Tour De France 2014 Stage 18: Pau - Hautacam

[monty1104]

Last night saw Rafal Majka continue his, and Tinkoff's good form with a stage win. To go with that, Majka now has a commanding lead in the KOM category, father Rodeiguez couldn't go with him on the final climb.

Stage 18: Pau - Hautacam
Current Jersey Leaders
Yellow: Vincenzo Nibail (AST)
White: Thibaut Pinot (FDJ)
Green: Peter Sagan (CAN)
Polkadot: Rafal Majka (SAX)
Lantern Rouge: Ji Cheng (GSH)
Team: AG2R La Mondiale

• Km 28.0 - Côte de Bénéjacq2.6 kilometre-long climb at 6.7% - category 3

• Km 56.0 - Côte de Loucrup2 kilometre-long climb at 7% - category 3

• Km 95.5 - Col du Tourmalet (2 115 m) (Souvenir Jacques Goddet) 17.1 kilometre-long climb at 7.3% - category HC

• Km 145.5 - Montée du Hautacam (1 520 m)13.6 kilometre-long climb at 7.8% - category HC

General Classification after Stage 17
ITA 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) 76:41:28
ESP 2 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 5:26
FRA 3 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr) + 6:00
FRA 4 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 6:08
FRA 5 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 7:34
USA 6 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 10:19
NED 7 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) + 11:59
NED 8 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN) + 12:16
CZE 9 KONIG, Leopold (NETAPP - ENDURA) + 12:40
FRA 10 ROLLAND, Pierre (EUROPCAR) + 13:15

Tonight we get to see one of the mythical climbs of Europe; the Col du Tourmalet. As tradition dictates, the first rider over the top will win the Souvenir Jacques Goddet. Expect tonight to be very much like the last two nights, with Raf Majka and Rodriguez making the break and battling it out for the polka dot jersey. Majka does have a good lead here, but with 85 points available tonight, Rodriguez can still get the win. In fact, i think Rodriguez will get the stage win tonight too.

Watch out for: Dieter Senft, or as we all know him "The Devil". Haven't seen too much of him this year, but hopefully he will make himself known on Hautacam.

Conversation regarding past cases of PED use or innuendo surrounding current riders will not be tolerated. This thread is specifically about Stage 18 of the 2014 Tour de France, so let's keep it that way.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

Always love the Tourmalet - one of the iconic climbs.

 

[Donakebab]

Nice to flick over during the ads and see the Australian mens pursuit team qualify 1.3 seconds ahead of the Pommy team including Wiggo.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

As I said, Tourmalet is a classic climb, which got me thinking about the other great and iconic Tour climbs. A couple spring to mind and I looked a few up. The Tour has been over the Tourmalet 83 times since 1910, it seems we visit it pretty much every year. The Galibier 31 times (since 1947 - just about every other year). while Alpe d'Huez was first climbed in 1952, it wasn't used again until '76 but since then the tour has been up it 28 times (twice last year). That's 28 out of 38. This is one of the rare years we haven't gone up it.

Which brings me to what I think might be the most iconic of all - Mont Ventoux - which has only been climbed 15 times since 1951. Why so few times? We go up and over these other climbs better than every other year, but Mont Ventoux is a massive rarity. Anyone shed any light on the reasons we don't get to see it more often?

 

[Donakebab]

Location maybe? No real big climbs around it so hard to have it in a chain of climbing days without it getting repetitive?

It's my favourite climb, but maybe it helps keep it special that it doesn't appear regularly.

 

[monty1104]

Location maybe? No real big climbs around it so hard to have it in a chain of climbing days without it getting repetitive?

It's my favourite climb, but maybe it helps keep it special that it doesn't appear regularly.

Probably right, there aren't any mountains even remotely close to the size of Ventoux nearby.

Personally I think Alpe d'Huez is more iconic, but there is no doubt that the major French climbs (Huez, Ventoux, Tourmalet, Galibier) are held in higher regard than the other great climbs of Europe (Zoncolan, Angrillu, Stelvio, Gavia). I really enjoyed the stage up Mount Etna in 2011 though.

 

[monty1104]

Thinking about it now, the climb that sticks in my mind the most was the Passo Fedaia. They raced it on stage 15 in the 2011 giro, and Nieve won the stage in a time of 7h27'14". Just an amazing climb

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

I also love that even in this day and age of high tech and sports science, nothing beats a bit of newspaper shoved down your shirt for the decent.

 

[phantom13]

Valverde on the descent is awesome

 

[Donakebab]

JACK WATTS!

 

[Donakebab]

Cool to see Horner attack at his age, but damn Nibali is an absolute monster this year.

 

[Shawn Dowd]

Nibali's stone cold no suffering face reminds me of something…

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Which brings me to what I think might be the most iconic of all - Mont Ventoux - which has only been climbed 15 times since 1951. Why so few times? We go up and over these other climbs better than every other year, but Mont Ventoux is a massive rarity. Anyone shed any light on the reasons we don't get to see it more often?

The Tour De France, aside from a bike race, is a massive tourism advert for France.

I know I'm off to Europe next year for work and am extending and at this stage planning on lodging somewhere near grenoble so I can drive around the Alps, including ALp D'huez and the Galibier. These are things I wouldn't have considered pre 2008/09 when i started watching the tour.

Mont Ventoux is epic from a cycling point of view but the baron landscape isn't all that enticing.

I wonder whether this is why they avoid it more often than not - doesn't really sell France that well