After the peloton got to taste the air of the Alps for the first time today, tomorrow they will finally truly arrive in the high mountains. What awaits is one of the hardest passes in France, the Col de la Madeleine, and the undoubtedly (or maybe not) hardest climb in the history of the Tour de France, the Col de la Loze.
Profile:
Map:
Timetable:
Start: 12:30
Intermediate Sprint: 13:53/13:48/13:44
Col de la Madeleine: 15:45/15:34/15:24
Finish: 17:38/17:21/17:05
Climbs:
First on the Menu tomorrow is the Col de la Madeleine, one of the Alps most famous passes, regularly used in the Tour, however last used from this side back in 2013. Back then Pierre Rolland took the maximum k.o.m. points at the top something he his certain to try again. The climb should have featured in the grand finale of last years Tour but was victim to the shortening of stage 20. A year later it finally makes its return albeit quite far out and looking at the final climb with relatively little chance of moves from the main gc guys.
That however was the easier climb of the day as the stage finishes on a completely new climb, that has actually only been paved a few years back. The Col de la Loze is a pass that connects the famous skiing areas of Méribel and Courchevel, although of course the riders never descend down to Courchevel on this route. The profile doesn't look that bad as long as they stay on the old road to the town of Méribel, but once they arrive on the new road it's getting steeper and steeper with the last 5 km having an average gradient of 10%. That on well over 2000 metres of altitude should be a good recipe for carnage. Let's hope the riders will deliver.
General classification after Stage 16
Profile:
Map:
Timetable:
Start: 12:30
Intermediate Sprint: 13:53/13:48/13:44
Col de la Madeleine: 15:45/15:34/15:24
Finish: 17:38/17:21/17:05
Climbs:
First on the Menu tomorrow is the Col de la Madeleine, one of the Alps most famous passes, regularly used in the Tour, however last used from this side back in 2013. Back then Pierre Rolland took the maximum k.o.m. points at the top something he his certain to try again. The climb should have featured in the grand finale of last years Tour but was victim to the shortening of stage 20. A year later it finally makes its return albeit quite far out and looking at the final climb with relatively little chance of moves from the main gc guys.
That however was the easier climb of the day as the stage finishes on a completely new climb, that has actually only been paved a few years back. The Col de la Loze is a pass that connects the famous skiing areas of Méribel and Courchevel, although of course the riders never descend down to Courchevel on this route. The profile doesn't look that bad as long as they stay on the old road to the town of Méribel, but once they arrive on the new road it's getting steeper and steeper with the last 5 km having an average gradient of 10%. That on well over 2000 metres of altitude should be a good recipe for carnage. Let's hope the riders will deliver.
General classification after Stage 16
- Primoz Roglic
- Tadej Pogacar + 0.40
- Rigoberto Uran + 1.34
- Miguel Ángel López + 1.45
- Adam Yates + 2.03
- Richie Porte + 2.13
- Mikel Landa + 2.16
- Enric Mas + 3.15
- Tom Dumoulin + 5.19
- Nairo Quintana + 5.43
- Sam Bennett 269
- Peter Sagan 224
- Matteo Trentin 212
- Bryan Coquard 166
- Caleb Ewan 158
- Benoît Cosnefroy 36
- Pierre Rolland 36
- Tadej Pogacar 34
- Primoz Roglic 33
- Nans Peters 32
- Tadej Pogacar
- Enric Mas + 2.35
- Egan Bernal + 18.24
- Valentin Madouas + 1.20.34
- Daniel Felipe Martinez + 1.23.51