Tour de France Stage 15 Report

July 14, Stage 15: Givors – Mont Ventoux 242.5km

Tour de France: Froome crowned king of Mont Ventoux

Article Content from www.cyclingnews.com Report By: Susan Westemeyer Published: July 14

Video Recap from www.cycling.tv

Team Sky inflicts more damage on the Giant of Provence

Christopher Froome (Sky) won the showdown on Mont Ventoux, taking the win on the 15th stage of the Tour de France and extending his overall lead. He beat Nairo Quintana (Movistar), the only one remotely able to keep up with him, with Euskaltel’s Mikel Nieve taking the spirited battle for third on the stage from Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).

It was another incredible display of strength by Froome, who one by one dropped all of his rivals until he was alone with teammate Richie Porte and Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff). With 7.5km to go, Froome jumped and Contador could not respond, and the maillot jaune holder set off in pursuit of Quintana, who had attacked on the lower slopes.

The other pretenders to the throne had earlier been dropped and could only hope to retain their top rankings. Contador was for a long time in the closest group behind Froome in the finale. But surprisingly he too fell back, losing 1:40 on Froome.

Quintana looked to be well on his way to a stage victory until Froome joined him. He held on to the Sky rider most of the way up, refusing to pull through as Froome revved the accelerator. The young Movistar rider finally succumbed just outside the one kilometer to go banner.

With the stage win, Froome once again built up his lead over his challengers. He ended the day 4:14 ahead of Bauke Mollema (Belkin) in second and 4:25 over Contador in third in the general classification.

Froome was surprised but pleased to win the stage.

“I didn’t imagine I’d win on this climb, it’s so historic and means so much to this race, especially in the 100th edition of the race,” he said.

“My objective was to get as much of a buffer in GC as I could. I didn’t seem myself winning. I can’t believe it.”

Froome praised Quintana for his performance.

“He’s a really strong climber. I expected him to go but I wasn’t expecting it’d be that hard to catch him. Even when I did, I thought he’d win the stage and I’d have to settle for whatever gap I could get. Fortunately he faded in last two kilometres and I had a bit left. We talked a bit and I was motivating him by saying ‘Come on, come on’. But then he faded, I don’t think I really attacked.”

Bauke Mollema of Belkin lost 1:46 to Froome on the stage, but retained his second place overall, now 4:14 down. “It wasn’t easy. I had to give everything I had, but I guess you can take a lot of pain when you’re second overall!” he said.  “I’m not sure if I’ve ever had to go so deep. In the last ten kilometres I was really suffering.”

He also praised teammate Laurens ten Dam, who stayed in fifth place overall, saying he “was very strong and did a lot of work. That was great.”

How it unfolded

All 181 remaining riders took to the early start, with much nervousness and tension. The attacks started almost immediately, but no one was able to get away. There were two category 4 climbs within the first 30km, and as expected, they served as the springboard for the day’s break group.

A group of 10 formed around the ever dangerous Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). The other eight were Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM), Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge), Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Julien El Fares (Sojasun), Alberto Losado (Katusha), Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ.FR), Markel Irizar (RadioShack-Leopard), and Jeremy Roy (FDJ.FR).

By 50km, they had built up a lead of 1:50, and it just increased from there, hitting 7 minutes only 25km later. King of the Mountains Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and Marcus Burghardt (BMC) fought hard to catch up, but had trouble making the final connection. Christophe Le Mevel (Cofidis) and Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) tried too, but finally had to sit up and wait for the field.

Burghardt and Rolland had been at one point within 15 seconds of the group, but were unable to close the gap. When it grew to one minute, Rolland realized the futility of his efforts and gave up the chase. Eventually they too were caught by the field.

After reaching a high of 7 minutes, the gap started to fall by the halfway mark. The break group went through the feed zone with a lead of only 4:35. Europcar led the chase, and it began to look as if the break wouldn’t make it to the foot of Mont Ventoux alone.

The race had gotten off to an exceptionally fast start, over 48km covered in the first hour. The second hour was even faster at 50.5kph, but the third hour settled down to a more reasonable 41.3.

With 93km to go, Movistar had moved in to lead the chase, with the gap between the 3:30 and 4:00 minute marks. The peloton seemed happy to keep the group at that distance.

The day’s intermediate sprint came 34km before the end, and there was little doubt as to how it will go. No one dared to challenge the green jersey, but Sagan kept a wary eye on the others as he rolled over the line as first.

As the start of the climb loomed, Euskaltel moved to the front of the field and picked up the pace. With 29km to go the gap had dropped to three minutes. Sky moved back to the front, with the gap now plummeting with every meter.

That was too much for Chavanel, who attacked the breakaway with visions of Bastille Day glory in mind. With still one kilometer to go before the climb started, the gap was under two minutes. At the other end of the action, riders were falling off the back, including last year’s best young rider Tejay van Garderen (BMC).

Chavanel had built up 28 seconds with 20km to go, and the chase group too started falling apart, with Sagan noticeably lagging back. Surprisingly, Rolland was dropped from the main group, and it seemed unlikely he would be able to play a role in the stage.

Sagan was one of the first to re-join the field, which he celebrated with a wave and wheelie. Soon Irizar and Riblon were the only chasers, 28 seconds behind Chavanel with 16 km to go, with the field a bit more than a minute behind them.

Rui Costa (Movistar) and Jan Bakelants (RadioShack-Leopard) were the first to jump from the field. Costa couldn’t hang on, but Bakelants soon moved up to Irizar and Riblon.

Andy Schleck got dropped along the way, and had the further handicap of a “helpful” fan, who no doubt only wanted to give him a push, but nearly shoved him off his bike.

Irizar sooon fell back, but Bakelants was joined by Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel). Quintana jumped as next, as Nieve passed Chavanel. With 12.4 km the Colombian caught Chavanel, and Sky moved into the lead of the chase, with Froome having two helpers with him.

Chavanel was soon caught again, and the gap from the field to Nieve was only 39 seconds. Quintana moved up slowly and smoothly in pursuit of the Basque rider. It took a while but he caught Nivel with 10.5 km to go.

Cadel Evans (BMC), who won the Tour in 2011, had never been top in this year’s race, and fell back from the Froome group with a bit more than 10 km to go. Bakelants was caught about the same time, leaving only Quintana and Nieve in the lead by 41 seconds.

With a little over 9 kilometers to go, Peter Kennaugh dropped out of the lead work, leaving Froome with only Richie Porte to lead him. Contador, right behind, had two helpers. Belkin’s Bauke Mollema and Laurens ten Dam were also still in the group.

The long grinding climb took its expected toll, and the favourites’ group became smaller and smaller, with truly only favourites in it. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Jakob Fuglsang were victims, as well. With 8 kilometers to go, there was only a trio: Froome, Porte and Contador.

Porte put in an incredible performance, pulling the group up the dreaded climb, but he too could finally had to drop back. With 7.5m to go, Nieve could no longer stay with Quintana.

Shortly thereafter, Froome attacked, quickly passing the fading Nieve. Contador could not or did not respond. The duo fought the motorcycles and crazed fans and Froome easily moved past Quintana, never once getting out of the saddle. The Colombian fought his way back though, and took Froome’s rear wheel, eventually taking his turn in the lead.

As their gap over Contador increased, Quintana moved back into the lead work after a few words with Froome. The Briton tried repeatedly to dump him, and with 1.3 km to go he was finally successful.

Joaquim Rodriguez jumped from his group as they passed under the flamme rouge, hoping to make up a few seconds. But ahead of him, Froome rolled over the line, with a large smile on his face and still enough energy to celebrate. Quintana came in 29 seconds down.

The surprise came as the next riders came into view: Nieve and Rodriguez – no Contador to be seen! The Spaniard finished 1:40 down, as sixth, another bitter blow.

General classification after stage 15
Result
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 61:11:43
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:04:14
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:04:25
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:04:28
5 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:04:54
6 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:05:47
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:06:22
8 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha 0:07:11
9 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:47
10 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:07:58
11 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 0:08:28
12 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:09:54
13 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:12:32
14 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard 0:13:47
15 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:14:42
16 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:15:40
17 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:18:12
18 Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard 0:19:14
19 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha 0:21:42
20 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:23:36
21 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:23:50
22 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
23 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:28:45
24 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard 0:29:16
25 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:30:26
26 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:32:53
27 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida 0:33:02
28 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:33:28
29 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:33:42
30 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:34:12
31 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:37:10
32 Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:40:19
33 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Sojasun 0:40:24
34 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha 0:42:55
35 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:44:24
36 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack Leopard 0:44:55
37 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack Leopard 0:47:28
38 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:49:54
39 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:53:57
40 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 0:54:18
41 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 0:54:20
42 Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:54:52
43 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:55:02
44 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:55:05
45 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:56:11
46 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team 0:59:43
47 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:00:02
48 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team 1:00:09
49 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 1:01:19
50 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 1:02:03
51 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Sojasun 1:03:47
52 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:05:25
53 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida 1:06:12
54 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge 1:07:45
55 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1:07:58
56 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 1:09:01
57 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol 1:10:03
58 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:10:19
59 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha 1:11:08
60 Laurent Didier (Lux) RadioShack Leopard 1:11:47
61 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 1:12:02
62 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 1:12:11
63 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 1:15:09
64 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 1:15:39
65 Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp 1:18:16
66 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp 1:19:05
67 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 1:19:36
68 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1:21:26
69 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:22:02
70 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 1:22:44
71 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack Leopard 1:24:18
72 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Procycling 1:26:32
73 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:27:50
74 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:28:02
75 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 1:28:40
76 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:29:06
77 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:30:25
78 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol 1:30:30
79 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida 1:30:38
80 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1:30:40
81 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:31:52
82 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:32:04
83 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 1:32:09
84 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 1:33:03
85 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge 1:33:09
86 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha 1:33:44
87 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1:34:36
88 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:34:56
89 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:35:09
90 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 1:35:11
91 Julien El Fares (Fra) Sojasun 1:36:27
92 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 1:38:23
93 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 1:38:32
94 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar 1:38:39
95 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:40:38
96 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:40:46
97 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1:40:54
98 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling 1:40:59
99 David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp 1:42:13
100 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:42:45
101 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha 1:43:12
102 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:47:29
103 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Sojasun 1:47:35
104 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Sojasun 1:48:10
105 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1:48:13
106 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 1:48:21
107 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team 1:48:37
108 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack Leopard 1:49:25
109 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1:49:57
110 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1:50:03
111 Julien Simon (Fra) Sojasun 1:51:05
112 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol 1:51:25
113 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 1:51:50
114 Brice Feillu (Fra) Sojasun 1:52:56
115 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:57:42
116 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 1:58:37
117 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:59:38
118 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1:59:57
119 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp 2:00:44
120 Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida 2:01:53
121 Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 2:02:07
122 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha 2:02:35
123 Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Sojasun 2:03:15
124 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 2:03:45
125 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol 2:04:04
126 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:06:08
127 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 2:07:22
128 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 2:09:43
129 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team 2:09:59
130 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 2:12:06
131 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida 2:12:19
132 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 2:12:49
133 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol 2:12:59
134 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 2:13:09
135 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 2:13:27
136 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha 2:13:54
137 David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar 2:13:55
138 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:14:54
139 Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 2:15:04
140 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 2:15:36
141 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha 2:15:47
142 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:16:31
143 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:16:46
144 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 2:19:51
145 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:20:39
146 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr 2:20:41
147 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling 2:21:06
148 Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2:22:41
149 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp 2:23:00
150 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 2:23:20
151 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 2:23:30
152 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:25:30
153 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 2:25:32
154 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling 2:25:44
155 Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar 2:25:49
156 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr 2:26:20
157 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida 2:26:33
158 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 2:27:24
159 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2:27:48
160 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2:28:07
161 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 2:28:40
162 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 2:29:05
163 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:29:12
164 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol 2:29:21
165 Brian Vandborg (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling 2:30:48
166 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 2:30:55
167 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 2:31:12
168 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 2:32:16
169 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol 2:33:19
170 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 2:33:41
171 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 2:34:52
172 Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 2:35:13
173 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol 2:36:06
174 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 2:36:58
175 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:44:00
176 Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 2:44:11
177 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Sojasun 2:44:34
178 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 2:44:55
179 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 2:45:10
180 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 2:46:02
181 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEdge 2:46:52

 

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