Tour de France Stage 19: Olly Olly Oxen Free!
Echelons in the crosswinds! Today’s the day to go for a break if you still want to win a stage but it’s a bit of a snoozer
The first 40 kilometers were more exciting than the next 172, but the last 10 made up for it. The peloton ignored an early break, and it was clear that they were going to succeed. They fought hard for the first hour; every man in it was set free to do his best for a solo win, and they wanted to shake their compatriots.
A stage win wasn’t the only goal. It’s traditional for riders to seek a victory on their national holiday, and today, that’s Belgian National Day. Riders from Belgium have been in a break nearly every day, and they were well-represented by Jan Bakelants, Jens Keukeleire, and Thomas De Gendt.
For Bakelants, a second honor was possible: A big enough lead would put his team, AG2R La Mondiale, in first place for the team competition over Chris Froome’s Team Sky. AG2r captain Romain Bardet may not beat Froome for the overall lead, but this was a chance for the team to win to get a small honor.
What about the Nirvana cover band?
If you missed it, I took a terrible phone video. The lead singer doesn’t quite have the whine of Kurt Cobain, but it was an entertaining moment in an otherwise sedate stage.
Froome didn’t go for it?
I’m not trying to nitpick the guy, he’s clearly an incredible cyclist. He didn’t put on much of a show, though. I don’t think he took enough chances or put on a daring enough Tour this year. He’s winning without winning a single stage — a rare feat, and not one he’s likely to brag about. He’s ridden slower than Romain Bardet or Rigoberto Uran, except for on one day: The first stage time trial.
To top it off, he’s had a disappointing season: Fourth overall in the Criterium du Dauphine and sixth in the Herald Sun Tour. The rest of the general classification has made up for it with plenty of fireworks, but Froome’s performance never shone.
Today was no different. Team Sky sat at the front, briefly forming an echelon purely due to the crosswind, but never making a move or even trying to reel in the breakaway. Kudos to them for their yellow jersey victory and team competition win, but let’s hope for something a little different next year.
Back to that break…
Sorry, I fell asleep for a second there! OK, after about 172 kilometers of chill riding, the attacks began in earnest. Keukeleire had split the field and dragged eight other riders up with him after 204 kilometers together, and they were a wary, cagey bunch. They sat and watched each other as the pace kept picking up, riding at a fast enough tempo that none of the attempts came clear.
Edvald Boasson Hagen and Michael Albasini made the first real attacks, and were instantly brought back in and sat back looking relaxed. Boasson Hagen has had a disappointing Tour so far; he lost his Dimension Data captain Mark Cavendish early on, and has been pipped on the line or had his breaks reeled in.
The decisive move would come with 2.5 kilometers left. Boasson Hagen and Nikias Arndt, of 4-stage winning Team Sunweb, went right around the roundabout, while the other breakaways went left. It was the right way to go, but Arndt simply can’t hold on, and Boasson Hagen goes solo with 2 kilometers to go.
The gap never grew much, but Boasson Hagen held it easily, whipping through technical turns and curves and staying just ahead. He’d finish with five seconds on Arndt, making it his third victory at the Tour de France, and his 56th victory overall.
After Arndt, Keukeleire led a small bunch in with a 17-second deficit, and the members of the shattered breakaway rolled in one by one. It’s a huge victory for Dimension Data, which was unlikely to have many wins even if they kept Cav; their sprinter began the Tour having just recovered from glandular fever, and was off-form.
What’s still up? Most aggressive?
“If it’s Sylvain Chavanel I’m leaving, you can’t be serious.” — Matthew Keenan
Robbie McEwen suggests it’ll be Chavanel, which makes Keenan recoil, and the two men wait to find out the winner, nearly an hour after the finish by Boasson Hagen. Hopefully it’s a consolation prize for Keukeleire on Belgium National Day, awarded for his frequent attacks and forming the winning breakaway.
With the polka-dot and green jerseys both locked down, and no award for most aggressive tomorrow, it’s all coming in to the finish.
Tomorrow is the time trial…
Tomorrow is the penultimate day. Is there any chance that Chris Froome won’t win the yellow jersey in Paris? Virtually none. Of his top rivals, it’s only Rigoberto Uran who has ever time trialed well, and that was a year ago. His most recent effort on stage 1 lost him 50 seconds to Froome.
There won’t be a most aggressive rider tomorrow; that award will be given for the entire race on Sunday, the super-combativity award, to a rider selected by a jury of eight. It may be the rider who spent the most time overall in breaks, or the rider who attacked the most, or the rider who won the stage award the most often; we’ll have to wait and see. I expect we’ll see them award it to one of the soon-to-be-retired veterans.
The more exciting race tomorrow will be the women’s pursuit time trial, held on the same course before the men’s event begins. Join me for the recap!
That’s it?
Almost. Today was a weird format! Why a hilly kind of flat stage just before a time trial for the last two stages before Paris? Who knows? I’m hoping the organizers shake up the formula a little for next year.
Thanks for reading! I write about cycling and am currently blogging the 2017 Tour de France here on Medium.
Visit my personal website at davidstreever.com.
Just tuning in? Check out the recap of La Course and the 18th stage from yesterday, with a GC battle on the Col d’Izoard:
