Posted on 07/18/2006 10:11:39 PM PDT by nutmeg
Stage 16: Bourg d'Oisans to La Toussuire -182km
Course: If L'Alpe d'Huez does not decide the Tour's likely outcome, then this even tougher day in the Alps should do the job. The survivors first ride the 34km back to the top of the Lautaret, where a left turn takes them another 8.6km at 6.7 percent to the top of the Galibier - the Tour's highest point at 8681 feet above sea level.
After the 35km descent of the Galibier and intermediate Col du Télégraphe, the next 23km is down the Maurienne Valley. Of the remaining 79km, some 47km are uphill, in three separate climbs: the 23km Col de la Croix de Fer, the 6km Col du Mollard and the 18km grind to the finish at La Toussuire. ...) At 4km longer than L'Alpe d'Huez, and at the end of a grueling menu of 17,000 feet of climbing, La Toussuire could well be the "new" Alpe.
History: A stage has never finished at La Toussuire.
Favorites: Given its length, intensity and critical positioning, this stage is almost certain to designate the final podium, so Landis, Evans and Leipheimer will again be vying for ascendancy with Menchov, Sastre, Andreas Klöden and Michael Rogers. It should be spectacular!
Graphics by CyclingNews.com
Its fun reading whats written on the French version of letour.fr, since the English version isn't a translation of what is written by the French writer. It seems that letour.fr has a both French writer and an English writer. (as well as a German writer and Spanish writer, I suppose)
I only have a basic grasp of the language, but being of French Canadian descent, its fun.
Dessel has impressed me, I thought he would shell bigtime on L'alpe D'Huez, but yet here he is still plugging away.
Levi has 3 minutes on the Groupe Maillot Jaune. Which moves him up all of 1 position on the GC. Another 2 minutes and he'll be in 3rd tho'...
Rasmussen is on the Col Du Mallord. Only a Cat 2 climb,mainly because it is so short, but it is still a tough climb 150KM into a killer stage.
And "Col du Mollard" can be translate in "Moutain pass of the spit"
Everyone thought Dessel would be off the leaderboard by now, but he's still going strong.
I can't see Landis, Sastre, Dessel, etc letting him get away though.
As a Frenchman, if Dessel makes it onto the final podium on the Champs-Élysées, that would make him...like...Vanilla Ice famous.
You too eh? I'm about half canuck, but stopped taking French in 6th grade when I learned that nouns were divided between masculine and feminine and had different modifiers. That was just too odd for me. Then I learned that English is one of the few languages that doesn't do that...
Levi is still flying, he is about to catch Valjevic. Cesar is gamely hanging on to Levi, but he looks whipped, he will drop on the next climb for sure.
Didn't Levi suggest, in a low-key way, that his problems on the first TT were due to some transient physical problem?
As in, "if you spit off of it just right, you might nail someone on top of the dome down in St-Jean-de-Maurienne."
While they are all concentrating on Landis however, Levi might just run away and hide on them.
If Landis gets out of this stage still in good shape, it may go down as one of the best solo efforts in a long time. He has no less than 4 teams trying to hammer him down at the moment.
LOL!!! Better than Col du Cracher! OUCH! Bienvenu, Republicain!
It sounds like the peloton has gained some ground on Leipheimer.
Merckx looked ready to drop,now he is back on Landis wheel and they are moving toward the front of the Peleton.
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