I began the Week 1 recap by applying a big asterisk to everything that had happened. That asterisk – the severity of the final week – still remains and given the first major mountain stage will most likely have finished by the time you read this (blame the bank holiday), it seems unwise to devote too many words to the fripperies of the recently-completed middle week.
- Stages 1-9
- Stages 10-15
- Stages 16-21
If you compare last week’s top 10 to the updated version below, you’ll see not much has changed.
Isaac del Toro’s advantage is seven seconds larger and to a different person, but it’s still pretty trivial ahead of a day that will bring a summit finish and almost 5,000m of climbing.
The contenders have all spread out just a little bit more, but we’re not yet down to two or three obvious favourites (although, like I say, we might be by the time you read this).
Movers and shakers
Affronted by my suggestion that he’s the kind of rider who tends to hover around eighth place, Derek Gee’s on the way up having regained a minute.
Primoz Roglic is technically in the same position, but clearly on the way down (and possibly out) as he’s lost more time. He’s crashed three times now: once on the gravel, once in practice on his time trial bike and once in a mass pile-up.
I suppose there are other types of crash he could tick off, but with a lot of tired riding on mountain roads in the offing, it really would be best if he could avoid that.
What’s next?
Stage 16 (today) features four 10km-plus climbs with the finish line at the top of the last one. (It would be pretty weird if it were at the top of, say, the second one.)
Stage 17 (Wednesday) has just two such climbs, but one’s the 12.6km 7.6% Mortirolo and it’s hard to detect much flat elsewhere on the route, even outside the categorised climbs.
Stage 18 (Thursday) is probably for the sprinters or maybe a breakaway as there’s a bunch of hills in the middle.
Stage 19 (Friday) is really not what you want with Stages 16 and 17 in your mind and legs. Five climbs and 4,950m of elevation gain. Three of those climbs are over 15km long and none is gentle.
Stage 20 (Saturday) is just bare-faced cruelty. With Stages 16, 17 and 19 now banked and bodies at the limit, the peloton covers 100 relatively unremarkable miles before hitting the Colle delle Finestre.
The Colle delle Finestre is, quite simply, a bitch. It’s 18.5km long and averages 9.2%. Some of it’s gravel and there are 45 hairpins, including 30 in one 3km stretch.
Simon Yates will tell you what can happen when you’re feeling a bit tired on the Celle delle Finestre.
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