Tour de France Tour de France 2023, stage 12: Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais, 168.8k

[Netserk]

Why is the Col de la Casse Froide 3rd category and the Col de la Croix Montmain 2nd?

You have to draw the line somewhere.

But given the graph Linkinitouille made, both should have been cat. 2.

I think they operate with a mild cap on cat. 2 and beyond.

 

[rallybanana]

Interesting route for a spectator. With a good mountain bike and some careful planning, you could watch the race on the Col des Ecorbans, Col de la Casse Froide, and the Col de la Croix Rosier. The distance between these points on the route is 100km but using the back roads and tracks it's just 20km.

Maybe @Danskebjerge will try it

The chance of seeing the riders more than once (as a spectator)

The routes of the Tour de France rarely have circuits, so it's normally impossible to be standing at the roadside and watch the riders more than once a day. But maybe it can be done on some of the mountains - or is it just to steep and too crowded if you try to "run across" the hairpins? I...

forum.cyclingnews.com

 

[bob.a.feet]

Victor Lafay will win. He's in top form and has been taking it easy since his early victory.

 

[svit]

I think this is a stage for Matej Mohorič.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

UAE to pull for the cringe bonus sprint and the stage win.

I think that's a plausible scenario. Not sure why cringe though, they are just on a few stages. An alternate scenario is another breakaway win as UAE will want to save themselves for the weekend.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Why is the Col de la Casse Froide 3rd category and the Col de la Croix Montmain 2nd?

IMHO the first two Cat 1's in Stage 14 are even bigger headscratchers.

 

[Cookster15]

Nice route with a sting in its tail. Stage is made for a breakaway. Most likely Vingegaard and Pogacar's teams will save themselves for Friday's resumption of hostilities.

 

[Gratemans]

2 GC favorites with full teams on stage 12 (unless Mrs WvA gives birth soon). I wonder what odds would have been given for that to happen on stage 1?

Stage 12 will be the one everyone will be talking about after the Tour - you may laugh, you may scoff, you may even laugh and scoff, but it'll be a decider.

No laughing or scoffing from me. (Unless you think there's gonna be GC action from the start). Let Jumbo control the stage and go completely berserk with the whole team on those last three climbs might very well be UAE's masterplan.
Don't know if it would work, or even be wise, but I'd applaud them for trying.

 

[Ulle97]

Nice route with a sting in its tail. Stage is made for a breakaway. Most likely Vingegaard and Pogacar's teams will save themselves for Friday's resumption of hostilities.

I agree, I think Ving and Pog have ridden incredibly aggressively in the first week. I don't think they can keep that infernal intensity going all the way....... my bet is there will be no major gaps between the favourites tomorrow.


Friday will see the resumption of GC action.


PS......Waiting for someone to repost my comment tomorrow evening stating- 'This aged well. '

 

[SHAD0W93]

I just hope UAE is able to jump the tiger while the crocodile swims and they jump, or whatever it all means.

 

[Jan the Man]

I agree, I think Ving and Pog have ridden incredibly aggressively in the first week. I don't think they can keep that infernal intensity going all the way....... my bet is there will be no major gaps between the favourites tomorrow.


Friday will see the resumption of GC action.


PS......Waiting for someone to repost my comment tomorrow evening stating- 'This aged well. '

I tend to agree with you, but i suspect will be dictated by how quickly a breakaway goes. If a break forms very early then I think the break takes it and peleton just takes it easy. If it takes a while for any break to go or one not formed in first 40/50km (difficult to see) then I think it may get interesting GC wise

 

[YavorD]

I agree, I think Ving and Pog have ridden incredibly aggressively in the first week. I don't think they can keep that infernal intensity going all the way....... my bet is there will be no major gaps between the favourites tomorrow.


Friday will see the resumption of GC action.


PS......Waiting for someone to repost my comment tomorrow evening stating- 'This aged well. '

I'm not positive about GC action on Friday as well. With the profile of Grand Colombier, the dynamic between the two and with the weekend ahead, I'll be surprised if we see anything other than a bunch sprint.

 

[dobrien]

I have to confess that I am finding these 3 days uninteresting.......... I'm just waiting for Friday again and the GC battle re-commence ......... God knows how I'd have survived in the old days when the first 8/9 stages were flat sprint fests

This looks like it could spark some pretty great racing; I would not lump it in with Tuesday and Wednesday. I personally love these types of finales and think we could see action from a long ways out. To each his or her own of course!

 

[dobrien]

2 GC favorites with full teams on stage 12 (unless Mrs WvA gives birth soon). I wonder what odds would have been given for that to happen on stage 1?

Stage 12 will be the one everyone will be talking about after the Tour - you may laugh, you may scoff, you may even laugh and scoff, but it'll be a decider.

I think I'm agreeing with this. I love this profile and think we are going to see some very surprising action; it will be better than Friday I think.

 

[RobertCrawley]

This is another chance to Alaphilippe and Wout to give it a crack. I'm sure they'll give it their best shot.

 

[Lequack]

I think they will send Soler in the breakaway and he will win.

 

[Tonton]

That one looks to be for the break, a good climber with sprinting abilities stands a chance. I think that Lafay or Barguil may go for this one, the GC and sprinters' teams won't care too much and their chances on Friday are slim.

Powless should go in the break, get enough points that he can "rest" the next day and go at it again on the way to Morzine. Alaf"? He can't win on the Grand Colombier. Love would come on the eve of the national holiday, making the news and saving his Tour.

Woods can win this bike race.

 

[Gratemans]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced we'll see major GC action here.
The day after is just a short 137 km stage with a pretty meh climb inbetween that ends at the Grand Colombier. Which starts out pretty tough but flattens out quite a bit over the last 5 km's. After 137 relatively easy km's, this one hardly seems tough enough for Tadej or Jonas to hurt eachother imo.

It might be wishful thinking, but I'm predicting GC mayhem tomorrow. Attackers to still take the stage though.

* edit* and in the end, the Tour will be decided at stage 17.

 

[Boehmand]

I think we'll see much the same riders as we did on stage 10 for this one.

I'd like to say it's a Magnus Cort kind of day, but I think the final climb is too tough for him, unless he gets in a break without pure climbers.

Temperatures will be a mild 23-25 C, which will mean more riders will have something left in the end, and it will be less of a war of attrition than stage 10 was.

I question if Van Aert gets to go, with 3 tough mountain stages coming up the next 3 days. I think Jumbo has bigger fish to fry than his personal ambitions for a stage win - and no, I do not think it will be a GC day because of the 3 stages coming up.

It will be tougher for Woods to repeat his win from stage 9, because there is 20 K up and down after the descent from the last climb, so it will be easier to catch a lone rider back.

Woods, Neilands, Madouas, Ciccone, Skjelmose (who will struggle less with heat), Gall, Zimmermann (this time in a proper gear for the sprint), Jorgenson, Mohoric and Alaphilippe are the guys I expect to fight for the win.

If Trek get both Ciccone and Skjelmose in the break, it will be a great chance for them, especially as Trek will probably dedicate the whole team to it, so they will have help along the way.

 

[Amazinmets87]

That one looks to be for the break, a good climber with sprinting abilities stands a chance. I think that Lafay or Barguil may go for this one, the GC and sprinters' teams won't care too much and their chances on Friday are slim.

Powless should go in the break, get enough points that he can "rest" the next day and go at it again on the way to Morzine. Alaf"? He can't win on the Grand Colombier. Love would come on the eve of the national holiday, making the news and saving his Tour.

Woods can win this bike race.

Woods can sprint?

 

[Tonton]

Woods can sprint?

He stood up to Valverde. I'll never take away from him. And there's no Valverde.

 

[Cookster15]

He stood up to Valverde. I'll never take away from him. And there's no Valverde.

Yes. Lest we forget Woods was certainly not shamed when he led out the sprint against Valverde and Bardet in Innsbruck 2018. And he managed that after leading most of the way up the impossibly steep final climb in the hardest edition of the worlds for many years.

Michael Woods can’t be discounted tomorrow as he looks to be in the best form I have noticed since 2018.

 

[laarsland]

Chance for Cosnefroy to prove he’s actually riding this Tour.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Count them. Four aces. JDP Dominant.

 

[houtdffan]

this would have been the perfect stage for a Remco raid