Tour de France 2016, July 18, Stage 16: Moirans-en-Montagne / Berne *SPOILERS*

Melodeon

Date: Monday 18th July
Type: Hilly
Distance: 209Km
Start/Finish: Moirans-en-Montagne / Berne

Stage Map:



Stage Profile:



Finale:



The General Classification after Stage 15:



Preview (© http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/):

The first part of the stage uses some winding roads, and there are a few stiffer climbs when the route switches between valleys.

At first the stage goes north, then it heads east to the finish. It will be a difficult stage for a sprinter to win. There’s a pause in the route’s undulations just before Berne, but the riders face a steep climb to the finish.

It’s possible that a sprinter could win today, but the uphill finish could mean it comes down to the puncheurs. The lull in the climbing before Berne will allow the fastmen’s teams to gain control, although the climb to the finish does them no favours, again!

Trek-Segafredo will be trying to deliver Fabian Cancellara to a stage win in his home town in his final Tour de France.

LIVE TV:
TG4 - 1.10pm
Eurosport 1 - 1.00pm
ITV4 - 2.00pm

HIGHLIGHTS:
TG4 - 8.00pm
Eurosport 2 - 6.00pm
Eurosport 1 - 8.30pm
ITV4 - 7.00pm

LE TOUR BY LEMONDE:
Eurosport 1 - 12.15am

Inquitus

Sagan, GVA, maybe Spartacus because it's his final TDF stage into his home town.

Bookies take on it:

Sagan - 5/1
Kristoff - 8/1
Cav - 12/1
Spartacus - 12/1
Coquard - 14/1
Kittel - 14/1
GVA - 18/1
The Gorilla - 18/1
Bling - 18/1
EBH - 25/1
Alaphilippe - 33/1
Cummings - 40/1

retalivity

Do the bookies give the nickname in the odds as well

A weird stage before a rest day. Sagan to ruin the fabianparty

bazermc

What, no rest day???

C3PO

bazermc wrote: »

What, no rest day???

Tomorrow, I think?

gordongekko

Sammy Bennett to get his top 10 finish today.

cunavalos

Today is Mandela day so expect a big effort from Dimension Data. Remember last year Mandela day was the day Cummings mugged Pinot and Bardet.
Another long shot is Darryl Impey who looked very strong when helping Matthews win stage 10 but may not get the opportunity as the stage finish suits Matthews

Lusk_Doyle

cunavalos wrote: »

Today is Mandela day so expect a big effort from Dimension Data. Remember last year Mandela day was the day Cummings mugged Pinot and Bardet.
Another long shot is Darryl Impey who looked very strong when helping Matthews win stage 10 but may not get the opportunity as the stage finish suits Matthews

If it suits MM then EBH should be in with a shout too.

cunavalos

Alaphillippe and Tony Martin have broken away and will attempt a 200km two man TT

gordongekko

cunavalos wrote: »

Alaphillippe and Tony Martin have broken away and will attempt a 200km two man TT

Brilliant

pelevin

Alaphillippe & Bardet are 2 young French riders easy to like in terms of racing attitude.

gordongekko

pelevin wrote: »

Alaphillippe & Bardet are 2 young French riders easy to like in terms of racing attitude.

Alaphillippe hasn't done much to help Dan out.

neris

this is boring

cunavalos

gordongekko wrote: »

Alaphillippe hasn't done much to help Dan out.

He was never meant to help Dan out. Lefevre selected him to do his own thing so was cleared of any domestique duty.

"We are bringing a French rider to the Tour for the first time in years, and everybody knows how talented Julian Alaphilippe is," Lefevere said. "He won the Tour of California and had a great Dauphiné, fighting hard to book a place in our team for Le Tour. Now the moment has come to give him the opportunity to discover the race and see how far he can go, without putting any pressure on him.

irishrover99

peloton are not gonna let them two much of a gap

gordongekko

cunavalos wrote: »

He was never meant to help Dan out. Lefevre selected him to do his own thing so was cleared of any domestique duty.

Where did it say that?

cunavalos

gordongekko wrote: »

Where did it say that?

Sorry, it was an interview with LeFevre on cyclingnews
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/etixx-quickstep-name-team-to-support-kittel-for-tour-de-france-stage-wins/

gordongekko

cunavalos wrote: »

Sorry, it was an interview with LeFevre on cyclingnews
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/etixx-quickstep-name-team-to-support-kittel-for-tour-de-france-stage-wins/

Sorry I meant where in the article did it say he wouldn't ride for Dan?

cunavalos

gordongekko wrote: »

Sorry I meant where in the article did it say he wouldn't ride for Dan?

To be honest looking back on the interview it was probably a misinterpretation on my behalf, I suppose it would be correct to say he was not selected to work as a domestique for Dan (in the Team Sky definition).

Alaphilippe admitted himself he would do his best to help Dan in the high mountains http://cyclingtips.com/2016/07/dan-martin-feeling-great-as-tour-de-france-heads-for-familiar-roads/

The biggest problem for Dan is that Alaphilippe is getting dropped by the Sky train before he can be of any use to Dan.

Another possibility is now that any realistic chance of a top 5 on GC is gone for Dan and seeing that Kittel is misfiring, Etixx are in the need for stage wins and yesterday and today were seen as opportunities for Alaphilippe to get an all important stage win. The question is will he be able to recover sufficiently to help Dan in the high mountains later in the week.

68 lost souls

Missed who got the sprint? Was it contested?

gordongekko

68 lost souls wrote: »

Missed who got the sprint? Was it contested?

Nearly 40 km to go

Eamonnator

68 lost souls wrote: »

Missed who got the sprint? Was it contested?

Sagan got 3rd place, not contested, Cav rolled in after him.

Gallant_JJ

All together 22km to go.

Brian?

Have money on GvA each way. It's a treacherous finish.

Thud

Sam 6mins back so won't be involved

Thud

gotta be Spartacus now

irishrover99

more gaps for froome?

godtabh

some deviation from sagan

Brian?

Thud wrote: »

gotta be Spartacus now

Flattened out too far before the finish

Sagan wins it.

Moflojo

Sagan you beauty!

Brian?

godtabh wrote: »

some deviation from sagan

After the line though, no?