On a day marked by heavy crosswinds, Australian Michael Matthews (Sunweb) won his second stage of the 2017 Tour de France, winning Stage 15 into Romans-sur-Isère Tuesday. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) finished second in a photo finish, with John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) in third.
The stage win was contested out of a 32-man group of contenders, having distanced themselves with 13 kilometers to go in the crosswinds. Missing was German Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors), who was dropped early on the stage was also absent from the day’s intermediate sprint, which Matthews won. In all, Matthews took 50 points on Kittel, narrowing the gap in the green-jersey competition to just 29 points with only four road stages remaining.
The peloton shattered into fragments with 13 kilometers remaining as Team Sky drove the pace into a critical corner, the wind switching from tail to cross. Riders complacent with their positioning were quickly caught out in the gusts over 50 kph and consistent wind around 40 kph. The general classification teams and sprinter’s teams were perpetually diligent, attempting to keep their men at the front of the field and out of trouble.
The day’s biggest GC loser was Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors), who lost 51 seconds and dropped out of the top five. Though Martin had Jack Bauer and Gianluca Brambilla to help him in the final, the rest of the team was with Kittel — other than Philippe Gilbert, who abandoned the race due to viral gastroenteritis.
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- Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) posing in front of the South African flag on Nelson Mandela Day.
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- A young fan of Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) patiently waited for his hero. Contador had a tough day on Stage 16, finishing 90 seconds down from the front group, losing more time in the general classification.
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- John Degenkolb warms up before the stage.
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- 2nd place on GC Fabio Aru greets a friend at the start
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- Team Sunweb did the majority of the work at the front of the peloton.
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- Marcel Kittel (Quick Step Floors) made a go of it before ultimately succumbing to Team Sunweb’s pace on the first climb of the day.
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- It became a fragmented bike race on the windy Stage 16.
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- Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) aided Sunweb at the front for his team’s sprinter Edvald Boasson Hagen. Boasson Hagen would end up second on the day, almost overcoming Matthews at the line.
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- The scenic roads from Le Puy-en-Velay to Romans-sur-Isère were afflicted with strong winds from various directions.
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- Matthews’ win marks Sunweb’s third win of the 2017 Tour de France.
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- Kiwi rider George Bennett has won the hearts and minds of us all but sadly DNF’d today’s stage due to illness. He said, “I felt weak, I am empty.” “I was in pain in places I didn’t even know could hurt. It should have been an easy day to survive for me, but that was not the case. I felt like I sprinted all the way, but in reality, I almost went backwards.” Bennett posted on his Facebook page that he was “gutted beyond belief” to leave the Tour. “I don’t think my vocabulary extensive enough to describe it really. I’m absolutely devastated,” “The writing was almost on the wall yesterday. I was hoping for a miracle, hoping I could just get through today and then take it from there and try and pull something out in the Alps.” “If you saw me last night you’d be surprised I’m even here today. It’s just the biggest shame in the world. Not a worse feeling for a cyclist to be honest, leaving any bike race – but leaving the Tour is just the worst.”
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- The open, exposed parcours made the peloton vulnerable to the wind conditions.
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- The final split was initially instigated by Team Sky but aided in survival by everyone involved.
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- The group behind frantically chased but their effort would be in vain in the crosswinds of Stage 16.
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- Fabio Aru (Astana) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) at the front of the final selection.
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- The sprint was controversial, with John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) claiming Matthews diverted from his line of travel, impeding the German sprinter.
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- Edvald Boasson Hagen (DImension Data) made a late dig but wasn’t able to overcome the flying Australian.
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- Michael Matthews (Sunweb) jubilated upon his second stage win of the 2017 Tour on Stage 16.
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- Marcel Kittel was subdued upon the podium. He still retains the Green Jersey, albeit by far less than the beginning of Tuesday’s stage.