Chasing Le Tour: Costa wins, Froome avoids crash

It was a stage that was touted as one for a breakaway and it only took a few kilometres for the pieces to start falling into place. A flurry of attacks saw a group of 32 form ahead of the peloton before a group of 26 riders got in the final break which stuck.

Often a group that big won’t work together to stay away but almost every team had at least one rider represented which formed the perfect combination to stay away. The closest rider to the overall leader in Chris Froome was Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) who started the stage in 20th overall, 23’26” behind on GC.

The escape bunch worked well together until 35km to go, at which point all bets were off. Jean Marc Marino (Sojasun) and Blel Kadri (Ag2r) leapt off the front and were soon joined by the Adam Hansen freight train. Rui Costa caught the leaders and surged ahead on the final climb of the day for an 18km solo win — a consolation for Movistar which has enjoyed little success so far this Tour.

Costa’s win was Portugal’s second victory in Gap in four years, after Sergio Paulinho’s victory in 2010.

But after Costa crossed the line we were treated to another race between the GC contenders ten minutes back. With 18km remaining on the final climb (Col de Manse) Contador attacked which prompted Richie Porte to shut the move down. With Contador back in the group, Saxo Tinkoff went the 1-2 with Kreuziger attacking … and Porte shutting it down again.

Meanwhile the high pace and the attacks had whittled down the yellow jersey bunch to eight riders (Froome, Porte, Contador, Kreuziger, Quintana, Valverde, Rodriguez, and Mollema) with Laurens Ten Dam being the only real GC contender to fall off the pace. More attacks from the Saxo duo saw Porte start to lose touch, but miraculously he managed to claw his way back.

It was after the GC bunch crested the Col de Manse that the action really started. Contador and Kreuziger began attacking on the descent leading to the former overshooting a corner and crashing lightly, almost bringing Froome with him. Interestingly, this incident happened on the same descent on which Joseba Belokia famously crashed in 2003, forcing Lance Armstrong to take a detour through a nearby field.

Froome was clearly irritated by Contador’s downhill attacks and said in the post-race TV interview:

“I think it was actually a bit careless of Contador and Kreuziger, they were really pushing the limits on the descent in trying to attack us. Alberto overcooked one of the corners and came off in front of me. He just took himself down.

I nearly went over him. I had to get around him and went off the road a little bit. I didn’t come off but I just had to unclip and get myself straightened up again and rejoin the race.

I just think at this stage of the race, he is obviously getting desperate. They are attacking on us on the descents and attacking us on the climbs. I just think it was careless to ride like that.”

This thrilling race-within-the-race benefited nobody except for Quintana who moved up one position into fifth place overall with Ten Dam dropping one minute on the leaders.

: The start town for stage 16, Vaison-la-Romaine, was once a Roman city and, accordingly, the riders were given a Roman send-off.

: Before the Tour Koen de Kort had been teasing his teammate Marcel Kittel about his haircut. But in a bet, de Kort said he would get his haircut the same way as Kittel if the latter won three stages at the Tour. With Kittel notching up his third win on stage 12 de Kort stayed true to his word, getting his hair cut on the second rest day. At the Argos-Shimano bus this morning de Kort was surrounded by the media while Kittel rode away to sign-on with no attention from the press at all.

: Brothers in hair.

: A breakaway group of 26 riders moved away from the peloton early in the stage and was allowed, by the yellow jersey and others in the peloton, to battle it out for the win. The breakaway included Johnny Hoogerland and Andreas Kloden as pictured here.

: It’s estimated that 15 million items will be thrown to spectators from the advertising caravan in this year’s Tour.

: (l) Rui Costa attacked from the breakaway on the final climb with 18km remaining in the stage. He opened up a lead over his breakaway companions, including Philippe Gilbert, and was able to hold on for a solo victory.

: Today’s win is Costa’s second Tour de France victory. His first came on stage 8 of the 2011 Tour when he attacked from a breakaway on the final climb to the Super Besse ski station, reeling in Alexander Vinokourov on his way to solo victory.

: The gap between the breakaway and the yellow jersey group grew throughout the day, eventually ending up at more than 11 minutes. The high pace set by Richie Porte on the final climb whittled the group down to eight riders.

: Contador was driving the pace in the yellow jersey group on the final descent …

: … and might have been pushing a little too hard. The Spaniard came off, having overshot a right-hand turn and reportedly hit his knee on the ground. Froome, who was behind Contador said after the stage: “It actually put me in danger because I had to go off the road to avoid him. He couldn’t control his own speed and crashed.”

: Nairo Quintana was the first in the yellow jersey group to cross the line, just ahead of Joaquin Rodriguez.

[rrsumm raceid=1160]

norm

Terrific photos, I especially lke the one with Froome dog unclipped after almost crashing into Contador.
You must have been in the perfect position at the right time, are you on the back of one of the motorbikes?
- Hurtin’ Albertan
  
  The old folks in the chairs in the shade actually had the best spot!
- Paul
  
  He looks like an Ostrich on a bike!
gregg

I am not impressed with Froome’s whining about Contador attacking on the descent (Didn’t Schleck do the same thing with Bertie). However, I am new to cycling. What is the general take on attacking on a descent? Are not descents part of the race? Is Froome just reacting in the moment, being a wussy or does he have a legitimate complaint?

While many might dislike Contador, he is a fighter. I appreciate that about him.
- lefthandside
  
  Yeah Contador was attacking on the descent but I guess he was pushing his own limits and pushed too far, endangering himself and others (Froome). As others have commented, though, if Alberto got away on the descent because Froome chickened out, or Froome just got it wrong and crashed, it would have been a brilliant move. It’s a fine line and descending is also an important part of the race – as we saw with Wiggins in the Giro
- Prento
  
  They are indeed part of the race, but common sense and safety should prevail at some point. That particular descent is dangerous, and has had its share of crashes in the past, so attacking on it seems rather reckless and pointless. He wasn’t ever going to gain much time if he made it down without going off anyway.
  
  Schleck complaining about the descents is a different story, because he’s just a wimp :D
  - 42x16cc
    
    Makes it a perfect place to attack and push the limits to possibly gain time. Nothing wrong with what Contador did – he raced… up to Froome as to what he then does
- Johnson
  
  No need for Froome to follow Bert so closely considering the lead he has over him – only himself to blame. Let’s hope it’s raining on the Alpe stage and some of the descenders can put some pressure on the first time down.
  - Jimbo81
    
    Exactly my thoughts! Sounds a lot like a whinging Pom to me… (completely unrelated.. but not that the Aussies can talk in the Ashes… and the DRS)
- Tom W
  
  When a rider comes off on a bend on a descent, you try avoiding them, even if you are 15 metres behind, it requires a lot of luck. That is what Froome was complaining about. If you watched the footage, Contador and his team mate were drilling it from far back, slowing right up into the corners, and then trying to stomp away out of the corners, that’s what Froome was on about, and overshooting a corner was bound to happen.
  - cyclingTips
    
    I didn’t interpret Froome as whinging about attacking the the descent. I would have made the same comment if asked. It did the make any sense for Contador to be attacking on the descent except for the outside possibility of gaining a few seconds. That said, it did make for exciting racing.
    - Tom W
      
      I too didn’t really think he was complaining, more stating. But some have said he’s a whinging pom. He’s the most non complaining individual i’ve seen in the pro cycling world.
      Having ridden the descent off the back of the Alpe d’Huez, i’m a little scared for tomorrow, just hope Contador doesn’t do anything stupid, and if he does, it’s only himself that suffers (not that I wish anyone to get hurt, only in the time lost aspect).
Phil Humbert

Froome is an idiot if he expects Contador and the others to simply stop attacking him. If Froome crashed and broke a collarbone today as a result of this attack Contador would be 10 seconds out of yellow, and this move would have been heralded as a brilliant effort…
- Sean Doyle
  
  Agreed. Froome only has to hang back a few meters and give himself the space and time to react. He could esily close that sort of gap once the round straightened up a bit. What does he expect them to do? Wait until the road goes upwards so he can just pedal away from them and of course they are desperate and going to take chances. They may as well pack up and go home otherwise.
  - Tom W
    
    ‘a few metres’ eh? At 80+ km/hr when a rider falls, you’ve got little chance to make a decision. Froome was far enough back to be safe, but not when a rider is going so fast he couldn’t make the turn and comes down. The only way you’ll get to really understand that, is to experience it…
- echidna_sg
  
  Saxo really seem to have taken a leaf out of Sun Tzu’s “Art of war”, I’m loving their never say die atittude!
  
  “If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is
  in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek
  to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he
  is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate
  them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between
  them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not
  expected.”
The Potato Man

I reckon Koen gets the last laugh on that bet, by pulling off that hairstyle better then Kittel does.
- Robert Merkel
  
  Until he gets home…judging by her Tweet on the matter I’m not sure whether Kaiti is all that impressed :)
DNF

Joseba Beloki (not Belokia)
Moe

It’s really not a bad haircut.
Paul

Can anyone tell me why Froome and Porte had to respond to Alberto’s attacks (both on the way up and down the final climb). They should’ve sat back and let Mollema and Quintana respond to the attacks.
Marcus

“It’s estimated that 15 million items will be thrown to spectators from the advertising caravan in this year’s Tour.”

& how many more items are then thrown by the peloton itself??

Would actually look really good if all the riders were instructed to put rubbish / empty bottles in their pocket(s) and domestiques required to take this back to the team cars as well as bringing the bottles etc up to the riders. Just hate the look of riders throwing stuff away while riding!!

Just a thought!
- Sandwichands
  
  My understanding was they were meant to throw it away in certain zones, and I believe there is a fine associated with it?
Jonty Paulsen

Well It’s fair to say that Contador had his “meat” on the rest day again!

Chasing Le Tour: Costa wins, Froome avoids crash

2013 Tour de France: stage 16

by Wade Wallace

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