY – 101 ) [Yellow]
Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) [Green] 356 points
Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) [Polka Dot] 107 points
Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) 6 [White]

Team: RadioShack-Nissan ( 011-019 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 )
Combative: Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) [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′ 23”
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 111 ) + 05′ 46”
5 Haimar Zubeldia ( Esp – RNT – 019 ) + 07′ 13”
6 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) + 07′ 55”
7 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 001 ) + 08′ 06”
8 Janez Brajkovic ( Slo – AST – 181 ) + 09′ 09”
9 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 029 ) + 10′ 10”
10 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 146 ) + 11′ 43”

The Rest of the Top 50:

11 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – ALM – 079 ) + 11′ 47”
12 Andréas Klöden ( Ger – RNT – 015 ) + 13′ 14”
13 Christopher Horner ( USA – RNT – 014 ) + 13′ 39”
14 Chris Anker Sorensen ( Den – STB – 178 ) + 14′ 43”
15 Jérôme Coppel ( Fra – SAU – 091 ) + 20′ 12”
16 Denis Menchov ( Rus – KAT – 131 ) + 21′ 06”
17 Maxime Monfort ( Bel – RNT – 016 ) + 21′ 26”
18 Egoi Martinez ( Esp – EUS – 035 ) + 21′ 41”
19 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 163 ) + 22′ 47”
20 Eduard Vorganov ( Rus – KAT – 139 ) + 24′ 20”
21 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 161 ) + 33′ 57”
22 Sandy Casar ( Fra – FDJ – 141 ) + 35′ 11”
23 Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) + 37′ 19”
24 Peter Velits ( Svk – OPQ – 199 ) + 42′ 43”
25 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – RAB – 157 ) + 44′ 37”
26 Michele Scarponi ( Ita – LAM – 041 ) + 46′ 27”
27 Michael Rogers ( Aus – SKY – 108 ) + 46′ 29”
28 Jelle Vanendert ( Bel – LTB – 119 ) + 48′ 22”
29 Levi Leipheimer ( USA – OPQ – 191 ) + 51′ 02”
30 Ivan Basso ( Ita – LIQ – 052 ) + 52′ 11”
31 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – RAB – 152 ) + 53′ 21”
32 Alexandre Vinokourov ( Kaz – AST – 189 ) + 53′ 41”
33 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo ( Esp – MOV – 162 ) + 55′ 38”
34 Gianpaolo Caruso ( Ita – KAT – 132 ) + 59′ 38”
35 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti ( Esp – EUS – 034 ) + 01h 00′ 44”
36 Peter Sagan ( Svk – LIQ – 057 ) + 01h 02′ 38”
37 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 107 ) + 01h 09′ 11”
38 George Hincapie ( USA – BMC – 005 ) + 01h 09′ 42”
39 Rein Taaramae ( Est – COF – 081 ) + 01h 09′ 51”
40 Rafael Valls Ferri ( Esp – VCD – 128 ) + 01h 11′ 27”
41 Jens Voigt ( Ger – RNT – 018 ) + 01h 11′ 36”
42 Philippe Gilbert ( Bel – BMC – 004 ) + 01h 16′ 43”
43 Amaël Moinard ( Fra – BMC – 006 ) + 01h 18′ 26”
44 Pierrick Fedrigo ( Fra – FDJ – 142 ) + 01h 18′ 49”
45 Andriy Grivko ( Ukr – AST – 184 ) + 01h 19′ 09”
46 Daniel Martin ( Irl – GRS – 065 ) + 01h 19′ 38”
47 Jean-Christophe Peraud ( Fra – ALM – 071 ) + 01h 20′ 14”
48 Fredrik Kessiakoff ( Swe – AST – 187 ) + 01h 21′ 57”
49 Fabrice Jeandesboz ( Fra – SAU – 095 ) + 01h 23′ 13”
50 Christian Vande Velde ( USA – GRS – 068 ) + 01h 24′ 22”

Out of the race:

DNS Frank Schleck ( Lux – RNT – 011 )
DNF Grega Bole ( Slo – LAM – 042 )
DNF Jan Ghyselinck ( Bel – COF – 086 )
DNF Vladimir Gusev ( Rus – KAT – 134 )

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.

Go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Le Tour” for all of the posts related to the race on this site.