Preview: Everything you need to know about Stage 16 of 2016 Tour de France

Stage 16, 2016 Tour de France

The rider they call “Spartacus,” Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo), will have extra motivation on Monday, as the Tour visits his hometown of Berne, Switzerland for the first time. The 209km (130mi) stage 16 from the French town of Moirans-en-Montagne to Berne has a tricky finish with a 600m climb at 6.5% before a flat final kilometre.

Date: Monday, July 18
Start: Moirans-en-Montagne
Finish: Berne
Distance: 209km (130mi)
Elevation Gain: 2010m (6594ft)

GC standings:

[rrsummary id= 163728 places=15]

Comment from race director, Christian Prudhomme:“Before the alpine sequence of the Tour, the climbers will enjoy a relative break on the road to Berne that goes through the numerous valleys of the Jura area. The pure sprinters shouldn’t hope for too much — the hill they’ll have to climb in the urban final of the stage could prevent the biggest babies from fighting for victory!”

Jim Ochowicz (BMC Racing manager): “It is likely to be a pretty hard stage at the end. It is not necessarily a Cavendish stage per se, because it is a hard climb off the river up to town in the last kilometre. We expect to see the usual… Sagan, Greg [Van Avermaet] and a couple of others going after it.”

Matt White (Orica-BikeExchange Director Sportif): “Tomorrow could be interesting because the outcome will depend on how the sprinters’ teams are able to control the stage. It’s going to be a long, tough day and it is not a straightforward finish for the pure sprinter.”