Tour de France: Stage 17 Live Thread (Thursday, July 20, 2006) Col de Joux-Plane

VeloNews.com ^ | July 20, 2006 | VeloNews.com

[nutmeg]

Stage 17: St. Jean de Maurienne to Morzine-Avoriaz -200.5km

Course: This is almost identical to the stage in 2000 when Marco Pantani attacked on the first climb (the 15km, 6.4-percent Saisies) and forced Armstrong's U.S. Postal squad to chase for 100km over the Aravis, Colombière and Châtillon climbs to the foot of the day's main obstacle: the mighty Col de Joux-Plane (11.7km at 8.7 percent). It was partway up the Joux-Plane that Armstrong bonked and could only watch as Ullrich and others rode away from him, and he conceded almost two minutes by the finish in Morzine.

History: Morzine has seen 13 finishes of the Tour, including that one six years ago, which was the last time the ultra-steep Joux-Plane was climbed in the Tour. The only Tour winner to win a stage into Morzine was Pantani, who scored a solo victory here in 1997, the year before he won the Tour. Morzine's mountaintop neighbor, Avoriaz, has seen stage wins by two other Tour champions, Lucien Van Impe and Bernard Hinault.

Favorites: If riders are still battling for podium spots, then the Joux-Plane climb and descent suits Leipheimer and Landis. But it's more likely that a long-distance break will succeed, giving a rider like Michael Rasmussen a chance to win the stage and the King of the Mountains competition.

Graphics by CyclingNews.com

[kevkrom]

I'd give anything to be able to crawl through that TV screen & stand over there on the side of the road right now to scream my lungs out for him!

If you scream loudly enough from where you are, he'll hear you (just remember the latency of the speed of sound).

[green iguana]

That must include what he's poured over his head. 6 gallons is too much to drink.

[Eurotwit]

They took one minute, but the gap has stabilised. They also burned out a few riders doing it.

Ooops. 7.30 now.

[kevkrom]

7'25"?

[gopwinsin04]

16:14 CEST 172.5km/28km to go Even Pereiro is suffering to hold onto the pace of the chasers ahead of him. Remarkable ride by Landis, who looks so smooth. He comes up to the sprint in Verchaix.

16:16 CEST 173.5km/27km to go The chase is even splitting the peloton on the flat, which is about 35 riders strong. But somehow, Landis holds his eight minute gap

[Vision]

Landis said in an interview this morning that he had enough food/water. I think it was the beer:D

[gopwinsin04]

Current race situation

Floyd Landis (Phonak - 11th on GC at 8'08), Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)
Patrice Halgand (CA) at 5'10
Group maillot jaune (35 riders) at 7'23

[Eurotwit]

The only bonus is that with all that liquid going through the system, some of it would end up on Sinkewitz.

He's annoying me there hanging at the back wheel :-)

[BaBaStooey]

Floyd picks up 6 more seconds at the sprint.

The lead is now 8:05

Virtual GC update (including Floyd's 10 bonus seconds):

Pos. N° Name Surname Team Nat. Gaps
1 071 LANDIS Floyd PHO USA
2 097 PEREIRO SIO Oscar CEI ESP 11"
3 014 SASTRE Carlos CSC ESP 02' 01"
4 021 KLÖDEN Andréas TMO GER 02' 40"
5 035 DESSEL Cyril A2R FRA 02' 54"
6 061 EVANS Cadel DVL AUS 03' 07"

Remember that Floyd can also get a 0:20 bonus for winning the stage, 0:12 for second, or 0:08 for third.

[green iguana]

You and me both.

[gopwinsin04]

4:18 PM French press... We have a lot of French friends in the pressroom at the Tour, and we're not usually ones to complain or give them grief, but yesterday, one headline declared that Landis had the jersey after the Alpe, but did so without class: Maillot Jaune sans Panache said the headline. Well, check the road, guys. To paraphrase our friends from Brooklyn: "We got your panache right here, pal!"

Landis got the six seconds at the sprint ahead of Sinkewitz.

[Ready4Freddy]

Loss of time to be expected here, he's all alone out there... let's see what he does on the climb to come...

16:16 - Landis Adds Six Seconds...

But Loses Virtual Lead Landis led Sinkewitz over the line in Verchaix to claim a six-second time bonus at the 2nd intermediate sprint. He is riding at around 50km/h but has lost some of his advantage over the chasing peloton which is now 7’40" behind.

[leilani]

Are there any restictions on what they can eat or drink on the course? Could he guzzle corn syrup if he wanted to?

[Vision]

Ouch, Periero has the gap down to 7'17"

[commish]

Floyd looks good still...Gap is closing, but I think we are seeing Floyd saving his legs a little, while the Peleton is going all out.

Floyd may not get Yellow, but if he still has legs on Joux-Plane, we will see a lot of the top of the GC BLOW bigtime. This gap is making them press the entire flat...just as Floyd said that yesterday he never had a chance to recover before the final climb -- today he is not giving them the chance to recover.

[green iguana]

Also meant to say at least he didn't try to steal 2 seconds from Floyd on the sprint. That would have PO'd me no end.

[af_vet_rr]

They also burned out a few riders doing it.

The teams/groups that are still intact will soon fall apart on the HC - I heard a comment earlier on another station that the last major climb of this stage could determine who wins the Tour, and I thought "hype hype hype", but now I think they have some kind of crystal ball they were gazing at.

[gopwinsin04]

16:19 CEST 177.5km/23km to go
Halgand took third in the sprint, and is 6'35 behind Landis. The bunch is at 7'13, and Landis is definitely out of the virtual yellow. But out of the race? No way.

Leipheimer sits last wheel in the bunch, getting a bidon. Kessler works on the front with Gonchar

[green iguana]

I do not know...

[Vision]

They are about to climb the Joux-Plane. This is it. I wonder what it going on inside all their heads.