Stage 16 – 18 of the 2019 Tour de France
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provance and who’s also the Constable of the cter of to lose the family lost their power though throughout the reign of the king throughout the period of the mid part of the 13th century and then they also lost the chatow this is Steven kruzik who is very well placed overall kruzik the Dutchman from Yambo vizar he sits in third position at just a minute and 47 seconds behind and Cruz’s training has all been tailored to Long climbs and they’re all still to come in the [Music] Els plenty of support for the Australian Riders out on course this is a camper that has been out there every single day and every single day it seems there’s been another flag added well flying the flag for the French is the yellow Jersey wearer Julian ala Philip let’s now hear what Julian ala Philip had to say as we head in to the Final Phase of this year’s tour and three enormous stages in the [Applause] [Music] ales I’m very happy with what I’ve done hello Jersey I gave it my all to defend it yesterday but it’s been a bonus for I want it to keep going so I’m going to give everything Until the End being 130 ahead is good it’s better than being 130 behind but if you’re dropped on a climb of 15 20 km or even longer than that because the valon stage is a monster all the way to the summit when you look at the profiles of the coming stages 1 minute 30 is practically nothing so the J is hanging by a thread but I’m very happy and very proud to have it on my shoulders and before the final day in the Pyrenees when his Advantage was still more than 2 minutes over his nearest rival another one of his teammates it’s not enough because in the space of 750 m on some of the Steep final pinches on the climbs that are still to come you can lose 2 minutes in such a short period of time so he knows that the defense will be difficult but they realize very well it’s Slender advantage and they said he’s going to fight to the end and I really like the way he’s ridden being in the jersey and defending it you can sort of tell from the way he’s speaking the he expects the fight to get a whole lot harder without a great deal of confidence about being able to hang on to it because he’s never been in this situation before in a big stage race he is going into uncharted waters as far as his own performance goes in the high mountains day after day no Day on day off getting him Breakaway threat and I’m excited for him to see what he can do he did lose a little bit of time on that last pyrenean stage but the day before he took more time than that on his nearest Rivals but which way is the pattern going and that is the important thing it he was looking so good and then suddenly popped maybe the rest day will have done him a lot of good he recuperate on time for the Alps and fight really hard and hang on again in the the first day through the Alps as we see Lael the chat de la Capel this was the summer residence of the Bishops of usz from 1211 right the way up until and it was sold in 1792 during the French Revolution and remained uninhabited throughout the 19th and the 20th centuries the building started to deteriorate because of that neglect and then in 1965 the site was bought by a couple of locals imp passioned about Stone and stone buildings and they’ve gradually gone about completely restoring that chatau it’s another example of many of the old chat in this region they can be really chck to buy off the local government of the municipality but incredibly expensive to refurbish and the restrictions on how you can refurbish it exactly the materials you’re allowed to use and the style in which you’re allowed to refurbish something so you got to know what you’re getting yourself into but that just absolutely fantastic and Shao as they say in France tip of the hat to the people have taken it over and restored it these are the feat of Alexi gah who’s on a restoration program in this Breakaway by trying to restore the price of AG toal laal who have struggled in the shadow of TBO Pino and the entire group armor fdj team they have been the Star team for the French and then the star French Rider with the yellow Jersey Julian alil there goes Dan Martin in the white colors just through the pitcher who said that stage 15 was the toughest stage he’s ever ridden in the tour to France big call might be suffering a little bit from the recenty effect but it was still a really tough stage Caleb y sitting near the yellow Jersey of the yellow helmets today being worn by the M Star team as the leaders of the team’s classification competition in which they have a commanding lead 30 minutes and 45 seconds ahead of track Sega Fredo and just a few days ago they were some 10 minutes behind once we’ve hit the the big mountains the pyrenean stages as we just dodge around a B on on the road or they’ve taken command yet again and with Landa Valverde and kintana their three men with whose times count for the team’s classification really taking control of that competition yet again and on the other side I’m sure to be slightly disappointed in the performance of Naro kintana so much was expected coming into the tour and the three-pronged attack of mistar but already it’s become too prong just don’t discount Alejandra valde but also his history is against him with his performances in the Big Mountain stages that finish above 2,000 M altitude traditionally he has struggled and lost time on those but I still won’t count him out it’s difficult though to see a 39y old changing that pattern it is yeah that’s the thing we only get older and performance INE inevitably starts to go downhill but he is such a class Rider the current world champion and he did a fantastic ride the other day on that really tough stage the one Dan Martin called the ridden to come in with Grant eighth position overall and only 5 minutes behind and he’s the second oldest rider in the race he’s almost 40 years of age he’s 39 it’s incredible just don’t count him out count him out at your peril I think that the best Prospect for moar to get a spot on the podium beyond the teams classification which I’m convinced they will win melander is still a threat he’s a long way off he’s in seventh position 454 behind but he’s still a threat for for the podium number 51 we heard the interview from Julian Al Philip the race leader but number 51 TBO you know the win of the stage to the the rider that everybody was talking about more than any other on the rest and rightly so and just looking at him there sitting with his team if you notice the the Cadence he was riding the high Revolution rate that he was pedaling at so the fact he’s even able to do that comfortably shows that he’s still relatively fresh in this tour to France when you get tied you you tend to just grind a bigger gear over just roll the legs over more slowly the fact that he’s just tickling away at it with a Cadence over 100 reps per minute is a really good sign for Pino and yes a lot of the French journalists are saying he is going to be the man that can it’s first tour to France since the80s 34 years they’ve been waiting Sprint doing a really long turn maybe it’s just the wind up from lback Rosetto is about to just sneak those points as he no he’s not he marks the respect of lback I like that that was the other thing I was thinking of maybe in this group and the really long turn that L’s back was doing otherwise you would have expected to see him swing off it may be just a a mark of respect as you said to one of the Elder Statesmen of the pelaton you roll through and take this one in what you’ve said yourself would be your last tour to France so I’m happy to see that happen here comes the peleton and a wind up for the Sprints that are still on offer Cole brle again looking for points from Bahrain Marita sunweb in fact also towards the fronts San sits and waits patiently in the green jersey the lead out has been let go one of cell’s teammates from Bak Marita Celli is the man in second wheel then it’s sagun mku viviani is that Caleb at the back just waiting patiently no esper to boost viviani perhaps a chance to test the legs in the Sprint and now the Sprint starts is merku in the red colors also in the red is C Bry the blue of Vivani Peter sag not wasting energy merku will hit the brakes as they get to the line to make sure viviani gets by him and he does [Music] an early tester of the legs so for Vivani picking up a few points there that will move him into second position Cole Bradley will still be in second viviani will move back over the top of Michael Matthews into third yeah less difference between the placings when you’re sprinting six sth eighth as they were so Vivian will go across in sixth mku in seventh and and Celli in eight so only a small difference between the two but that’ll just about have them on a tie at the moment I would think maybe one point between them but battling for second Peter sagun just looking back easing off I’ll take a few points I’ve got a massive lead I’ll just track you guys in and save the energy for later on this afternoon on the other side caleban not getting involved at all we haven’t seen him until now do that either nor does scud vegan it just seems to be really the interest between col brelli and viviani to try and finish second in this green jersey competition behind Peter sagun no Michael Matthews maybe thinking about the bigger prize on offer this afternoon in the Sprint but maybe more specifically tomorrow into Gap if he’s not in the Breakaway I wonder what the prospects are of sunweb mounting a day long Chase on a 200 km stage that is also going to be a very hot day out but uh he wouldn’t be without a a good chance of winning into Gap we would expect if was to come down to a reduced Bunch finish again it would be uh Matthews Saga and Jewel well today the report coming from the Sun web team is that Michael Matthews will be working for case bow in the Sprint finish today today okay like we saw him doing to lose yes exactly although we saw him go for those green jersey points the other day really not focusing his attention on that and sharing the chances around on a a finish today that probably suits case ball a little bit better than Michael Matthews I think at this point in the tour it’s probably swinging back more to Matthews being the better of the two more of a pedigree in a grand tour after two weeks of hard racing after all the mountains case ball a very large L man the Dutchman and sure he’s had a tough time through the mountains through the Pyrenees and we’ll find out this afternoon how fresh or totally totally fatigued that case ball is the aim for each Rider today to go through one water bottle per half an hour yeah it’s got to be in this heat at least one bottle per half an hour and as I said earlier it’s it’s really hard to put that amount of fluid into your body and most of the rids will find they they’ve still got the balance to make up when they get to the finish so they may have had up to 10 or 12 L of fluids today during the stage imagine trying to tip that in in a 4 and 1/2 hour period and then they go back to the team bus they get their urine assessed and they get Wade to measure how de hydrated they are and what amount of fluids they need to get back in the system overnight it often been referred to as an eating and a sleeping race and in amongst the eating is also the consumption of fluids 38 seconds they’re desperate to try and defy the pelaton Stefon Rosetto in the citus color swings off Lucas vinoski now goes through to the front there’s been a fall again back in the pelaton anders is down that’s ball Chad Hager is waiting with him that’s case b buang as well from the St Rider his had a tough start to the tour case bow picks himself up from sunweb estano is the team with the Panic bike number 71 that looks like p b who’s doing the mechanical job at the moment for Jakob Fang Chad Hager is waiting with case ball well Bill ba he’s trying to get the bike fixed up while another bike has been carried through by the mechanic Magnus CT actually that’s trying to do that got that wrong that’s Omar FR number 73 this has taken a while to get going L Sanchez is there Linko is there this looks like it could be collarbone territory the helmet is coming off leis Leon Sanchez is looking really concerned for the condition of Jakob F I think that was fry just indicating they need the race doctor and there they are that Cabriolet the white car that is the race doctor they’ve just asked them to stop as they were driving past that is a disaster entire team there the helmet off the the look that dejected head towards the ground that is a very bad sign helmet off almost invariably means it race over that left shoulder doesn’t look good at all and the shake of the head you can see the compassion in lisis Leon Sanchez this is not about protecting the athlete this is about protecting a friend Dimitri fenov is the sports director that is there with them and they’re sending the other Riders on their way the expression on the face of Jakob Fang tells the story to over that’s yeah that is race really unfortunate for the DNE who was sitting ninth overall at 5 minutes 27 down still very much in it for a top six place in this tour but that’s a sad sight and you can see resigned himself to that really very quickly helmet off looked to the ground a shake of the head to the teammates it didn’t start well on stage one with the crash he was on the improve as the race continued but now one small mistake it’s another reminder of how important it is to stay up up the front and it’s a cliche stay up the front and out of trouble but sometimes that’s exactly where it happens as well sometimes your numbers just up it could have been could have been his mistake could have been the mistake of the rider in front of him we don’t know we may hear later on judging by the look of his skin suit the amount of s of dust that was on it it would have been a pretty slippery sort of a corner because of the lack of rain in the region these roads are quite slippery and I know that from racing on them in the past I know that from riding on them today going through the final part of the race but every roundabout on the way into Nim even going slow you almost hold your breath a little bit and back it off it’s slick it’s dusty there’s a fine layer of dust and that you know the the um diesel residue from the from the Cars and Trucks that’s just one of those moments really unfortunate for yakob Fang who now has officially abandoned the race Alexi gja yakob Fang out of the tour to France Rosetto ganowski this is osela and at the back it is lb also involved in the crash Robbie was case bow from Sunwood there four now what happens sunweb Michael Matthews does he become the priority or do they stick with plan a and try and bring Case bow the dut Sprinter back to the pelaton to go for the Sprint well at this point in the race it’s going to be very difficult for case ball to get back to the pelaton the pace is on the break is just trying to prolong its life at the front of the race but they’re chasing really hard behind we saw Tony Martin on but stacked up behind him with a couple of sudal Lotto Riders well they are riding really fast this going to be a very very difficult Chase for case ball he spent quite a lot of time sitting down on the ground then getting another bike so he’s lost probably at least a minute and a half up to nearly 2 minutes before he gets going even if he does get back he may no no longer have the legs to take part in the Sprint George Bennett with a musette full of water bottles delivering them to the teammates some ice is also there that’s ice that he’s now handing over of the cold water Variety in a stocking and this is reminiscent of stage 10 when he went back to collect the water bottles but on that occasion there was a split today no split I would expect now that it’s Michael Matthews who gets his chance to do the Sprint it’s back out to 11 seconds we’ve seen a number of teams send a solo Rider up to the front but no team commit a train just yet it’s still too far to go so whoever can’t help in the Sprint train there’s a crash again off to the right hand side Dimension data CHR was and this is kinger kinger is well placed overall for Dimension data quick bike change he’s in 14th position in the general classification he needs to get back to the rear of the pelaton to maintain his high placing I thought the UAE Rider might have been Alexander Kristoff the last winner here in N yet to be confirmed let’s hope it’s not for him and his team the man who is likely to do the best in the Sprint finish under 5 km to go this is that little section I spoke about keep to the left through the roundabout you get on the other side you are lost Rosetto it is who’s at the front L back in second position committed they’ve been together wrong side of the roundabout but that was deliberate to get out of the way yeah work done for that Rider that looks like one of the sudal lotto Riders pulling out of the road look like it might have been yens kir this is the Breakaway railing it through that corner that is that sharp Left 4 and a half km to go Pelon about to swing out of it and the Gap still just opening a bit good news for Alexander Crystal it wasn’t him he is still in the pelaton I thought it was 124 ruy Costa that was involved in that fall either way confirmation the last winner here Alexander Kristoff is in with a Chance The Gap back down to 10 seconds now but they’re finding it very difficult to close these last few seconds on the break as they continue to work in unison this is exactly what they need all the way in they may as well be wearing the same jersey in the manner in which they’re riding it’s possible to split the red number for the most compatitive prize today anyone who chooses to try and do a little bit less to try and take a rest call someone in for a turn in front will ruin the rhythm of the group they got absolutely no hope but at the moment 11 seconds with 3 and 1/2 km to go and the chase a little bit disjointed behind and bonao has just been delivered to the front for total Direct Energy they still have aelan in this Breakaway but they are setting up for the Sprint finish yet the breakway they’re out to 12 seconds it’s just that holding off the teams not wanting to start their Sprint train too soon they know when they get to 3 km to go it’s very narrow a right right hand Bend brings them on to the final straight straight road very wide they’ll have them in their sights all the way down I doubt they’ll be making a mistake on this one here’s that tight right hander it could be a jack bow moment caught within the last 100 m might be a little bit sooner than that either way it’s Daniel OS who’s at the front for Borah HR looking for Peter San who sits in fourth position this is lar back who’s not at the back he’s at the front with a flick of the elbow let’s go let’s keep working they’re breathing down their neck now though that’s no longer 11 seconds Caleb yö at the end of the train for sudal lotto followed by edal bosen Haagen Peter Sagan a few positions ahead of him no sign yet of the lead out train from the quickstep but look for those blue jerseys they’re starting to get formed Up viviani is on reesi he’s wearing white with the light blue bands long through the roundabout a few smart cookies through the inside and the yellow colors Yambo vizar they’re led by the r in red jansson bringing them forward turnis is the man who will deliver Dylan kunan small Sprint train can they take on the likes of duer quickstep who are waiting they’re just getting grouped together waiting for their moment to ride to the front and from the original Breakaway aelan is trying to attack Rosetto steps out of the way grov agen he’s got support he sits on the wheel of Mike Turners this is Jansen Now who’s on the front early at the front 2 km to go slight headwind remember Naro canana he is drifting back but he’ll get back in no problem already lost enough time we don’t need to worry about his GC anyway he’s actually off the back well he’s had a problem here now kintana and he’s conceding more ground n kintana he’s out of contention to start with he’s in 13th position overall the race is out in front you’ll spot the line two 50 m to go slight headwind a little bit from the left hand side marcoa he’s the man on the front tunison he thinks this is too early he looks back where’s Kagan he’s got a rider from Lotto sudal behind him on kagan’s wheel is Caleb buan in fourth wheel but into this headwind it is very easy to get swamped and that’s what’s happening now m goes he’s got Rees in the wheel Vivani Sagan they pass Kagan with Yan Ken he TS on to Peter Sagan Kristoff next to him they’re battling Caleb Yan behind Kristoff Yan is in seventh position goes now he goes when reesi starts Yan out in the wind he comes in a little bit picks up a tiny bit of slipstream reesi gives him a bit of a check he’s just too strong over the top clear victory for tale of you what a [Applause] win this is the team that made the commitment from the first meter of the race and this is the man who came and rode the final kilometers before the stage started he had to negotiate his way around Rich Jersy who washed off a little bit of speed but not much because Kaleb was coming with momentum photo for second and third Viv gr we’d like to see the other angle certainly sagun in fourth Caleb Yan has won this Sprint on brute strength at first tactically good following lunan but they were on the front too early with tunison and Jansen they got swamped from behind he has ignited the jetpack track him on the left hand side 64k an hour and this is into a slight headwind a lot of that 67 getting down getting Arrow kunan he’s coming it’s too late it’s already been one second for Vivani third for kunan but that is a win by a length and Bona Fatso in fifth mind you so their first top 10 finish and you said he’d be finishing fifth well play for Caleb bun he had Roger kuger get him there earlier yes but Deo did part of the last lead out but it wasn’t a classic style lead out a lot of that last 500 m in fact all of the last 500 M was on Instinct he’s a natural born Sprinter it is he was just searching for the line and knows his way to go and get it but you’ve got to have the legs he had huge motivation he hasn’t switched off after that first stage win he liked the taste and he’s back for the second course if he can get through the mountains he’d love to win in Paris who wouldn’t that’s that’s the next goal of course so over the hundreds of yearsage you enjoy rest days you w after rest day to L you do it again here yeah to be honest I felt so bad today during the day um I think the the heat really got to me and I was actually suffering so much and I was almost about had to tell matx to get off the front because I was really yeah suffering but uh you know I had extra motivation today my my daughter and my wife are here so um yeah I’m so happy that could win for them take take us through the that final kilometer um yeah we were I thought we we were too far forward um and we I had yasper on the front with dylian on the wheel with one KS to go so we weren’t in an ideal situation with 1K to go but he did such a strong pull Quick Step came past and I lost a few more positions than I wanted to but I looked at this finish actually the side of the day and I played all the scenarios in my head and one of the scenarios I played was if I was too far back I think if you watch it I off the wheel and really take a run at it and start sprinting before the rest of the guys and yeah it worked you’ve just won two stages of the to of fronts can you believe it not really you know I you know I said before it’s a dream to be here and yeah I mean it was it was such a big to to win one stage and now one two so I can’t believe it exploring the ancient Roman Heritage of the region the pelaton will depart destination Gap it’s 200 km for stage 17 of the tour to [Music] France let’s now take a look at what confronts the Pelon for stage 17 it starts at the Paar 200 km heading through to Gap destination eventually after that into the eles so this is one of the final chances for a big Breakaway category 4 climb at the midpoint on the stage but it’s just a gradual drag right from the very start till there then a category 3 climb towards the end before they descend down into gap for the 25th time in the history of the Tour of France Sven Eric beastrom at the end there he referred to one of the great cliches because it is a truism in cycling in any sport inurance sport at least if you wait until your hungry or you wait until you’re thirsty it is too late absolutely correct so sometimes it’s a case of the more things change the more they stay the same and that old adage is certainly one of those but it’s become so much more scientific in recent years and things like weighing the Riders pre and post stage to gauge their level of dehydration and but there’s always the rules of thumb that work and be with me on this one but one of the really easy ones for hydration is when the urine is clear you’re hydrated and that’s just the really easy way to work toward you can go and weigh yourself and say oh you’re a you’re a 1.2 kilos less than you were at the start so you need to drink 1.2 L you’ve just got to keep drinking until you need to need to go to the toilet every 20 minutes to half an hour you know you’re properly hydrated and we see so often at the start of the stage once the breakway is established and it might be after only 5 km particularly on a flat stage in the first week automatically you see Riders stopping by the side of the road to taking nature break it’s so important to be super hydrated at the beginning of the day and it’s not just water and it’s been really more in the last 25 28 years so from in the ’90s that the electrolyte sport drinks really became a thing in sport and uh that is also really important but also get the right mix you can’t completely fill up on electrolyte um and a lot of riders like to take one bidon of each one electrolyte one plain water and then also what you’re drinking post stage as well to replenish the electrolytes and get your body completely Back in Balance and everything that the the muscles need to recover as we just fly across leg s in Fon and the actual construction of that church isn’t known but it got a lot of restoration work in the years of 1668 and 1677 through that period where they added the small belf fry that you can see at the top of the church as we look at one of the most famous climbs in World cycling the Monon 2 and we look at the most difficult piece the moonscape you see that line where the vegetation stops and it just turns to the white rocks the sun reflecting off it on a hot day Cooks you it can be freezing cold up the top on a summer’s day as well and windy and when the wind gets up it is incredibly difficult it’s not steep towards the top but you’re getting to altitude and quite often the wind is coming in from the west and blowing a headwind into all this last part as it funnels its way around the mountain one haven’t had a lot of fun experiences going up the tour up the the vtu amongst some of the most famous images from this climb one of them dates back to 1987 when it was an individual time TR won by John Francois Bernard the fren man whose son is riding this race Julian Bernard for T seedo can you imagine riding an individual time trial at mon Von 2 at least at Short the Von 2 climb is 21 km long I think back to I think it was the last time I rode the Von 2 in the tour to France it was a 221 km stage the final 21 was the climb the first 200 we covered in 4 hours you’re joking no I’m still scared absolutely one of my favorite stages it was horrific one of the favorite stages I ever watched of mon Von was 1994 the big break away from iros poly and he got to the bottom of the climb was somewhere in the vicinity of 2 yeah he had over 20 minutes yeah over 20 and he they didn’t finish at the top they went over the other side and they descended down to the bottom and he managed to Just Hold On by a couple of minutes in the end and he tipped his hat there was no helmets worn at that point in the tour to France he tipped his hat as he went across the Finish Line was a a great win by OS poly back in 1994 over the top of the Monon 2 this is yes stvan from T Sega Freo na bani trying to keep the body temperature down just a little fun fact about that stage win it was his only win in the professional pelaton he held on to win by 3 minutes and 39 seconds he was out at his maximum lead on that stage and I remember being in the grouped with him and with Magnus bad he was the heaviest rider in the peleton in the years he rode the tour to France a couple of others like sto Grady Hank Vogel and myself going downhill in the Alps with AOS Polly and Magnus bad you you had to hang into their slipstream they just descended so fast with that the weight the momentum created by their weight and we were off in over 100 km an hour so with OS poly he probably extended his Gap coming down off the VTO yeah and technically both those guys really good descenders it’s not just a matter of the weight to gravity equation both really good through the corners technically very good as well yeah carrying speed through the corners and brave got some good guys up in the break for this type of stage we saw just coming through to the front earlier was GA isir but also with Magnus court and Omar FR f is is definitely up there caught we saw Court up there he was definitely up there earlier he was up there early I’m we better just do a double do a double check on Magnus CT I don’t think he’s I don’t think he’s in that break anymore he has been dropped off the back and Magnus court is no longer part of those 33 Riders off the front he was active very early but now indeed he has not made it just two they have Omar FR and gki is Aira F won a stage last year gki isigo has been a stage wi at grand Tours in the past and fr is a man who has the strength to go on the attack on his own in a small group get over that final climb and he’s got a fairly handy turn of speed at the Finish as well that stage when he got to M last year was incredibly strong came back on yasper sturen who in the end we were cheering for to make it it was such a great move that he made he just literally hit a wall the wall that is the climb up to Manda it is indeed but for either of those Riders from estana to be able to win the stage Omar fr or GA is a geta they need to reduce the side of this group so we are in for some action in the final 60 km of this stage I think it will start to kick off you can see the red number in the Breakaway today that’s Alexi gja from AG toala mondal he was in the Breakaway yesterday Daniel OS with the flowing locks from the Borah H grer team they also have Luc Lucas postberg in the break number 22 sitting at the rear of the Breakaway group group that is Casper asrin who’s been doing a lot of the pacemaking throughout this race mainly in support of Julian Al Philip on occasion in support of their Sprinter Alia Vivani as he did yesterday it was Casper asr’s final couple of turns of pace up that last climb yesterday that brought an end to yesterday’s Breakaway group of five yesterday for the sunweb team they made the decision very early on Robbie that they were not going to Sprint as Michael Matthews being their protected Rider the Sprint was going to be to set up the stage for case ball he ended up being involved in the crash that also caught out Jacob Fang so Matthews got to do his own Sprint but this morning he’s a nonstarter the sunweb team they made the decision he’s in his first season in the Pro ranks let’s not rush things with him we don’t want him to exceed his limits into the mountains so they’ve had him not start the stage today which makes it intriguing for me that they made him the number one protected guy yesterday well maybe that was the thing it’s his last day let’s let him have a go it but he was involved in that crash with Chad Hager so they switch pretty quickly then to Michael Matthews which shows that it’s a really Nimble team in terms of its thinking but Michael Matthews wasn’t overly delighted about being told at the start of the stage to work for case ball the white jersey of Egan bernau sitting in fifth position in the overall classification he’d be looking forward to the high high mountains that are still to come over the next 3 days all these climbers and GC Riders you see them lined up by team inos mistar T SEO with Richie Port theing quick step further back there with Julian Al Philip Justin his shoes number 65 Mick alander he is the wild card in the pack he sits in seventh position almost 5 minutes behind the yellow Jersey that many he can still win I don’t think he’ll reach the podium there you go Nal kintana yesterday he was behind a fall he didn’t crash he put his foot down he lost more than a minute again yesterday yeah we know Mika is an an enigma expect the unexpected he goes on long range attacks but I I don’t think he’ll make the podium in this tour he may threaten the top five I think it’s just too much time to make up but surely you’ve got to pay for that the next day he’s a that Dave braford the team manager across at inos has spoken about as a threat he previously rode for team Sky they know what they’re in for with Mel Lander he’s the one guy that they think he can launch a longrange attack and sustain it others they back themselves to be able to slowly Whittle their advantage down so we look at The Paton being led by deern quickstep the advantage at 8 minutes and 29 seconds 113 km to go at the front of the pelaton let’s now turn our attention to the T media medal this is the tech the call this the Breakaway group of 33 Riders no real threats here to the yellow Jersey of Julian Al Fleet the nearest is xandre murus who’s more than 28 minutes behind at the really impressed about Caleb’s win yesterday was not just that laying off the wheel the slingshot effect out of the slipstream and hitting the front but that he went from a long way out a good 250 M into a slight headwind and just held that he didn’t look like he was fading towards the line but it’s long way from Paris from here yeah and he’s going to need a lot of help from his teammates guys like yens Kirk who’s just coming through to the front now uh Maxim mfor everybody in the team basically yasper deur sticking with him also Roger kuger and Caleb said after the Pyrenees he put a photo on his Instagram and said I’ve it was with his teammates I’ve got to thank these guys because it’s them who got me through there were some really rough moments today and I thought I was almost out yeah the teamwork for a sprinter the support for a sprinter it’s not as simple as just the lead out train in fact often it’s all the other stuff that we don’t see that happens at the back of the pelaton that was edel bosen Hagen rolling through to the front of the Breakaway group at the back of the Breakaway in last position that is B mmer just in front of him is his teammate yes stvan and they also have in this Breakaway group the atlf national champion Tom SCS Simon Clark and the pink colors rolling through and the white colors is the former world champion that is ruy Costa followed then by the Colombian champion of of a few years ago that is Sergio anal latian National Champion is next in line that’s Tom SCS then it’s the European Champion Mato Trenton followed by his teammates that is Chris Yul yansen the Dane who speaks with a very thick Irish accent spent all of his teenage years up till around about 15 or 16 in Ireland in fact he spent most of his childhood in Ireland before moving back to Copenhagen in his mid to late teens they hit the base of the first climb of the stage category 4 climb it’s 2.3 km in length with an average gradi of 6.2% is it too early to see any action from this Breakaway group yeah I think it’s still too early 97 km to go I mean there’s long range moves but 97 I’d find it hard to imagine that anybody in this group is thinking yeah just inside 100K to go that’s when I’ll go solo particularly in this heat [Music] yeah Casper as number 22 at the back of the group but Thomas to get might just test everybody’s legs a little can we thin the group there’s rules and then there’s Thomas yeah that that was the next thing to get to if there’s anybody in this group that might just do it there’s that man and Ry Foster is staying nearby so to is Simon Clark they’re well aware of the reputation of Thomas de do not take your eyes off Thomas Den back in the pelaton they’re still being led by D Quick Step today Julian Al Filip has himself ranked as equal 15th in terms of French Riders and their time in the yellow Jersey this is his 12th day in yellow he had two days at the start of the tour before surrendering it to Julio Chone but if he takes it today he’ll move one step further forward in those rankings of Frenchmen to form the yellow Jersey it’s the one in Paris that the French really want it’s been 34 years since they’ve had it de followed by Micky sha good to see the kiwi in the pink colors Tom Scully in The Breakaway today yep he’s organizing another ride with his good friend Tim well who currently wears the king of the mountains Jersey that’s in Spain this year it’s a 750 km Loop that they’re doing lots of gravel roads it’s Thomas who designs the course he designs the kit they wear and he makes all the decisions on the bike Tim does what he’s told good partnership it’s kind of like ours who’s who I just do what I’m told have you ever done what you’re told I’m going to ring your mom what was Robbie like when he was 12 did he do what he was told I know your brother well enough to give me the inside information I reckon Rosco will tell me a totally different story yeah we’re a bit different I don’t do what I’m told but but I also I don’t do all the planning you do all the planning well of certain things yeah you do the executing of the restaurants brilliantly you are the master of picking the restaurant and the wine list I just hand it over to Robbie he’s got it covered and we go with the local Cuisine and the beverages of the region and I’m also happy with our roles in the driving where if it’s a complicated evacuation from the Finish area it’s all Robbie trust me if it’s complicated it’s Robbie if it’s simple it’s me who does the driving I don’t know what it is but the car seems a bit uh narrower when I drive and faster goes around corners quicker when you drive it this is Dylan TOS in the red colors for Baran Marita one stage win already that was on stage six that was to the top of Leon to B he’s got his Mojo this year Dylan TOS he can definitely win this stage today he’ll need to get away from the likes of yasper sturen and perhaps even number 22 Casper asrin but he could pick up another victory I would like to thank Paul KY on Twitter for just doing some quick mathematics for us we were just talking about the the difference in aerodynamics and over an 8 and 1/2 second period of a Sprint or the last which is around the last 200 m 1 km hour equals 27.7 CM a second so over 8 1 half seconds 1K an hour equals 2.36 M or a bike length which is what Caleb won by yesterday so thank you for confirm confirming my thoughts with actual mathematics # we love Paul fantastic nailed it it makes all the differ check out the big brain on pole just a little bit too much pul Fiction it’s the Royale wit cheese almost at the top of the climb for the Breakaway group and I’m suspecting that Thomas de will take the points at the top he currently sits in third position in the king of the mounts classification he’s 27 points off the lead of his teammate which is Tim wellins and it’s only one point at the top of this climb but as we saw through the intered Sprint Thomas de he sees a prize and it’s like a red rag to a ball yeah and he’ll just set the pace and he’ll he’ll set enough Pace you look what’s happening in the back of the group little splits guys chasing across gaps Thomas just making sure he’s setting enough of a pace that everyone goes oh okay okay and the other thing the other thing that they’re doing is they want to stick with him OS is aware of this so to is Alexi gah coming around the outside is Pier Luke perish they would probably be thinking we need to stay with Thomas to get just in case but he’s backing off yeah he had a look and he backed off but what he sometimes does is he has a look as if okay you’re there I’ll just ease up and even sits up higher and he starts pushing the pedals harder whilst he’s got the body language of up high in sneaky sneaky clever clever but I still think it’s way too far to do a move like that he has eased right off but Pier luk paron was cautious oh yeah Daniel OS didn’t want points he thought I’m just going to have a look and make sure that if they’d gone over the top with four and a gap had opened up o thought well let’s not get caught out just in case rather make an effort that turns out to be unnecessary than not make an effort which at the end of the day you think to yourself oh gee I wish I’d just gone yeah you’d rather be cautious than wrong than too relaxed and wrong Paton still being led by D quick step out to 10 minutes and 35 [Applause] seconds and it is absolutely pouring down on the head of the race it looks to be a very localized storm but it’s one that was on the forecast the possibility of local storms throughout the area as the heat builds up in the Alps the cold air meets the hot air suddenly you’ve got a storm front on your hands and we even had a bit of picture break up there just from the amount of rain falling from the sky that is an incredible turnaround in terms of the weather conditions and this looks piter perfect looking this direction completely clear looking out of our commentary Booth there’s a few heavy clouds on the horizon but here in Gap at the moment is also fine would you welcome the rain give the heat that we absolutely it would feel wonderful one of the few occasions where you would actually welcome the [Applause] rain wonder how long it will last because it’s still really warm here at the Finish Line it’s still up in the mid to high 30s here is the Breakaway group there is niiko roach in the red colors now rolling through to the front followed by the Olympic Games gold medals from Rio that is Greg van AAR then Ben King behind him with the green helmet on the yellow helmet that is Nelson Etta from moar they lead the team’s classification behind him in pink is the keyweek Tom Scully phenomenal and the pelaton there at 12 minutes and 19 seconds they haven’t hit the rain yet it has to start and stop somewhere doesn’t it yeah and it’s quite possible that it will move across and the Pelon will just hit wet roads and think to themselves huh what happened here absolutely torrential on the front group at the moment but they I’m sure will be actually enjoying it here’s the first drops it looks like for the Pelon as well and the big drops of rain really heavy that Gorge that we went through a little while ago they had a horrible flood that went through there in 1992 where sadly 37 people passed away so a flood can hit this region really quickly you see how gingerly they were through that last Corner as well when it hasn’t rained for a long time then it suddenly Pours Down things can get a little bit slippery as well but rain this heavy is likely just to wash the roads completely clean any residue that’s built up that’ll be gone in that section and what about the contrast to that in terms of racing in the rain and the spray with the water coming off the wheels and the chance of picking up a bug and infection as a result of that does that increase by much only very slightly I think more more so in real rural areas where there’s a lot of dirt on the road that’s mud out of the fields that have been fertilized with manure and that sort of thing like the races we see in Belgium in the spring N mku I think that smile at the front is at the irony of the change in the weather conditions from boiling hot and the rain is hitting the ground and evaporating almost straight away TBO Pino is all smiles he likes the cool conditions there’s riders with blocks of ice down their back and now they’re about to get poured on here it comes down on the [Music] pelaton as youal phip I think he’s saying oh well at least we’re going to call off it’s William Bonet who he’s speaking to from group arm fdj look at all the enjoying it quite often in a race when it starts to rain you see the looks on the faces they go long they get very long and now so many guys just stting to smile think well this is going to be really nice kind of like having a swim we haven’t seen a whole lot of the Lavender Fields throughout today’s stage which as we head through the region of provance I was expecting to see more of it I think we’re just a little bit too far north north down uh around Aon provance you see a lot more of those lav Fields as we see another one of those beautiful shots as we have throughout the tour of these magnificent Birds soaring high not too spooked by our television helicopters not spooked by the rain either either because they haven’t been hit by it yet we’ve got additional votes to be awarded today Alex dson Mr consistent he’s hunting down George Bennett I’m going to award him two votes one vote for the Pauls and one vote for the comment about G garant Thomas finding a way to crash at the end of the tour potentially but locking him in for second behind tboo Alex D it two votes long hesitation the Big R sounded like he was at the doctor that incidentally puts him into clear third place in the race for the tour medor medal he’s on Seven Points it’s currently being led by George Bennett who’s on 12 and TBO poo and garant Thomas who also got a mention from Alex D they’re on nine votes as the pelaton is led by duning quickstep through Lor de me what did you think of his forecast that tibo Pino will win ahead of Gant Thomas and Julian Al Philip I think the first two reasonable enough yeah why not but if Al Philip cracks I think it’s going to be much bigger than that and I think he may drop to the bottom end of the top five or six yeah if he goes he showed signs of it the other day in the Pyrenees but this this tour is just given us so many surprises that should Al Philip hang on I also won’t be shocked the tennis ball theory if you drop the tennis ball it bounces back and that bounce gets less and less how much more spring does he get in his tennis ball after the rest day we don’t know we won’t know until tomorrow it’s not an exact science now he had to be dropped up there by helicopter surely you wouldn’t climb that rock climbing he’s got the safety rope he must have you can’t drop somebody off on that for the chopper it would be worth watching if they did I was just looking at all the the loose looking rocks up towards the top the French are so famous for their rock climbing well he’s a lot braver than I am he’s a hell of a lot braver than I am I can assure you pellaton still being Guided by D keric quickstep the team of Julian alip it is magnificent we talk a lot about all the man-made structures but this is Mother Nature at her very best I like that he’s got the polka dot Jersey on see he’s climbed up can see the safety harness oh my goodness you know that you know that feeling you get in the bottom of your feet when you’re watching someone else stand at a really great height in a precarious place maybe you don’t know but that’s what I’ve got now I’ve just taken a look at the king of the mountains classification it’s Tim well leading on 40 points TBO Pino in second on 50 points and that guy moves into third absolutely that’s categorized on its own that climb this is Chris Yul yansen for mitchelton Scott at the front the black and yellow he’s former teammate yens kirkir now rolls through to the front you can see the expression in their faces starting to change and looking a lot more serious the tension on the face there of Tom Scully Simon Clark now comes through on the pink Mickey in the orange colors has been doing more work at the front than his teammate Greg vanav to the 14 minutes under 50 km to go there’s no real reason to be swapping off in Earnest anymore and I’ve seen little signs I spotted a couple of riders just tighten a shoe here and there Riders start to spend a little bit more time at the back a lot more talk on the radio this Gorge that we now Journey down through it’s classified as a natural zone of E ological fora and Flora interest so it is protected by the government decree pellaton in single file they really just trying to get through to the Finish Line it’s protected but you’re still allowed to climb all over it by the looks of things and race your bike through the middle of it Eve lampart on the front they have had an enormous tour their big Focus really was the first week to try and win a stage with Julian Al Philip the Sprint finishes with Ali Vivani and then see what they could do overall with enrik mus this is the Breakaway group this is Neils pollet he’s all smiles he’s enjoying himself let everyone know what’s happened right from the start if they’re just tuning in I was looking at my Race book small downhill and I was just about to say this is the time when the opportunities are starting to come up places on the route to attack small uphills little sections where it’s possible to start the action and just as we were going to go to that package we noticed the first little split occurring in that front group The Breakaway of 33 Riders it’s starting and it wasn’t so much as an attack it was some of the Tactical moves of people trying to stay at the back and stay out of the wind Chris Jansen now at the front it’s that maneuvering people put himself in a position just to do a little bit less for a little while really save the legs and then start to think about what’s coming up they’ve done that downhill now there’s a series of small uphills and here’s an acceleration into a corner it’s MMA who is the first to go this is a genuine attack from B mmer Robbie once again you have read the tea leaves correctly it’s Alexi guja who is responding well MMA with stoven in the group this is exactly what he had to do go long range Force the others to come with him if a group forms with him then he can afford to start sitting back and doing less or nothing at all and say I’m going to ride for sturen I want him to come back to us cuz he can beat you all in the Sprint but he’s a man who has won a stage a couple of years ago in the tour to France Stage 15 Leon Val with a late attack out of a breakaway group and he attacked just before the bottom of the final climb and they never saw him again because he is so strong and he’s technically good you saw where he attacked going into a corner catch them by surprise open a little Gap up the reaction came really quickly though from guad and it looks like he’s closing the Gap but a little fracture at the front of this group the importance of attacking going into the corner versus going out of the corner well you’ve already exited there’s someone in your wheel it’s a pretty obvious move going in you can catch them off guard and attack Now by Scully and Alexi gja the rider that I spoke about earlier is perhaps pays the price for the fatigue of being in the Breakaway yesterday the man in the yellow shoes is showing no such signs and in fact it’s guja who is the next to go it’s gar just not wanting to miss out so maybe thinking to himself it’s tactically so difficult to pick I’m going to follow the first couple and immediately just I’m going to go as hard as I can and see if I can get away then you don’t have to react to attacks you are the attack you are the attack lots of the riders in the red colors from Sun we down at the back of the pelaton their big hope today they only have one hope it’s that Nicholas roach who is in the break cheers to the two lead out men for Ali Vivani doing the job today for the yellow Jersey the white that is Max rezzi in the red the Danish Champion nikel mku a very straightforward defense for Deering Quick Step everyone pretty relaxed in the pelaton this is Emanuel Bookman some people have been saying oh under the radar nobody’s talking about him we’re talking about him every single day we have been since the start and said that he came out of the dolphin a with a third place in the back pocket and he was always going to be a contender for a top five he said I’d like to finish top 10 he’s underestimated himself in addition to that whether we’re talking about him or not the riders in the Pelon are mhm so to the man in the red and sorry not the red and the black the yellow and the black and that is Steven Cruz viik the best young rider in the race Egan Bernal importantly though he sits in fifth place overall Neils pollet we went through that list and said who needs to do what and when who needs to go long range and this was one of the men we said go long range a very good time trailers fairly handy uphill without being a climber and not slow at the finish so get into a group get into a five or six-man break and he can definitely win from that this is the strategy that you said he needed to adopt when we went through it a little earlier on it’s Yen GK who’s come out after him from sudal Lotto so that’s a man with a fast finish not ideal for pollet no move yet from Thomas de perhaps he waits for few attacks to soften the legs and then he goes well a very technical section Neils pollet pushing everybody to the Limit if they want to close this Gap looked a little Dusty through that corner also everybody on the Chase and kir he is getting across the Gap it’s George Jensen in the background with Gard Tom Scully so the men who are on the attack just previously that narrow winding road it’s just kept them at the front everybody strung out and two of the four Riders from cetus are at the very back of the group not a good sign that is Pier Luke parishan who is at the rear and this group is really strong strong out this is some serious pressure at the front kirkir has made it across and he’s created a little bit of a gap to Tom Scully in the pink colors and that next group still has a gap over the rest all looking over the shoulder edwald bosson Haren is in that group The Man in the bright green helmet looking back is look like yasper Stan on the front of the the rest of the group we see this vehicle with the Australian flags and the boxing kangaroo every stage of the tour to France Tim well at the back number 168 he will have enjoyed the rain showers he despises the Heats he has to get into the Breakaway tomorrow if he’s any chance to win that polka dot Jersey well not much is going to change back here either but up the front the change is happening the attacks have started to rain down from the front group Neil pollet and yens Kirk Keen to see what their Gap is over the rest or if they’ve already shut them down this is from the Breakaway group number 123 that is Sven edic beast and when he won the Under 23 World Road Race title Caleb buan was second and he spoken about watching Caleb take that next step up and he’s really enjoyed seeing Caleb have that success Simon Clark now in pink so back in our front group Simon Clark has a little go Trenton was the man in his wheel so everything come back together after that attack by Neils pollet there’s now three of the four Riders from cetus in the back six Riders of this group this is Ban at the rear just in front of him is Omar FR from aana some of the riders in this group they’ll just gamble on having the tactic right think I won’t get involved I won’t attack or chase yet I’ll sit further back rely on everybody being really Keen not to miss it just wait a little bit longer it’s playing your cards close to your chest holding your nerve and just hoping you’ve picked the right tactic terms of the general classification from that Breakaway group xandro maissi starting the stage in 19th position with this this Advantage he’s now moving himself up to 13th Place in the general classification it’s pretty good day yep but a day out here in the break May well cost him a whole heap of time tomorrow in the mountains and see him fall even further back than he was already well the Alps are looming for the entire peleton of this tour to France but at the front the thoughts are not on the Alps it’s on the stage win this is guad behind him Ben King ju Jensen he sits up so the Gap opens and gja wears the red number as the most competive from yesterday’s stage who’s in the day long Breakaway theoretically he should be the most tied guy in this Breakaway group but he’s showing so much Vigor to press on and try and win maybe that’s the thinking behind his attacks I’m tired from yesterday I’m fatigued I’ll just throw out big attacks and see if I can get away maybe he’s feeling I’m probably not sharp enough at the end to make a big attack to try and slide away but it’s not they’re not sneaky attacks big horsepower he’s got Ben King with him who’s got plenty of his own horsepower now sprinting across that is Tom scin the lafan national champion followed by stake Langan from UAE van aart starting to pay attention at the gritting the teeth too the Belgian in the gold helmet and the gap opening up look ahead there are some 10 or 11 Riders and Jensen has not managed to go with the eyes going across but Mato trentin is one of them the teammate of juel Jensen and he makes contact at the back more trying to go across Scully is amongst them in the pink colors Daniel oos he’s the man just making contact so Trenton getting organized straight away right to the front says come on this is it let’s split it they’ve Left Behind around 20 Riders as green as the man trying to come across he has the legs to go across the 22-year-old Casper asrin Simon Clark just jumping out of the remnants of that breakway the big goup behind you just see him coming over the crest in the pink jersey there he is Niko roach he follows his example now this group they sit and they wait they try to work out who will do the chasing and it’s Thomas de who is on the front because also in this group is Yen kirkir so the two Riders from sudal Lotto from the breakway have missed the split both missed it so that’s not a good sign for this group having Thomas Dent trying to chase you down but that is now a big gap Simon Clark down in the arrow tuck in the background then it’s niiko roach and now it’s Nelson Oliva on the front of the rest of the group as green he is on the verge of making contact but they are really going good cooperation in this front group this is the back of the Breakaway number 136 that’s B mmer who started it all big tail wind down the valley as well Simon Clark looking like he stared to get stranded another big turn from Trenton the key notable Clark is sitting up he’s about to be caught by the Chasers the key notable for Mato Trenton he knows that yasper stvan is not in that front group and he’s probably the only guy from this Breakaway they could beat Mato Trenton in a Sprint finish yeah they’ve got skin there who is actually just waving other Riders through so skin looks like he’s suffering and having the Firepower of yasper sturing behind you may think scoin will think to himself I’m really feeling the pinch I’ve got a fast guy from the team behind I’m going to sit on I’m not working and asrin has made contact there he is in Blue from the KCK quickstep the Workhorse gets an opportunity he is quite incredible the amount of work that he’s done on the front of the Pelon in this tour to France and had a heavy crash on stage three he’s bounced back from all of that to get in the break first thing today and now get across that Gap incredible from The Young Dane he’d be a popular winner if he was to collect the stage Victory Chris yansen off to the left he follows the wheel of Neils pollet he’s trying to discourage the Chase from this group because his teammate Mato Trenton is amongst the leaders this is niik roach now at the back in the red colors of sunweb he sits just behind Sergio anal and for the cofas team they’ve managed to get Pier Luke parishan into this group number6 van aramat who you spoke about in Orange doesn’t miss many and he hasn’t missed this one he went and he was with the attack after Bal mmer really kicked things off and then de missed the next one that’s how you’ve got to ride when you’re in a break with any sort of numbers you got to back each other up when one’s made the effort and been in one you’ve got to make sure you make the next one or you’re on the back foot and you’re chasing and that gap opening up now 26 seconds between Vehicles passing by official motorbikes cameras not a good sign for the chasing group 11 riders in this group number 22 is Casper asrin just in front of him Tom SCS just in front of him is GA is AA this is Neil pollet trying to go across Pier Luke pishon is in the group for kofus mat Trent in for mitchelton Scott the CCC they have Greg van aamar the American Ben King is there for Dimension data Daniel o is in the group for Bora hansar St Langan is there for UAE Alexi guar for AG toel Tom Scully the Kiwi for EF Education First pollet on his own trying to go across well all but two of the riders in there are doing what we said they needed to do to try and win go long range from somewhere just within 40 km down to 25 km to go try and get in a suitable sort of group but the man going off the front is one of the big dangers for this group Matteo trentin with his Sprint so is vanava and Gard has blown finally paying the price for yesterday said it earlier when we said he’s so active maybe because he’s already feeling the pinch and thinking I won’t be good enough to go in the final part of the stage I’ll see if I can get away and get in a a group and they let me slide it’s caught up with him the one thing the team criticizes Alexi guar for he been too aggressive it’s a nice thing to be criticized for but today he’s paid the price for being a little too active he’s out of attacked himself he has good effort nonetheless being in the break yesterday and really yesterday was not the day to go in a break when you saw the body language of sudar L early on but look what it’s done to the group here there was the acceleration by Trenton he was off the front nobody followed and now they’re starting to look at each other that teamwork element of the break has gone out of it he’s trying to drive The Brak but he’s disrupting The Brak Mato Trenton and a lot of the riders in this group they would fear Mato Trenton rightly so in the Sprint finish he has beaten Peter SGA in a Sprint finish to win a stage in the past and he’s really been up front with his riding and pushing the pace and talking a lot where van aamad is trying the opposite tactic just nobody sees me I’m just floating along I’m not even really here little bit difficult not to see GRE van don’t don’t mind me I’ll just do what the rest of you are doing and beat you at the end but he’s shown his experience here he’s recognized that the pace has dropped off it’s losing cohesion he rolls through and you saw the head turned back he’s talking to the others come on let’s roll comes through but back into a single file line oos VAV Scully ascreen Mato Trent in Ben King Lan then it was skin at the back GA isig just taking a drink now he is the sleeper in the group I expect a clever attack from isir his brother’s been a stage winner in the tour that was in the rain into Mor Zine that was in 2016 he’d like to join him as a stage winner in the tour to France neutral service still providing the water and there’ll also be a mavic neutral service motorbike but not car directly behind them this is the pelaton going through the motions the Yates twins at the back number 108 Simon he’s been a duel stage winner in this year’s race 101 Adam Yates he’s trying to work out what has gone wrong his season was meant to be toour to France then onto the Vault aspa it’s been announced that he won’t be riding in Spain no aspa for Adam act this year good decision too third from yesterday Al Vivani sitting just behind the white jersey moku still at the front the Danish national champion the yellow Jersey julianella F should come out of today reasonably happy it’s been a stressfree day as much as they can be one for the race lead yeah he’ll be very happy with how it’s gone today completely stress free and even in the beginning it was just sitting in the wheels cruising along even though it was 50 km an hour that is cruising you you get to this end of the tour to France so there you’re tired you’re fatigued you just get used to riding at that speed as well you just turned it over and flowed along in the slipstream as green pushing the pa the pace at the front he’s done a lot of work throughout this year’s tour a lot of work on the front but today he’s been saving energy at the back remember back in the tour of Flanders in April he did so much work throughout the race for others and then he finished on the Podium second yeah and it was a solo second place finish betol was off the front on his own and then asrin just slipped away from the next group and they didn’t catch him he is strong and he did a lot of work in the first 10 days of this tour to France and he was eth top 10 in the time trial eight eighth in the time trial we declared him as the youngsung hero the following day7 seconds and they’re starting to think about the climb that’s going to come it starts with with around 13 km to go you wrote it this morning what sort of opportunities does it present for this group 14 km to go the start of the climb it’s 5 1/2 km long 5.2 it tops out around 8 1/2 km to go out of this group there’ll be a couple not counting on their climbing skills maybe looking for another attacking opportunity before they get to the climb get a head start although that’s a danger in itself get a head start for the climb it’s risk reward you might not get a lot of a lead have put yourself right in the Red Zone soon as they come back to you you go through the group and out the back Simon Clark tried that a few days ago and then paid the price 4 km to the bottom of the climb I haven’t seen GA isiga come through for a turn maybe we’ve just been off on a Scenic shot like this wonderful shot of L mon the Q Su pardon me this one also stands at a little bit over 2,000 M another one of the popular spots for rock climbing you can see that Limestone face of it it’s no wonder that it’s one of the more popular destinations in this region for rock climbing with the terrain that they have down here as we head towards the Alps it’s no surprise that it’s very popular pellaton still being led by Eve lampart the former Belgium Road and Tom TR Champion out towards the 20 minute Mark by the end of the stage there I think that Advantage for the Breakaway yep we’ll just see what maybe a team like Mor star some of the others might do on the climb just ride a little bit quicker possibly thinking just be in position for The Descent it’s not a a technical difficult descent but nobody wants to get caught out it’s not the traditional descent that we see down into gap which was a hair raising one no that was off the cder MS the category 2 climb and we’ve seen a few Come Undone down there and splits in the pelaton it’s nothing like that it’s a lot more straightforward so nothing for the pelaton to worry about this group they’re getting ever closer to the foot of the climb and the Gap is growing almost out to 40 seconds here he is is Aira from estana rolling through he is adapting or approaching this with the ruy Costa strategy just enough to keep everybody happy he’s sure to attack on the final climb I think so out of that group he’s a man who really needs to attack this group with the likes of Trenton and vanav in it and this is what remains off the front of the Breakaway group originally 33 Riders now 11 off the front it’s down to 10 now in fact because is now being dropped it would be incredible if he was able to return to this group but now the chases they’re out to 39 seconds 39 seconds is a lot of ground to make up when you’ve been in this break all day long yeah it’s a lot of ground to make up there is a 5 km climb maybe Thomas Dent will think I’ll have a go at it on the climb but there’s got to be others in this group that think they need to get away before it maybe a Daniel OSS that’s what he’s thinking about Tom SC be offloaded got to at least try something we’ve had kiwis win stages in the tour to France in the team time trial but never an individual stage this could be a historic moment for for New Zealand cycling this is Ben king Tom Scully has himself in second position behind King the reaction is coming from Trent in and he’s just going to try and cover everything just keep it together the Grimace on the face of Greg vanart as he follows the wheel of Casper asrin trentin is showing some cards early he won’t be intent on getting into a group and start swapping off to form another split he just prefer everything just to stay together that will be just fine for Mato trentin 37 seconds now the Gap reduces ever so slightly to the Chasers like to see exactly what’s happening back with the chasing group swing across the road and Ben King well he has a look and then gets up on the pedals and goes it’s vanav who tracks him Asen he also sees the danger train in the same he responds number 107 as gr Counterattack over the top the youngest rider in the leading group and he puts them all under pressure well they are very close now to the foot of the climb this a big effort climb is just a little way down the road that was a swan for Dylan turn stepping out of the road but sorry he’s not there yet he’s missed the split and he’s creating a Sprint Tom Scully now the pink colors the bow of the head is never a good sign Tom Scully you can cross him off Ben King as well he’s been distance but asrin is the one who is eliminating the chances Langan also gone out of this group perish on he will not get across Trenton says this is great let’s keep it rolling the men not to miss out Asen van aart is air and Tom scin Daniel OS with the flowing locks we’re asked about the aerodynamics of Daniel OS he loves his hair he sits at the back of the group it’s part of his branding Daniel OSS it makes it easy for us to spot him he’s the right at the rear of the group Tren in he’s eager for this to keep moving along we got rid of a lot of guys and always talking always pushing come on guys let’s keep it going roll it over roll it over almost at the bottom of the climb and is Airi he has got to be the man who will attack he can’t wait till just near the top after the showers that we had the dripping that you see in that musette bag from Michael heurn that’s the stockings full of ice to take them through to the team leaders as one of his teammates Mato Trenton he’s not waiting for the Sprint he’s showing his strength the cards are on the table well followed all the moves and he’s obviously thought to himself it’s just not moving quick enough maybe they’re too tired off I go reaction now coming from Pier Luke peran as Trenton is onto the climb the C Sentinel 5.2 km 5.4% average and he is a strong time Charis Mato Tren in real Paws back in this group who’s going to do the work they cannot wants to do a big turn for the rest as they get to the foot of the climb could be a master strike by Trent in Perry Shan he was dropped when Trenton was one of the ones making an acceleration he surely won’t ride across the Italian no he’s looking over his shoulder he’s looking for the chases the RAC is out in front P Luke perish on second on the road mat Trenton is all by himself an adjustment or the jury or just a silent prayer he’s off the front solo and that is a big gap to cross chasing group being led by Tom SC it’s Then Greg vanav in Orange this is Pier Luke pishon of kidus looking to end an 11-year drought for this team is he making any progress not yet this is trentin and he’s the rider that I would have backed in the Sprint finish from that [Applause] group Trenton fastest man in the group The One the others don’t want to go to the finish with want to offload him attack him use him up he’ll have none of it he’ll leave him behind first impressive was fourth at the world champion ship in 20177 Mato Trenton he’s won multiple stages here at the tour four at the BPA and one at the Judo dellia he’s already opened up a 13-second Advantage make it 15 seconds on pier Luke pishon well he W stages here at the tour successive Years 2013 and 2014 in 13 he beat Albini in a photo finish and then the next year he wenton into NC from an elite front Group after a difficult hilly stage coming in ahead of Peter Sagan and at that point he was riding with the quickstep team Omega farmer quickstep it was now it was then known now known as the kic quickstep he’s got the Jersey fully open 37° still at the Finish Line in gap 4.2 km to the top of the climb this is the pursuer this is peran and this is good news for Trenton that perish Shan is still in between I man who was dropped when the race went a bit faster and he’s at 17 seconds 26 seconds to the next chasing group and perish on keeps looking over the shoulder this could be it Trenton has laid the winning move maybe maybe a lot won’t consider this going out on a limb I’m calling it Trent in will not be caught he has looked so fresh he’s been all over every move he’s been a tent he’s been strong he’s covered attacks now he’s made his own he’s been so eager in the moves as well to do the work to get everybody moving it’s like he’s on a big Adrenaline Rush surely they can’t catch him the Gap is opened up even more he’s not showing any signs of slowing down Mato trentin he was interviewed before the start of the stage no pressure on the team you’ve already got three stage victories yeah but I haven’t yet prophetic words by the Italian the man who is the European road race champion and from team mitchelton Scott just as you said one of the men with two stage wins in this race Simon Yates he sits at the back of the Pelon having a relaxing day and I’m sure following the progress updates of his teammate off the front this is a pck de it’s the third highest peak in this region at 2,79 m above sea [Applause] level cooling off for Mato Trent in he’s feeling the heat but it’s not from the chase because they are going further behind perish on at 23 the rest of the pursuers at 33 seconds that’s the group with is Aira and vanav and how discouraging for that chasing group now at 33 seconds when they’ve seen the strength of Mato Trent in it’s o on the front followed by asrin then isiga SCS and at the back van aat they don’t look like a group who will close down to Mato trentin these are not tactical decisions that is the best they had this is the best they’ve got the strong man is going to win this bike race plain and simple the trening off the front he’s got it all in front of him with just on 112 km remaining it’s 23 seconds now for parishan p pishon is putting up a good fight yep dangling 13 seconds in front of the group that he caught right before the foot of the climb he went up and over as they took a pause and he’s still holding them off he’s 15 seconds ahead of that group with vanav and he looked cooked at that point but he’s really bounced back well at the at the moment he’s he’s hanging on to this time Gap he’s not losing anymore at the moment that time Gap actually having him come in by 1 second on Mato trentin but he still can’t see him 22 seconds is a big gap this is his fourth appearance at the tour to France for pier Luke pishon he’s never won a stage in the tour nor a world tour level race but he has won a good race if you like your cheese he has been a winner of Perry cbear where you win your weight in CBE he won that back in 2012 this is oos followed by Van aan they’re trying to work you’re right in your assessment it’s not so much that it’s tactical just this is all that’s left in the tank it is stage 17 they’ve been racing throughout the tour now for more than 25,000 km and the Gap is growing and Mato Trenton his virtual Finish Line is the top of this climb at 8 1/2 km to go it’s pretty much all downhill into Gap just a couple of little pinches a few hundred M long but he knows if he can have 20 seconds at the top of this climb they will not see him this is the next group on the road these are the remnants this includes edal bosen Hagen also in this group is Ben King Simon Clark is there in the pink colors Dylan TOS is at the rear of the group just in front of him is bua mmer third last from that group is Nik roach this is Langan at the front of this group trying to drive them back on Simon Clark he’s in fourth last of the group behind him is that Han yep former Columbia national champion Sergio an now and the Gap to the pelaton out to 182 minutes just over 2 km from the top this group looks like it’ll be caught by the group that is chasing them down and then they’ll get the news oh but hang on Mato Trenton he’s still another 40 seconds up the [Applause] road a big dive down in gap GA is a gear now the attack comes from Casper asrin and nobody with the legs to go with him the young Dane has proven to be a Powerhouse in 2019 one of the revelations of last year’s walta arpa confirmation this season but if he’s able to accelerate like that right away from this group and distance them he’s waited too long he should have done that before if he really did have it in the legs he’s on to that little flatter section now as well 41 seconds the Gap at the moment Casper asrin made the move he might be able to take five or so Seconds Away really quickly with the exceleration but then once it gets into the stabilization tron’s not backing off he’s not slowing down he’s showing no signs of weakness and he’s 500 M from the top of this climb the gradient a lot easier he will power across the top of the C de Sentinel above Gap and it’ll be a lightning fast descent it’s a pedaling descent so it’s not as steep as say a pyrenean or an Alpine descent it’s certainly quick open and flowing ASR pretty quickly across to parishan he will make contact with the Frenchman by the time they reach the top it’s been a good acceleration by Asen and he may live to regret that he didn’t try this early it’s not over yet Robbie oh okay but it is not quite they will not catch Tren in surely not too much experience too much fight you could see this morning in his interview how much he wanted it popped himself into the break and the way he’s ridden it all day long the only thing surely that could stop him is a mistake yeah I’m 99% with you but Casper asrin is a guy who was surprised more than once this season as screen up and over the top of Pierre Luke pishan tries to tack himself onto the wheel and he does it at the moment no the gap opening up the Dane pushes on the Frenchman is being dropped the moment was momentary because number 22 is on the charge it’s the young Dane Casper asrin still holding out a glimmer of hope of being able to get across to Mato Trenton or the kilometers are going to tick away very quickly now if it was this Gap and a a flat or undulating run into the Finish you’d say still a chance he’s not home yet but he’s got a lot of descending to do right the way to the final kilometer there’s only two sections of about 400 m we’ll be up onto the pedals Big Chain ring as well and the little kick up from 2 km to go you really dive into a dip carry a lot of speed onto it so Trenton just has to hold it together keep his concentration is the most important thing now on this descent get your markers from the motorbike in the car in front of you estimate the corners take just enough risk but he’s got a gap that he can be careful enough I’m glad you declared this is a non-technical descent it opens up even more further down uh it’s not hair pins you can take most of these Corners with just a brush of the brakes just a brush of the brakes so he says at the top of the climb Trenton lead on asrin was 26 seconds at the point where Casper asrin attacked the Gap was 41 seconds and it might be 10 at the Finish but Trenton will have time to sit up and celebrate this is the chase Casper asrin Trenton is a very good descender he’s a very good descender as as much as I’d like to keep the excitement in it for commentary purposes but I’m not going to because Trenton is just too good to give this away this is Pier Luke parishan fighting for a top three finish on the stage he’s trying to hold off the group with Greg van aarts and and now it’s gone out to 29 seconds so Trenton actually is riding away from Casper asrin on The Descent he’s a good descender just has to hold it together shades of last year Adam Yates off the front on the way to Baner de Lon with Julian Al Philip on The Chase he fell in court we don’t wish it on him but these are the things you need to keep in mind and that’s why you need to stay 100% focused even with a comfortable lead and Yates mitchelton Scott Trenton mitchelton Scott asrin quick step Al Philip Quick Step mhm Shades indeed that’s why it all came together flatter part of the desent so the further you go down the less gradient there is back onto the power for trentin line up that car in front see what sort of curve there is in front of you ease off slightly back on it again he looks so powerful Mato trentin the European Road Champion he’s won Sprint finishes in this were before one from a breakaway group another one getting the better of Peter seun now Casper asrin it’s heading in the wrong direction yeah both Mato Trenton tour to France wins have been in group Sprints the one in NC in 2014 quite a large group Sprint the other one in 2013 a smaller Breakaway group like this one with about 15 or 16 guys left and just got over the top of Albini he’s making sure of this one just the strongest man in the group on the day in the end when you look at it he’s ridden away and simply outp powerered them he was all over everything didn’t miss a beat not a single mistake and he’s the strongest that 1% hope that I was holding out for Casper asrin has just evaporated underneath the sun into Gap as it goes to 31 seconds yeah the time gap’s going out this is that little uphill section through 5 km to go it goes for a few hundred met and it definitely stings the end of a 200 km extremely hot day stage 7 of the tour to France it is hurting like the proverbial but Tren in he can smell the stage win it hurts a little less when you’re in front and the time Gap is going in your favor but this is another Brave performance by Casper asrin he holds 8 seconds over Pier Luke pishan it’s a further 8 seconds back to the group of vanav which has swelled in number with riders joining them from the chasing group behind the Breakaway it absolutely fell to pieces trentin has been responsible for a lot of the damage this is Bal MMA with GA isir trying to go across in March of last year asrin was still riding with Team virtue cycling a continental team down in the third division of the sport he got picked up by D keric quickstep and now the 24y old danne finds himself in with a chance to finish second on a stage of the Tour of France he was second this year at the tour of flers a stage winner at the Tour of California well whoever whoever is responsible for that Talent ID well done isira MMA then perish TOs and Van aart contemplating what might have been they’ve missed their opportunity yep the rest they are way out of contention for this one this is that downhill stretch down towards 2 km to go for Mato Tren in so all down H Hill till 2K to go another kicker up for about 400 m but he has a 36 second Advantage now so he’s riding away all the time it’ll just be steady state and start to think of what the victory salute is going to be well he hasn’t had much chance in his previous stage victories to really focus on it as it’s been the adrenaline one with a photo finish where he actually had to wait maybe up to 2 minutes for confirmation when he got the better of Michael Alber that was super close on that occasion this time there’ll be no one else on the photo unless he starts to celebrate from a kilometer out and as green comes into sight as green still only has 10 seconds on the group they call it the group vanava Mar but that was the one we saw B MMA and is Airi attacking out of Mato trentin On Target to make it stage win number four for mitchelton Scott this last little uphill section then it’s downhill to oh he’s got it the downhill until the 2 kilom then a proper kick up still to get to that section this is Casper azren now drifting out to 38 seconds behind eighth in the individual time trial he’s the Danish time tral champion and he has spent countless kilometers on the front of the pelaton for his team leaders Alo Philip and Vivani but they’re closing in on him from behind yeah they’re coming at him and this man he is going away from them this is the pelaton coming onto the foot of the climb Tony Martin is who Le the disagreement here Luke row and Tony Martin that will be looked at by the race commissaires that sort of behavior and this is the sort of thing that could get Tony Martin thrown off the tour to France he it’s too late to say needs to be careful it might be too late for him I don’t know I’d like to know exactly what happened there and here from Luke row and Tony Martin well they’re going to have to explain themselves most certainly Tony Martin to the race jury if they’ve seen that footage do you think it you think that was deliberate as opposed to a look across the shoulder and then he absolutely deliberate we just need to know what was the Catalyst to that but the real action is right here he’s on the way to another stage victory for mitchelton Scott about to see the kite with one kilometer to go Mato Trenton has simply been the strongest pat on the back from the yellow Jersey gratitude for Dre deance 20 minutes and 10 seconds the [Applause] Gap still leads it is followed by Thomas Cruz viik Pino Bernal Bookman Lander valde uran and then Port rounds out the top 10 more than 80% of this year’s tour to France has been completed there’s just 592 km remaining Before the Race reaches its Finish Line in Paris yet the big decisions there still to be made and providing the backdrop will build the Alpine climbs could it be a French Victory they’ve got the yellow Jersey resting on the shoulders of Julian Al Philipe who will get to the top of the mountain first today the drama of the day yesterday though involved Luke row and Tony Martin on the Ro approaching the final climb the battle was on for positions and it got a little heated pretty har decision I think maybe a yellow card have been merited but um I think a red card for both Riders In fact um is um feels a bit severe to me Luke you must be devastated yeah I think um you know it’s the biggest sport event in the world and uh to come here with this team and alongside a bunch of good mates and just feel like I’ve let them down um of course let myself down and uh yeah it was a you know both try and do a job maybe we both over overstepped the mark slightly but feels harsh to to be thrown off the race I think both of us neither of us deserve that um and you know there’s just a lot of people supporting you watching you and uh it’s pretty it’s pretty hard Luke Ro from team inos and Tony Martin of Yambo visma both disqualified from the race they’re on their way home in terms of altitude gain this is the biggest throughout this year’s tour they will scale more than 5,200 m in altitude gain across 208 kilm from emam through to Vala and some of the most famous climbs in the sport the Cova then it’s on to the ISA then to the giant the C gbia at more than 2,600 M before a rapid descent through to the Finish hello welcome to Stage 18 of the tter France Matthew Keenan with you joined once again by Robbie mccuan Robbie the sun is shining at the finish line but there are a few Riders missing we just saw the package from yesterday involving luk row and Tony Martin it will provide a talking point for the next few hours and then we’ll get to the high mountains and we’ll switch our Focus very much onto to the racing itself but it did take a dramatic turn after yesterday’s stage it did take a dramatic turn but as far as I’m concerned it didn’t take an unexpected turn as soon as I saw the footage and the only the small part that we saw live during the race I said they’re going to have some questions to answer at the finish and they certainly did then more footage emerged and even though nobody crashed the actions that were taken by those two riders with the look at the precedent set last year of Giani moscon being thrown off the tour for trying to punch someone else a swinging a Miss they threw him off the race with that precedent already set looking at yesterday’s events for me it seemed pretty close to 100% they were going to be thrown off the race and you made that call at the time and I was skeptical I didn’t think it would be severe I did see some more footage courtesy of the Dutch television NOS which shows more prior to what happened when they made that leftand turn and in terms of number one the risk that they put other Riders at the risk that they put spectators at and then also the image of the sport it does look harsh externally it’s not the consequences of those actions it’s the intent of those actions and what could have been caused actually think the UCI have made the right decision disqualify them even though the people that are in the thick of it they probably feel like it is a little bit harsh but I also believe that the UCI should have gone on the front foot and actually made a strong communication about what their decision was why they made it and the purpose of doing that big call of disqualifying them from the race yeah and I think you’re right with that call the UCI just needed to come forward I don’t need to say much all that needed to be said was we will not tolerate physical aggression within the race and we have excluded the two Riders full stop yeah there was no need for them to press conference and do a whole Q&A session they just needed to make a strong statement that shows that they are backing the decision of the jury on the race and a lot of questions have been asked as to who’s the jury or the jury’s made up of an international group of Representatives there’s Italians on there French on there as well there’s a Canadian on that jury it’s not as if it’s a biased decision in favor of the French race leader no it’s not any bias to the the French race leader but in effect the the race jury the UCI commissaires they are the judge the jury and the Executioner and and the appeals panel this time they executed so there’s so I wasn’t shocked to see them out of the race but as we see the Tour de Brun in ambun and we’ll get to some of the Fantastic scenery please enjoy watching that if you’re not so into the technicalities behind the race and uh what’s gone on after yesterday just to clarify the jury the UCI president or the jury president I should say is from Italy then the members Canada is represented France Spain and Belgium so there’s no bias based on nationalities no it’s simply following the rules that are in place they had the option just to issue a fine and a warning and points deduction and other various things that are meaningless to the Riders really but they went the whole hog said out of the race the race moves on the teams were planning an appeal heard nothing of that but they will not go back as I said judge jury executioner and appeals panel they’re not going to reverse their own decision so the Riders are lining up for this stage what is the queen stage of this tour to France and their fine was 1,000 Swiss Franks Robbie which is significant as opposed to as opposed to 101 Swiss Franks yeah so if the fine the fine they got was under 1,000 Swiss Franks gives you no right of appeal a fine over 1,000 Swiss Franks you may appeal correct read this fine print just got to that bit Julian alip in the yellow Jersey this is a big day for Julian alip they’ve all been big days for Julian Ellis whether they’re flat or hilly he’s made something big just the fact that he’s still in the Jersey day after day it’s huge [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a roll out from emram which in 2008 this beautiful little town in the Alps hosted the start of two stages of the T France one of them finished in Italy at pron noo that was one in pouring rain from a breakaway Group by Simon garens the following day it was a stage that went through to Al or a few days later was a stage that went through to Al Dez and it was caros sestra who won the stage with a bold Breakaway in the blazing sun and we’re expecting a bit of both today it’s warm at the moment but the forecast is for potential showers and maybe even thunderstorms later in the afternoon I was just thinking while you’re telling that story about 2008 I was there I rote it and I don’t remember being in embran must have been at the Hard end of the tour but weather weather forecast was so at valoir where the race finishes after they Crest the gbia and dive down into valoir chance of thunderstorm STS from 3:00 this afternoon the race is not due to finish until 5:00 p.m. so it’s a 50/50 whether the storms will hit here but there will be thunderstorms in the Alps this afternoon so the Riders have just got to be lucky that it doesn’t hit on the course yesterday I’m sure they really would have enjoyed that heavy down for at one stage it was 38° and then it started pouring rain it would have been like having a swim they would have felt that that was really nice Mickey sha who was in the Breakaway he did an interview immediately after the stage and he said that’s the first time I’ve rejoiced rain when I’m in a bike race well we saw as the Raindrop started to come down we saw Riders look at each other and smile and laugh and think how good is this that’s great never seen that before what a gorgeous town the way it’s purged up on this rock it sits at around about 1,000 M or so above sea level this little town and I really like the look of that football pitch and the little Athletics track that went around the outside of it what a picturesque place that would be for a game of football first they stay up on top for just a couple of kilometers before they really drop down so gradually down they’re about to drop onto the real descent hand signal there from lenko I’d suggest indicating to perish on let’s keep rolling and wait and see who comes across to us they won’t survive as just two Riders out in front but there’s sure to be a Counterattack coming from that pellaton L back the first Rider to attack has rejoined the rear end of the pelaton survival for L there’s always that choice you have to make in a in the position of a non- climber do I attack and hope they just let me go get in a group and get a head start or just sit back relax stay as fresh as possible to try and hang on and there’s it’s a terrible feeling when you’ve made that attack you’ve hurt your legs and it doesn’t work Linko at this point he’s trying not to hurt his legs too much he keeps looking over the shoulder to see what’s developing from the Pelon and the bad news for let Leno in the white colors from estana is that it’s the whole Pelon closing down yeah the danger for these two is that they’ll be down The Descent the peleton will be bearing down on them just weight of numbers rolling over the top of each other as one Rider is trying to Sprint his way across when we get back down onto the flatter roads I think the attacks will just continue out of the peleton and it’ll probably just eat up those two in front we’ll see a whole new break form still small it is still small yesterday when we drove up the final climb the low teray onto the C gbia it was a headwind the forecast today is for that portion of the climb to be a Tailwind how does that impact on the way the race is ridden it’s going to be faster of course it’s better for the pure climbers nobody can sit and slip stream behind them as we see Le for ju and S V Le for this is also called the s vinon for then it took up the name of Jud it was built in 1692 at the request of verbal it was never attacked because of its strategic position was a little bit difficult to get to listed as a French historical monument that was as of 1994 and that construction work that you can see being done there that’s by the people who currently own it it is a private residence so a much more modern section of building right there in the middle and what a view tough home to return to if you’re a bike rider do you think you’d leave the car up the bottom of the hill occasionally absolutely still no official Breakaway being formed at the front remnants of an old T good Lookout post no doubt as a defensive me mechanism throughout the middle and this is what so many people love about these Alpine stages the views are just incredible the scenery is stunning and the racing is going to be red hot as well later on in the stage for our GC contenders and if a break can open up a big gap we may get treated to two races for one for the guys that are inside the top 10 overall particularly those that are inside the top six and within Striking Distance of the yellow Jersey we’ve already spoken about the sprinters wanting the break to get established in the race to settle down I’m assuming they’ve in a similar position particularly Julian Al Philip perhaps there’s others in there that want the race to stay hard so it softens the legs of juli and Al Filip but if it can settle down sooner that is better for the yellow Jersey it’s better for the yellow Jersey but some of the others they may prefer it just to be aggressive all day long really hard racing and a guy like tibo Pino who who showed in the Pyrenees that he seemed to have the best legs he may prefer it just to be that bit harder all day long racing really kick off in Earnest maybe already on the cold to isad the second big climb of the day it starts at around kilm 117 into the race so we’re 90 km to go and we have seen tibo Pino on the previous stages in the Pyrenees in particular where he has used his team early to make the race hard to try and soften the legs of the yellow Jersey so today for now at least it’s not his team that needs to do it it’s the rest of the pelaton trying to do so is they aim to get themselves into the Breakaway playing into the hands of TBO Pino peton still strung out single file at 10 11 seconds behind the Breakaway group of two [Applause] [Applause] another look over the l s they race along the shores of the lake in this case still high above them but very close to the lak’s edge for the first nearly 30 km of this race before they leave the shores then it’s on towards the Sprint of the day in L [Music] twe still just at 11 seconds for pishon and lenko reaction coming from the pelaton amongst them the green jersey Peter Sager he already has a very significant lead in the race for that green jersey but the intermittent Sprint no doubt will be to his liking this is petan at the front eighth on the stage yesterday I thought it was a really good performance by Pier Luke pishon yesterday stunting place for a ride if you could just organize a Tailwind down through this Valley and along the lake that’ll be lovely [Music] large portion of the Convoy of the T France drove along this route yesterday as they made their way from yesterday stage finish through to the Finish Line in valoir this afternoon As for the media compound that’s divided in two sections the commentary crew and most of TV production we’re all based down in s De Moran or samel de Maran San Johan de Maran is just nearby there’s been stage finishes of the tour there before but we’re in San Michelle de Maran where there was a stage finish of the tour to France uh sorry the ca doofan a earlier on this year this is Leno and now even further say 16 days into the tour absolutely eating their words with sudar Lotto with three stage wins two weeks in the poka dot jersey with Tim wellin they’re riding a fantastic tour three appearances on the podium for most combative they also they managed to win two stages at the J of dellia that’s not a bad Jero they’re harsh critics it’s it’s not they were maybe out of ideas for decent stories so they thought let’s do that one because they’re underperforming compared to duer quickstep who operate with a much larger budget have a really broad team of star Riders and you shouldn’t compare the two on that front but they’re always going to it because they’re both Belgian teams but sudal Lotto have really shown that they’re worth every cent yeah it’s a good return on investment for the sponsors we spent a lot of time talking about them because they’re either in the breakaways or in a position to set up for their Sprint of Caleb buan and in Belgium the the national lottery and the people who decide how much money goes to different uh Sports and sponsorships and causes and Charities and Cultural Events all that sort of stuff they said this is not just a sport sponsorship this is cultural in Belgium cycling is a huge part of the psyche of the people of the culture of the nation what about the fact that there’s a larger proportion of people that you would classify as the the underdog that buy lottery tickets and for the suar lotto team to have that tag as the underdog it’s some pretty consistent branding yep correct Chris Yensen from mitchellon Scott got himself off the front again with rosov and Daniel Daniel o so men that we’ve seen on the attack in the last days you’ll never guess who’s trying to come across Peter sagon and the peleton completely strung out at this point and still that little Gap it hasn’t quite got closed yet of that chasing group who were dropped on the Category 3 they will close it up but it’s taking a lot of effort they’ve already gone over a category 3 climb and it was gradually uphill just to get to the base of it and the average speed so far after 38 minutes of racing is 43 kmph this is Chris yansen he was in the Breakaway yesterday Michael Matthews in the red colors of sunweb once again where Sagan goes Matthews goes Roman sard it looks like calan and he comes yesterday snner Mato Trenton with Jack ha this is mato Trenton not trying to get himself into the Breakaway this is mato Trenton trying to get the rider behind him jack ha into the move this is such good teamwork you saw the look over the shoulder in the wheel follow me around the group we’re going to keep going I’m going to launch you up the road and Jack hag he was having some real trouble following now three teammates in this group George Jensen he sees it he goes again as well and Trenton swings off he’s out of the way he was into the Red Zone to get Jack hag across you’ve heard of Sprint lead outs that’s an Attack lead out that was brilliant lenko perish on struggling to follow this is the intensity with still 178 km to go they haven’t even started the tough stuff now this is where they need these Riders to BL break the elastic but look it’s all come back together behind so even a huge move like that such as the intensity in the group and the intent to get in the Breakaway as well they’re just not able to shake the field that was Jack ha just did they please please please to the side of the road that was a swanier from UAE Emirates and they said yep okay nice Linko now going by himself perish on figures I can’t hang out with you all day this is a little tough oh especially after yesterday in the break for Parish on a really long day out in the heat tried really hard was in second position coming to the top of the colder Sentinel the last climb of the day passed by Asar just before the top and eventually caught by the chasing group as well came across the line in E it was a really good ride this is perish on the rider that Robbie was just speaking about now now being soaked up by the Pelon that’s led by Jerry Rosco bringer in third position with the green helmet on he’s not too badly placed overall Roman cringer he sits in 15th position at 12 minutes and 6 seconds down if he goes into the break that starts to threaten guys that are inside the top 10 well he believes himself he’s flying under the radar nobody’s going to pay attention to me if I get up the road and once I’m up there it’ll be too late and they’ll say well we’ll have to sort that one out later he get himself up there that could be a stepping stone towards the top 10 for ciger he has finished in the top 10 in the past as we race up La Val de Lu here high up in the UT Alp and heading towards the monster climbs that a wait on the menu today beginning with the category one civa followed by the C isoard and then the famed kod Gali fed and feed famous and Infamous yeah that brilliant stage Victory by Andy in the 2011 to of France is etched in my memory this is Steve cing at the back of the group this is Bill Bal now at the front for aana who looks really uncomfortable yeah he always look he has that bouncing style but it’s effective he’s a good climber and he’s followed by mik kakosi so again Robbie we’re seeing inos on the front foot maybe doing a Moy star we often see them put a rider in the break get them up the road and then they function as the perfect teammate later on in the stage Leno did you see that reaction look over the shoulder oh come on God why don’t you just attack and come across instead of just riding across all in the wheel thanks very much it’s one of his team why that’s why he’s waving at his teammate what on Earth are you doing B got the message but it’s too late yeah it is Yates again on the outside coming imp up here as well Yates had a little look around and then decide it not still moving too quickly I’ll wait I’ll save it lenko presses on he wants the break to come to him not the whole pelaton but unfortunately for Alexi lenko he’s about to be reeled back in and he’ll pay a price at some point for all this work that he’s done on his own big turn here from darl limpy on the front the South African National Champion and there is the split now so we’ve seen mitchellon Scott they trying to launch their Riders into the the move and it comes a point where maybe Riders don’t have that that freshness that punch to Sprint their way into a breakaway so you just get someone on the front who’s incredibly strong wind it up get going so fast that eventually someone pops and the Gap opens up and a gap has opened up exactly what imp is done they’re riding with so much confidence it’s the eights now at the front followed then by quid kovski Imp in third position it would be an injustice if elected Leno did not make the winning break away today if indeed the breakway does win but if he doesn’t make the break of the day yeah at least to get into the break of the day and give yourself a Fighting Chance not giving up behind though because it’s mistar who are chasing the Gap a lot of looking over the shoulders to see if it’s splitting behind them but it’s not Pelon all intact in the chase this is a non-climbers nightmare at the start to the stage more Riders trying to attack their way across out of the peleton Roger cler at the back for lotto sual so you’d assume Caleb Yan is also here in the group he always sticks with Caleb whether it is for the Sprint lead out or to survive the mountains Max reesi is responding in the white colors the Argentinian National Champion the pink coming across with the bandage on that is the Canadian that is Michael Woods as we look at the South African National Champion Daryl imp really forcing the tempo mull now into the wheel everybody coming across so that shuts this group down imp pushing on because he everybody just has a pause he’s got Yates with him who they believe can win a game they’ve got well Paul’s calmly working his way back through that Convoy of cars this is going to be a desperate Chase for Caleb yö before starting a category one climb they’re pushing on at the front but surely this group is too large now to survive there’s going to have to be a Counterattack com out of this group kelan has made it so toadal Direct Energy after doing all the chasing yesterday they’re in the group Roman B is here for the the AG TOA monal team first up this is his teammate mattius Frank and then it is B just trying to identify the mistar rider there I thought for a second maybe Naro kintana kintana is 12th overall he sits at 9 minutes and 30 seconds it is now kintana good pick from the helicopter kintana in the Breakaway for mistar B is here this is Serge that’s not Serge pal this is wel Pals who’s at the back he’s now made contact with the rear end of the pelaton safely back onto the back of the Pelon and we hope the same for Caleb euan soon who had to spend a lot more time on the side of the road to get his bike sorted out and looked like he was waiting for a new machine so that’s going to be a terribly tough Chase to get back onto a Pelon that is riding like this was 33 riders in the Breakaway yesterday it looks like it’s 33 riders in the Breakaway again today 33 is the magic number it is D Soul thought it was three but it’s 33 darl Imp in that group has been one of the driving forces AG toala Mel they’re well represented they have three riders in the Breakaway B cherel and also mattius Frank this is Chris y Denon 1 km to the intermediate Sprint he’s not worried about the Sprint he is just driving the tempo to get this breakway off the front there might be 33 riders in it they’re thinking about one man and that’s Adam Yates having him in the break and also now having V day but even more so Naro kintana this is turning into being a very dangerous move in second position in this group is the first yellow Jersey wearer of this year’s tour it’s Mike Turners but they’ve only been given 18 seconds so this has really caught the attention of the rest of the pelaton I wouldn’t even say they’ve been given no they’ve stve taken 18 seconds and now the pelaton is going to have to claw it back they can’t let Naro Quintana ride off in a group like this one and surely the pressure has now got to come on dunic Quick Step but also to a certain extent yumbo visma although turnis just went through and did a turn for Steven crake put the pressure on and at the front in the spring collecting the points was just a little KN of their head this is yasper to burst so he didn’t waste the Caleb with someone else followed by camner and then it’s van Aram in third position here comes the pelaton in the backgr Naro kintana coming through in fourth wheel of the rest of this group behind those who sprinted for the points and the Pelon now led by yasper stoven at this point he missed the Yow hel St missed the yellow helmet for TX SEO as the leaders of the team’s classification he’s on the front and that’s not for points they are all gone this is to ride for Richie port’s 10th Place overall cuz kintana is in the group in 12th position they cannot let it go is the boo followed by camner and then van aont for the second day in the Breakaway nck AR in other words let it build up and wait for the really high altitude tomorrow the highest point of this tour to France the C is L and up until that point it is all climbing it’s a relatively short stage stage it’s only 126 km tomorrow but if you can find me a more difficult 126 km in the history of the T of France you’d be doing well it is pretty much the first 89 km is uphill the section from 75 km through to 89 is an all category climb the called isan but up until there there’s a couple of very short downhills on the way up but it’s always dragging up in that first 89 km I estimate there’s maybe 6 or 7 km worth of descending and then it’s either Falls flat or slightly uphill well in the first 75 km they go up 1,400 m in elevation without any real real climbs there’s a cat 3 a cat 2 a cat three they’re merely bumps in comparison on the profile to the ciss this is Pier luk pishon at the front for kofus followed then by Daman Caruso Daman Caruso from barin Marita next in line is Roman B but you know what even looking at tomorrow’s profile and as as it is it’s only 126 km it’ll be can be ridden as a really aggressive stage I don’t think it’s going to be the most decisive for seeing who’s going to win the GC I think they’re bringing it down to the last Mountain Stage of this tour to France on Saturday to valter in the advantage for the breakway which is 34 Riders strong it’s out to almost 6 minutes Miguel merku Casper asrin and Eve Lampard are the three riders for d Quick Step who are doing the paac making at the front it’s swanier on the side of the road with fresh water bottles before they go across the top of the climb mat ladin collects for group armor fdj T buut still the rider at the front this is Simon geska in the orange colors just in front of him is Emil monar he’s not interested in the water bottle at this point he’s just interested in the top of the climb the final few hundred met you’re right about the time time Gap with Tish buut on the front it’s moving towards the 640 Mark quickly still 700 M from the top they will keep increasing the pace all the way through bot takes a look back over the shoulder and sees that he is splitting the group as well and that’s not such a bad thing aiming for the stage Victory to get rid of any of the passengers still a long way to go but it’s a group of 34 you can afford to cut this group in half you can but you don’t have to worry about the guys who being distanced now they’re not your worry for later on it’s the men like lenko and kintana the ones are easily following the tempo at the moment thinking this is great keep up the good work boys it looks like maybe this Tempo is started to be matched back in the pelaton we might see different colors at the front of the pelaton perhaps maybe no longer Eve Lampard or has he got more in the tank to up the tempo it’s still bonut at the front kintana showing a little bit of Interest here in the M Star colors and maybe b as well and they know there’s so many points on offer coming up B did Sprint when he was in the Breakaway a couple of days ago that’s B that sits behind yesper Deo he’s fourth in line then it’s lenko and at the rear of that little split is n kintana t buut keeps on applying the pressure wellin he’s got his nose in the wind checks across the shoulder B is the one who he’s wary of tactic L he’s very astute Tim wellin b day wants the points wellin is leaving that left hand side of the road open teasing B to go there and he’d be able to close the gate if he needs to but wellin has got too much horsepower for the Frenchmen 10 more points for wellin second place it is for B tactically astute Tim wellins as you said leaving the door open saying come on this side and the swanier for sudal lotto after the top of the climb the other teams that was before the top of the climb oh something I always said to the SOS please don’t try and give me extra weight before the top of a climb much prefer to get it over the top there’s some of the Riders been distance Simon geska that is a surprise but he has been already been active in this tour and maybe just through the best of his powers so far Neils pollet the other German just behind him am muad the man wearing 217 from ARA samik they giv them a little bit of a Chase to get back onto this group but they should be able to make contact again back to the Pelon and that line at the front just that little bit longer and that time Gap sticking at 6:30 so the pace has increased to match that acceleration of tpot wellin trying to stay cool collecting 10 more points in the race for the king of the mountains Jersey I would like a look back at that pelaton to see whether or not it is still Eve Lampard who is setting the tempo and if it is if if he’s able to up the ante to match the pace that was increasing at the front of that Breakaway group that is really worthy a tip of the Hat 633 the advantage for the leading group that’s two climbs down the two easy ones a category 3 climb a category 1 climb the two hard ones are still to come the next two climbs both of them take them well over 2,000 MERS in altitude the first of them is the C isawa 14.1 km long an average gradient of 7.3% and the steepest gradients in the second half of the climb a lot of that black Zone what point will they do that or are they not too worried about natal kintana based on what he has shown so far in this year tour cuz inos won’t ride to defend second or third overall confirmation well collecting maximum points at the top of the covar there’s no point inos a team that has won the Tour so many times four times with f once with Wiggins and once with Thomas seconds of no interest to them they might take the risk of leaving n Kint out there I think at the moment they’re happy enough to gamble with the situation even if it drifts out a little bit more but then make the race hard on the last two climbs so on the the isoard that is a place where they can really do some damage to Julian Al Philip and then smash the race apart on the Gia I think they’ll just be wary about going too early today I think they’re going to save it till the last one because it’s the first of the big three the final few days of the tour everybody heavily fatigued so really measuring the efforts as well back with the breakway all smiles for number 87 that’s the winner of the first stage of the race and two days in yellow Mike Turners 76 lenko was the most determined Rider to get into the break away today he was in everything that moved for the first hour or so been incredibly strong to make it into this break he’s in that Twan break and then pulled back in went again in a smaller group with darl impia and Adam Yates they were pulled back then went again he just kept at it till he got in it but to be able to keep backing up effort after effort and put himself in the break so really deserving of a good result today but I wonder how much that has cost him in energy to get himself in here and then with some pure climbers in the group that should be able to outgun him on the big [Music] climbs Chris yansen he thinks that one of his teammates in this group has those legs Adam Yates and maybe now using Chris jul yansen set the pace on The Descent the next Valley get to the isaad and then his job is done for the day still got Daryl lipy in the group here with Adam Yates to try and still set set some Tempo up the isad and maybe soon maybe on the next climb the teammates of Naro kintana will start to up the tempo as well with Verona and Amador Eve lampart once again at the front followed by Casper asri it’s been a huge debut for Casper asrin they do like the tight rope walking in this region we’ve seen a bit of it over the last few [Music] days well this gentleman he’s managed to hang on longer than the one we saw yesterday or the day before as soon as the camera got on him he took a tumble I thought what have really caught your attention was the pump track you saw that’s what I was looking at after I got into the explanation I stopped watching him I was looking at the little pump track great fun for the kids great girls great fun for the big kids that’s what I thought you were going to say oh we’ve had a crash one of the mov star Riders off the road not completely off Verona Amador it’s not Amador yeah it’s notor because it’s 68 yeah it’s Carlos Verona so that’s up in the break one of the teammates of Naro kintana small mistake but he’s only just sort of gone down still at his left left foot clipped in so he’s gotten away with it just wide in the turn not the only Rider to crash today we saw two Riders crash simultaneously synchronized Style on the left hand side of the road very on the stage Caleb yö was one of them and wel poles from inos was the other both of them picked themselves up pretty quickly they landed on the soft side into the ditch with the grass it was a bit of a Chase for Caleb bun because he had more of a mechanical problem that he had to recover from than wel poles but they’re both back here in the main field 7 minutes and 17 seconds behind the Breakaway as Carlos fona he’s into the tuck position and quickly return into this huge group of 34 [Music] Riders oh nice quick recovery there for Verona and this is at the back of the peleton we’re riding in the wheel of Dylan Hunan sprinters always prepared to take some big risks on the way down to rejoin the main group oh risk he’s going down this descend at the same speed he Sprints out on the flat B through corners no problem looks like Anthony Ru just in front of him from group Arma [Music] fdj he’s still just 26 years of age and making the statement that he’s never really been strong in the third week of a grand tour but generally riders in these 3E races their best period is from 27 28 through to about the age of 32 just as a general rule of thumb historically he’s in a great spot at the moment six position overall 2 minutes and 14 seconds down and he’s just on 45 50 seconds away from second place he’s in a really good spot and I’d be surprised if he falls outside of the top 10 he’d have to have a disastrous day and he shown no signs of that this is from the Breakaway group oh no back of the pelaton arel course this is Jesus harara on Bookman I agree I think he’s a definite top five from what he’s shown so far he hasn’t shown sides of cracking you do never know in a race like this been a brutally hard tour to France but he came in hoping for a top 10 and we’ve been saying since the start and how he was looking he’s under selling it he’s underrating himself it’s good Young Generation of German cyclist coming through for the past 10 years or so it’s been the talk of the sprinters Marcel Kell John Dean Etc Andre GLE but now we’re looking and always Tony Martin and Tony Martin is in in the time trial category of course Tony Martin but now with Leonard kemner in the breaka away he’s just 22 Manuel Borman he’s in sixth position overall at 26 years of age they’ve got a lot to cheer about the green jersey Peter S riding it right up towards the fronts and this is good news for the Kern quickstep they rode conern conservatively up that climb and now they have lots of men surround in that yellow Jersey that is very good and now I think we’ll start to up and through the next Valley section and towards the bottom of the the eoad they’ll start to use up riders with their final turns of the day their final turns of pace on the front of the [Applause] Pelon nikkas art he continues to push on he’s just 100 B crash and this is Michael vren and that looks like Lawrence Depo by the looks of it George Bennett in fact the skinny figure of the Kiwi climber George Bennett this is disastrous for Steven cruzar Nicholas roach is the rider in the red colors Bennett has been riding brilliantly throughout this race he wants to get going again he is as tough as they come George Bennett trying desperately to shrugg is just get your hands off me give me the bike let me get going he is in you could see he was in terrible pain as if and he’s being told take this one don’t waste any more time he can hardly get himself onto the bike oh I can barely move that hip he is tough George Benet he’s getting help to put his foot into the pedals that is extraordin there’s roach in the red colors but Bennett is the bigger story because he’s a key man to support their team leader Steven Cruz viik he’s pedaling again a good sign he’s got it moving a bad sign for the rest of the day terrible to see but just how tough is he there was no thought of stopping there was no thought of giving up I’ll get back on the bike and then I’ll work it out let’s take a quick look at it right there coming in ah right in front of George Bennett roach went in front of [Music] him and the rest swerving around the bikes but obviously something slippery on the road because roach just went down completely unexpectedly and roach has got good bike handling skills just just as he turned in the bike just went out from underneath him maybe caught on that Grid in the road that little bit of a crack maybe just really slippery cuz there was a rider that went down in front of them then roach went down on his own and George Bennett just had nowhere to go and at these speeds straight into him and even though Bennett didn’t cause the crash it was just unfortunate he was really unlucky in the wrong place at the wrong time how much do you think that crash will rattle him on the descents it’s not appearing to having much of an effect at the moment he looks a little bit crooked but the good sign was he was up and out of the saddle to accelerate out of that corner so hopefully that loosens back off of when you go down that that first impact you feel initially that first microsc like I’ve done huge damage and then you wait and it starts to subside a little still hurts like all hurts a lot hell it does I will keep an eye on that very closely with George Bennett unfortunately being involved in that crash a along with Nicholas roach meanwhile in the breakway number 63 they’ve already had their incidents the M Star team as it was one of the teammates of Andre Amador Carlos Verona who crashed from that Breakaway group but he’s rejoined the leading group 7 minutes and 36 seconds now the advantage for nikkas ANS that was that same corner it was a left hand corner where he went off the edge Corner Verona was off in the embankment on the other side so he there there’s been something there brought them undone help but wonder if it was that crack that might have pushed in the little crack or just a really slippery little piece sometimes here you see those little road repairs where that crack was they they fill it with a rubbery sort of tar substance when it’s really hot like it is today see that number 32 that’s how many degrees it is where they are at this altitude it is really hot out there today it’s hot enough to melt those little repair sections make it really soft and as you if you turn across it you will can let go here’s our soulle leader nikkas an a winner of the kid 11 Great Ocean Road [Applause] Race and it was on these roads where cadell put in one of the best performances of his career from Brien to the top of the ca galier when he saved the tour on a stage that was won in brilliant fashion by Andy L the pelaton does not wait for George Bennett they’re just getting on with business out in fronts and then not even just on the politeness of the pelaton would George Bennett expect the Pelon to be waiting for him under these circumstances this is MK on U at the front followed by Eve Lampard Casper asrin is the next in line Dre Deens is still there for toic Quick Step so to is enrik M and I thought I spotted Alia viviani oh he’ll still be there especially judging on his ride in the Pyrenees the other day turns of pace on the category one climb put in a fantastic ride the other Sprint is still also in this group like kununu Egan and Caleb buan and on The Descent it’s not not chasing the break trying to take them back it’s just minimizing any further gains without taking big risks is back to George Bennett and his way back towards the pelaton still going to be a tough Chase for him just looking for one of the race vehicles to go past he enjoy a bit of slipstream hope he can chase his way back up to the next car too far in front of in F slipstream that is his team car that is in front of him he’s got a com there’s a commiss near that car and there was one in the red car that went straight past him just then he’ll still be in the Convoy when they get to the bottom of this descent though and I wonder if he’s wanting the team mechanic to go over the bike that he started the day on So eventually he can change back on to the same bike but he’s a minute and a half behind it’s a lot of chasing to be done for George Bennetts but it will see him get back into that Convoy that Convoy is is longer than a minute and a half so by the time he gets to the bottom of the Descent he’ll have a few cars whs past him then they’ll start to form up and then there’s always one who does the right thing especially for Riders had a mechanical problem or a crash they slow down as they come past you let you pick up the slipstream behind the car and just drag you onto the back of that Convoy and then one by one you Leap Frog your way back up to the Pelon that time check is from the front of the Pelon so you’ve got the whole length of the Pelon as well they’re over a minute long at the moment as well with Miguel mku being the rider at the front as they approach the last 100 km back with Bennetts then team car in front of him he’s not going full gas down this descent they know that it’s Bennett that is chasing he just a little out of shape on that corner he he saw he was just coming in a little bit too tight the the corner was a bit tighter than he thought you’ve just just got to get it straightened back up a little bit do a bit more breaking you got to do your breaking in a straight line and then tip it in once you already tipped in to scrub off serious speed you got to straighten up again for a moment that’s what he did tipped it back up harder on the brakes and then make his way around a little misjudgment but quickly picked up and solved a good correction the K quickstep finding themselves on the front defending the yellow Jersey this is not a team that has been built to come into the T France to try and win the race overall even they have been caught by surprise as to how good Julian Alf leip has been votes for Alex D this is in relation to Luke row and Tony Martin once again Tony and Luke really should have won a joint most competitive rider for yesterday but they got excluded from the race as a result of that so three votes for Alex D that moves him up into second place eal with TBO Pino they’re both on 10 George Bennett is on 12 but I’m changing the rules again we’ve got a late addition four votes for Mikel kovski who’s played again on the battle between Tony Martin and Luke row he said the Pagen and Captain Luke I know you both well and hard to imagine racing without those dudes 100th anniversary edition of yellow they deserve a yellow card not a red one that was the take a lot of people had on it but we’ve spoken about this incident at the time yesterday when I saw it I didn’t think a lot of it I didn’t think it was so bad but then when I watched some more footage and you got a little bit more detail Luke brow had his hand off the handle bars onto the jersey of Tony Martin Tony Martin virtually ran Luke row into where there were spectators it was dangerous for other people around them not just for themselves and that little snippet we saw the only part we saw in the live coverage and we thought well okay A little little altercation they’ll have some explaining to do when the the footage came through and we saw what led to it what ensued it over the space of a few minutes then it seems reasonable that they’ve taken the decision to pull them out of the tour race moves on and they’re now onto the isoard our two leaders have started the climb Bernard and vanav and the peleton going Upstream as the Whitewater Afters making the most of the fun going Downstream what I did like about Luke row and Tony yesterday was that they did a video together to both well apologize to a whole bunch of people they actually owned it they said they did do the wrong thing they felt that it was a bit harsh and I can understand them holding that position this is the case the desert that we got a brief look at a little bit earlier on goes up to 2,220 m in altitude Luke and Tony both owned what happened they weren’t too content with the decision that was made to be excluded but the jury is never going to change its mind what I would have liked to have seen from the UCI and the race jury and I’d like to see this on a lot of other decisions from them is actually make their own statement explain this is the decision we made and this is why they don’t have to go into answering questions about it in the same way that we see in NFL in in particular the referee says you know well first down penalty Rush defense whatever it may be you know what the decision is and someone’s always going to disagree with it absolutely always 100% of the time you won’t have 100% of the people with you yeah but make a statement say exactly what you said this is the decision this is why full stop no more questions next stage I’d like to see the UCI do more of that to explain what is happening within the sport without that we just get lots of people ourselves included speculating and debating and then you see on social media photos of the UCI out there measuring sock High good point how Other M God I go okay we’re done with that this is roach yep so he went down right in front of George Bennett he was also on that whatever that was that made the road so slippery at that point the front wheel washed out on him and just went straight down that’s uh a whole lot of skin off for Niko roach this is parishan from the Breakaway our other daily Awards one of them is the unsung hero of the day and I had Pier Luke pishon as the anung hero yesterday eighth on the stage and the caas team having a pretty tough tour yeah he did a really good ride yesterday tried so hard he was still in second position near the top of the final climb yesterday caught by ascreen and dropped and then caught by the chasing group and Faded through to eight so not even a top three finish for him but he rode really well and on top of that unsung hero of yesterday he’s been really Brave and he’s got himself into the break again today but looks like he has hit the wall he has run out of horsepower this is the big Breakaway group now out to 8 1/2 minutes for the leaders that are just a little bit further up the road this is a big Advantage for number 61 at natal kintana it’s Nikki’s a who was doing the chasing he was off the front before trying to increase the pace now the attack’s G with vanav and Bernard he is up the front trying to keep them rolling on the fdj rider just being moved out of the way by Roman B just hand on the hip move across out the way I know you’re trying to slow this down because of tibo behind go and sit on the back that’s exactly what he’s doing he’s trying to slow this group down just eased him out of his way Roman B and rolled on through now two leaders on the road this is Greg vanav followed by Julian Bernard so unsung hero of the day yesterday Pier Luke pishon disappointment of the Day based on his reaction after the stage was Daniel OS of Bora HRA he doesn’t get many opportunities to race for himself he knows Mato trentin well he missed that move by Mato Trenton even if he didn’t have the leags to go with him on the climb it was a rare occasion the stage yesterday where Daniel L stormed straight onto the bus without talking to a single journalist he was really disappointed Chris yansen along with Adam Yates in the Breakaway yet again [Applause] today oh there’s a bit of pace on here and a lot of riders going out the back now M Star are riding at the front of this group this Mark Solair followed then by m Lander and they have Nal kintana in the Breakaway they are setting up Mikel Landa so don’t worry about narrow Quintana and maybe there are two separate races being ridden by one team we’ve talked about what’s been going on within that team narak kintana is leaving he’s on the outer with his teammates he’s up the front in the Breakaway and in Virtual second overall at the moment and creeping closer and closer almost within a minute of the the yellow Jersey and now his team’s gone to the front on the Pelon completely exploded it on the lower slopes of the isad and molanda is looking like he wants to get up get on the go incredible the damage that is being done number 47 that’s still in TOS ban the irran national champion roach still struggling after his big fall earlier on that also cost dearly for George Bennett we’re going to hear from Mikel Landa soon I wish we could get down to them now there is CR from Yambo vizar just in front of the yellow Jersey of Julian ala they are putting the pressure on pretty early and now Al Philip calling for a bong from the side of the road from a team helper how many team helpers does he have still in this group the one of those to quickstep helmets towards the back but not for much longer perhaps because this is a searing Tempo being set by one of our favorites from this year’s race Mark Solair he has been the best teammate if there was an award for assists it’s Mark Solair we should call that the Scotty Pippen medal if everyone knows enough about basketball from the ’90s they must Scotti Pippen one of the great this is Dan Martin and that is disappointing and it also shows how quick they are riding out in front well we saw Dan Martin dropped in the Pyrenees a few days ago so the writing was on the wall tried to fight back but you’re always going to get found out in the final few days of the tour to France when you hit the high mountains you can’t Bluff anymore the Pelon being blown to Pieces Dan Martin who had 10 overall this is very very early for Dan Martin to be dropped so you just have to think WR Robie number 53 this is significant for tboo the big French hope his key teammate in the high mountains has been distanced really early there’s eight km to race this is what a lot of contenders have been saying about this tour moson now gone from inos Patrick Conrad from Borah hser so to Jonathan cjo so garant Thomas and Egan Bernell are being isolated starting to be isolated exactly this is Yates on the move with B then luceno and Quintana this is the signal up front they’ve all heard what’s going on behind the race is lighing up 80 km to go riding for the stage win time to get going and kintana is riding for the stage win I think Mikel Lander is leaving the team at the end of the season but he seems to have the whole team supporting him and working for him kintana looks much as if he’s the outlier within the squad this is Adam Yates out at the front they are still plowing away on the is with more than 5 km to climb the gradient at the moment of 11% so no wonder it is splined and no shots recently of Greg vanav and Julian Bernard but they are still leading according to the race computer by a minute yep 1 minute and 1 second they are off the front kinger start of the day 15th overall at 12 minutes down this is gu Martin from wanty group go 16th at the start of the day his Ambitions for top 15 finish and he might still be a to get it because lots of people have been dropped enrik m is still in this group for the yellow Jersey the teammate of theer quick steps Julian Alf the man who just swung out back of the picture grabbed a bid on tibo Pino his words in his interview are proving to be prophetic they are the is aard something’s going to happen there that’s going to light the race up and it’s moar that’s doing it he’s still has one teammate that’s the rider in the red colors the Swiss Champion riken back this is aru at the back in the white colors ker in the pink colors well PA’s at the back of the group from inos is under pressure on the left hand side just up ahead is Richie Port he’s next to raberto uran this group is being whittel down very very quickly to the top 10 GC contenders by Mark Soler bman is still here for the Borah H grower team Delo is there in the yellow and black colors for Steven Cruz viik but no Bennetts no no George Bennett and after that crash I guess that that was to be expected he only just got back and I’m sure he’s struggling with the impact of that crash when Mark Solair went to the front the Gap was around 8 minutes to the two leaders it’s now down to 6 and a half and he’s completely blown it apart our two leaders Greg vanav also getting a bid on from the track team car there’s the team of Julian Bernard the man on the front he’s looking comfortable Bernard he does look good doesn’t he Roman B he’s now being caught by other members from that Breakaway so they lose a little bit of momentum a lot of riders coming back from in the background as well Yates he went once there was a big acceleration from Adam Yates tracked by B lured out canana as well now they’ve eased off a bit of looking around T bot is’s also returned to the back of this group this is Van aat always easy to spot with the gold colors was Bernard has gone forward on his own he has not attacked Greg vanav he has just ridden away from him you said he looked good and he does y looked comfortable vanav vat he’s out of his comfort zone completely onto a whole different type of terrain not one that suits him but he’ll always have a go to see if he can make it work kuso from bar Marita Leno of Vistana Woods of EF and the sunweb Leonard camner look at how small the gear is that Cam’s riding rides a really small gear he’s just pedaling gently through those Corners as much as he can on a climb like this Woods Woods is on the move so that’s an attack by Michael Woods on that group and we’re looking at those gears and i’ imagine today some Riders have even gone to the semicompact so maybe even down as low as a 36 or a 38 chain ring on the front and on the back you’d assume they’re riding at least a 27 Cog as well this is Woods followed by lenko the thing is now it’s it’s hard to tell there’s so many variations that are possible compact semicompact even one buys and a long throw derailer with a 12 speed on the back you go up to a 32 Cog on the back wheel as well compact is King I can assure you for us Weekend Warriors this is Fabio aru in the white colors right in his own Rhythm dropped but fighting his way back on and there’s not many left in this group at all Fabio R just trying to defend a good position in the overall standings searching for the form that he had of a few years ago he currently sits in 17th position he’s at 14 minutes and 15 seconds down he returns to the group this race is a really important stepping stone for Fabio aru coming back from that iliac artery surgery that he underwent it looks like it’s being a career saver Richie Port towards the back of this group he sits just behind the white jersey of Egan Bernal and for an 18-month period Fabio aru he couldn’t work out what was wrong now that he’s had that surgery hopefully it’s solved and he is on his way back to his best that was a a long shot of the pelaton coming through that tiny little downhill section in the cast deser this is back up to the break Naro kintan in second last will behind him a young camna Michael Woods Adam Yates lenko B at the front of that group picking up the tempo the B flags for Julian Bernard swanier on the side with 500 M to go you need to be collecting the bid on extra weight at the top not with 500 M to go you rather it much closer to the top to take on that ballast he quickly got rid of the muette bag and made sure he didn’t take any extras well no mistaking where we are it is the C isard in the auto help and support on the left hand side of the road for Warren barill as it’s another Frenchman Roman B leading this group closing in on Julian Bernard but he will get the honor of leading the tour to France over the top of the C isir and I hope we get to see him go over the top but the French cameras they love Roman B and he is searching for points for the king of the mountains competition he was second over the top of the first category one climb today the first of the big climbs taking the points just behind Tim wellin wellin is gone B he’s looking for top points and he’s closing in on Bernard the last 100 m he can see the top of the climb if we look across the shoulder B is coming so to is Caruso and Bernard unfortunately he gets caught right on the line Caruso with maximum points followed by B I thought he had enough but he gets caught at the top of the clim and they’ve still got the biggest one to come the C of Gia well it goes so quickly no acceleration from narra kintana he just sticks with woods and Adam Yates and kintana I thought he was just going to try and make a move around Woods at the beginning of the Descent there there’s the catch over the top of Bernard Damiano kuso also having some thoughts of the king of the mountains competition an all category 71 12 km to go out in front and camna is’s still slightly off the backat but he’s not losing any more ground so he’s bounced back pretty well from that little scare he’s got me slightly anxious through each of the corners yeah well he just I think for him stay at about this distance and watch the others get the guide on entry point breaking Apex follow that all the way down don’t get yourself too close and make a mistake ale valde vde up in the tempo giving Mark Solair a little bit of a rest valver is selfless normally the team leader but the world champion is selfless he’s eighth overall that he’s doing the paac making for Mikel Lander look at the Boost at the back he wants to stick with the yellow Jersey over the top of this climb and comfortable enough to take a drink throw it away get out of the seat so he’s just ridden his own Tempo up the isard now attack on the back of this group maybe this is a case of Valverde wanting to lead The Descent wal pulls he comes around with Gant Thomas making sure they’re also right to the front Richie port on the left also moving himself up make sure he’s in a position towards the front of this group for The Descent now that doesn’t matter for Julian Al Philip down the back here he if he wanted to would pass all of them and GAP them quite potentially the orange colors Ser P from the Breakaway he’s returning got that Telltale slightly leg open style as he pedals the knees go out don’t they with search PES trying to just Chase his way onto the back of the group so he lines up Leonard camna takes a quick look back Shake of the legs Al Philip style we see him do that so much as well it’s Caruso leading that group around the corner I’ve got to admit it does feel really good when you do that with your legs give him a little loosen off and little shake this is valde leading the yellow Jersey group it’s the world champion who is at the front and to be honest there’s not much more you can do than that great view of The Descent The Hairpin Corners more open so no two corners are alike you got to take each one on its Merit different for the entry point the Apex to get it right and you spoke about it earlier today about how dusty some of the corners are particularly high up on the gbia the first few Corners probably the first five or six until you come down to the point where there’s the exit of the tunnel which the Riders will not take today they’ll be up and completely over the top but until there yes it is a little bit Dusty on the road plenty of people up there too and standing on the sides and scuffing around and crossing the street so there’s an element of that on the road as well spreading that dust across Serge PES has made contact with Alexi lenko still Caruso leading followed by Bard then it’s Yates then kintana then Bernard followed by woods camna lenko and Pauls that’s the combination out in front from what was a originally a 34 Rider Breakaway which is Led those closest pursuers by Tim wellins in the K Jersey that’s the polka dot Jersey on the screen at 56 seconds behind but he missed out on points on that climb and alls category climb B starting to close down and he if he missed them on that climb it’s even more likely he’s going to miss them by further on the galier where it’s not just the points on the top but it’s the lure of the stage win and maybe for kintana trying to push himself up the standings really waiting to see how it plays out with movie star and how that involves kintana in their team plan what I would dearly love to see at some point today as Max richer now this is the benefit I’ll get back to kintana in a moment the benefit of Max richer the argentinan national champion been in the Breakaway today he survived over that climb he can now support the yellow Jersey Julian Al Philip into Brion through the valley road before they hit the next climb I would love to see n kintan from that Breakaway group support Mikel Lander on the Gia question is will Lander get to kintana cuz maybe to do that kintana would have to sit up when Lander went past kintana on the stage to pral just on the outskirts of f they didn’t even look at each other it was ice cold the relationship between the two of them on the road this is the Boost Sprint lead out rer for kale La buan following the French national champion the former King of the mountains winner Warren bar and winner on top of that last climb and I wonder how Warren baril was feeling cresting the isaad today and when those memories came flooding back to him I’m sure they did and Peter seun the green jersey group at 13 minutes this is turning out to be a good day of survival for that group with Peter seun at the moment no threat of being outside the time delay Woods is a rider who is notoriously a little nervous on The Descent he’s had a few nasty crashes one of them coming this year that was on the stage at the St etm when he was right in front of the defending Champion garant Thomas and then we saw Johnny moscon B get hit by one of the following vehicles and snap clean in half his bik handling skills though Michael Woods they continue to improve and he’s he’s certainly not the worst descender in the professional pelaton he’s beginning to really hold his own he’s stuck with this group he’s got a lot more confidence Michael Woods when he descends in a small group with no one behind him it’s when there’s somebody behind him that he gets anxious and I think on these long flowing descents where what I spoke about before you’re able to gauge it off other Riders look at the best descenders which line is he taking in do that most likely you’ll come out the other side just fine beautiful descent off the C isawa that is the pelaton that we look down upon being led by the M Star team and they still have Nal kintana in the leading group at 5 minutes and 25 seconds in front in this yellow Jersey group is the team leader for track seao Richie ports Richie starts the day in 10th position overall at 6 minutes and 30 seconds down he was amongst the riders that we caught up with before the stage got underway let’s now have a listen to what Richie Port had to say inside 42 km to go where they sit Adam Yates and Roman B marking each other they’re not far away now from the lter beginning about 1500 M according to the race computer before they hit the official start of the climb I haven’t ridden this road I’ve driven this road The Climb has already started well there it is there it is a lot closer it was only 500 M at that point the beginning of the climb 23 km I think that’s more scare Factor than anything calling the C the galier 23 km long guess what works it’s got you scared you’re not even having to ride it correct it is 23 km of climbing but the steep slopes are in the last 9 km so the first part with a group that can get away like this one that’s off the front what a good chance to actually work together and build a gap Andre Amador setting the tempo at the front of this chasing group the lead group I should say now is they’ve Reed Tim wellins in he’s been on the offensive plenty of salt stains always on the Knicks of Tim wellins pump track this is where you learn those skills maybe not for the climbing C cly the bike handling and a love of cycling it’s all about having fun I’d do that over Gia any day yeah I reckon you get a fair bit of company this C of V followed by PS Gant Thomas having the conversation back to the team car with Nicola portel Mike Turners is in this group as well now for the yumbo vismar team that’s why he was in the earlier breakway so he could help along this section if needed at the moment they just back leing inos do the work CER who had the mechanical problem in De Bri has returned to that group that was a good effort able to ride his own Tempo up the rest of that steep climb and then come back through the Convoy this is the front of the race Greg vanav the Olympic champion in the gold helmet his teammate Sera Po’s behind him vanav emptying the tank to the foot of the real gbia well as far as he can go up the ly into the Alps into the high mountains and it’s not just about skiing plenty of cycling mountain biking hiking beautiful views obviously once you get towards the top of any of these mountains Tiote he’s been dropped so has Leonard cam in front of him Woods is on the back of the front group camna is riding like a Time trist on this climb Caruso is the one driving the tempo at the front for Bahrain Marita and just whizzing by The Spectators then it’s B lutsenko kintana Woods he’s finished as high as 11th in the tour to France in the past Damiano kuso he’s been the top 10 in the Jalia and the V he can seriously climb he was recruited to this team to support venzo nibi in the high mountains now he gets his own chance they’re close to making that rightand turn Robbie where the road gets narrow and it gets steeper and it gets rougher well the first couple of kilometers when they make that right hand turn onto the real gier 6% average gradient then it kicks up to eight eases off very slightly and then you get the first of the Steep sections at 9% a little bit of a break after that the last kilometer at 9% feels like 15 lenko is attacking a again the steeper sections of the climb suit Michael Woods in the pink colors at the back for EF the pace comes off after that Leno attack lots of Belgian Flags off to the left number 42 this is Damiano kuso they’re about to make the right hand turn here it is they leave the load toay and now they officially start the C of galier and in the virtual General classification Nat kintana is still holding on to a spot inside the top 10 he’s up to nine [Music] here’s Andre Amador from mistar he’s been dropped from the Breakaway group he’s got some fresh supplies for Mikel Lander Mark Solair is still in that group number 63 Andre Amador job done well Pauls is on the front two Dutchmen at the front one a pure climber that is well Poes who’s currently setting the tempo and then behind him a man for the spring Classics still in B he’s super versatile lenko one more time to the well kintana is the first to respond so aggressive the kazak champion big accelerations is this because he believes he’s just the strongest can ride them all out of the wheel or try to just get AE start before the really hard sections of the Gali he has been aggressive from kilometers Z kintana he goes straight to the front over the top they had a really cruy day yesterday lenko I thought it was a stage that suited him that he could have won but he just sat in the pelaton rode soft pedaling saving himself for this opportunity kuso is ridden back across the Gap b as well Woods at the back of the group happy to follow just at the moment kintana a look over the shoulder where’s the next acceleration swings away in the background cam has just been riding his own pace Junior time trial world champion doesn’t get distracted by the accelerations of the P climbers he’s cloring his way back one pedal stroke at a time it’s pretty windy the Welsh Flags blowing in the breeze I think back to 2011 when we saw the race come and finish on top of the Gali it was those Crosswinds on the slopes of the gbia itself it had the group in the gutter nearly splitting in the Crosswinds on a climb some support from the Welsh free Luke row has been written overnight after Luke row and Tony Martin were disqualified from the race yesterday well they’ve still got another man to cheer for in defending Champion Gant Thomas and I’m sure they’ll be screaming go g and kumam bth but at the moment it’s Canada and it is Woods in pink followed Again by lud senko Woods will like the steeper portion of this climb right near the kintana now attacks the Colombian he likes the thin air he’s turning the clock back he burst onto the scene in 2013 and they all look at each other that’s got to be a collective uh oh kintana following all the attacks rolled through over the top of Lucena on the last one and now he says I can go once twice and the third time’s a charm and despite all the apparent disagreements between n kintana and other teammates they have supported him fully today and they’ve put him into a stage winning position B doing what he has to do but now asking for assistance Michael Woods he comes through they got absolutely nothing to lose and the mountain will speak for itself it’s not going to be tactical who did more or less work you’ve got to ride to the top as hard as you can now in pursuit of the Colombian Wards in the pink colors but it’s a standoff within this group Bard just behind him number 31 and with this lack of momentum here will quickly open up the Gap he’s found his [Applause] rhythm at this rate they will not catch him still 25.8 km to go but they’re just looking at each [Applause] [Music] other here he is at Naro kintana he’s still got a few sprockets to play with on that rear Mech he’s 122 m in front of his former Breakaway companions well think back to last year in the tour to France the shortest stage the 65 kilomet from B Del lant to Saran it was kintana who went to high altitudes and took the stage win and attacked early from a breakaway group he was on the pedals all day long even though it was a short stage it was incredibly intense and here he is again number 61 battered and bruised from crashes throughout this year’s race he’s had disappointments along the way but he’s bouncing back emphatically he’s inspired a generation chiefly amongst them this man it’s Bernal it is not Colombian Independence Day it’s Colombian climbing day as they head to more than 2,600 m in altitude well it is no surprise to see the Colombians on the offensive at these altitudes naruk kintana another one of those really steep pinches up he is nearly at at the top just a couple hundred met away finally B he is opening the Gap to lenko but he is so far behind kintana surely he cannot catch him and he doesn’t have the same look of speed or momentum as Nal kintana the Colombian flag flying high the fans are getting rabid number 61 a national hero Naro kintana he’s been second and third in the tour an overall victory still alludes this great cycling Nation B kintana is on target for the stage win and his compat Bernal is doing a great job further back down the road almost at the top of the C ofier and it’s Nal kintana who has scaled its Heights first across the top and now the rapid descent to the finish here comes beral and look at the Gap behind so meter by meter it was open and the higher he goes the more he loves it and he’s got the rest right under pressure julianella Philip he has enrik M he has struggled he’s been ill he’s doing his best in getting better but he’s no match at the moment for the young Colombian in the white jersey and by the same token he can’t ride any faster than Julian Al Philipe can keep up with there’s no points you can see them just in the distance briefly into the slipstream of the motorbike Bernal there he’s climbing so quickly he’s out to 20 seconds ahead of the yellow Jersey he started the day at 2 minutes and 2 seconds behind so Al Philip he can afford to just let him ride away in the last couple of kilometers uphill and he still has that weapon he descending and it is a weapon Roman B it has been a season of suffering a tour of suffering but he’s showing his spirit this afternoon his body looks T torted it could be a visit to the chiropractor at the end of the day but one where his morale will be starting to bounce back even though it’s the stage Victory going up the road surely now to natal kintana B has put up An Almighty defense yeah it’s been a very brave ride by a man who saw his tour dream crumble very early in this tour to France nothing like what he expected he said I’m going to have to go back to the drawing board many would have expected a guy like him with what he’s already done in the tour to France previously to say that’s it I’ve got to pull out go back rest and reassess he’s pushed on he wants to do something for the fans for himself for his team today was the day kintana is purely better and on the topic of doing something it is Bernard who’s doing something big very big he takes a look across the shoulder he’s out to now 35 37 seconds he’s making a huge impact and a charge towards being a ahead of his teammate and potentially the next yellow Jersey wearer still enrik Mar setting the tempo followed by garant Thomas it’s then the yellow Jersey alil followed by Lander then it’s tboo Bookman Cruz viik Port Bennett is still there so to valde biggest victims of Egan’s Bernal attack Thomas and Pino not Al Philip that’s what I’m thinking because once they get to The Descent Al Philip will think doesn’t matter who sits on my wheel down here it is so steep it is so technical what he’s got to be careful of is overcooking it himself yes G Mar he was dropped on the cold of isir it was a bigger group than this when he was dropped but he has survived on the galiu that is fantastic he seems to have got better as the stage has gone on but the group is quite small and he’s still here he was dropped from a much larger group earlier on on the isoard so a good fight back from the Frenchmen they’re inside the final kilometer the general classification virtual Bernal is now up to Second he’s only a minute and 19 seconds behind the Y Jersey as the defending Champion garant Thomas launches his defense TBO Pino he has to answer the call the Yellow Jersey is at the back of this group and this is what these Riders call riding economically with a view of what still to come so the attack’s coming late on the galio so they’re gapping Julian Al Philip but a big big risk to do this earlier maybe this is just a morale booster for themselves for tomorrow and just start to open up the cracks on Al Philip and then try and complete the job tomorrow and on the last chance on Saturday it’s Borman leading the chase Pino is next in line then cruzbike Lander uran Al Philip Port is fighting Port is sticking with them this is G garant Thomas he lost his best mate yesterday row was kicked out and he’s kicking forward this is behind the group on the wheel of Richie Port Al Philip fighting his way back on into the corner Richie Port more steady state all still together kwake at the front of this group Thomas still going away from them Al Philip the Gap now starts to open but he Sprints back onto the wheel the fight is in Julian Al Filip every time it goes steep through the corner gapped off gets flatter accelerates again rides his way back on back with Thomas he has Bernal up the road in front of him Thomas’s attack has served to shorten the Gap that Bernal had opened up but it’s the one-w punches now Port goes past a fading Julian Al Philip but he will easily descend back across that Gap and go past them and he’s getting pushes from the crowd that are nearly knocking him off the crowd need to give them space make it safe they’re trying to support the Frenchman but safety is the first priority ala Philip continues to fight so too does the defending Champion tboo is closing back uran Lander and this is [Applause] alip and they’ve just about caught him at the top tboo reels the Welshman back in Lander is there Bookman suffering but staying in contact he’s the right at the the back of the group no he’s not because kvik is just behind well cvik is just off the wheel he is losing just a little bit of ground the Dutchman Mor a man for the regular climbs not the very steep slopes but they are coming towards the top now over the top it’s Pino he does up the Jersey the yellow Port is the next one across where’s yellow Alo FIP he can descend rapidly he drops like a stone here he is how quick is he on the way down under this physical duress over the K into the Big Chain ring and Julian Al Philipe about to find his happy place well let’s see if he does because he is descending under the stress of enormous fatigue back to kintana big gap he doesn’t have to take big risk down this descent have a good look break a little bit earlier than normal Bas on the chase but the Gap is Big 139 he’s got 139 on Roman B day is good downhill but surely is not good enough to close a minute 39 Egan Bernal is working his way towards second place overall who’s the team leader at inos well it’s still a two-pronged attack at inos Bernal goes but it doesn’t stop Gant Thomas going on the attack as well his was nullified now poo on the front he’ll be happy with that he’s not a noted descender in fact he’s a noted liability to a group on a descent Here Comes Julian Al Philip textbook perfect and swing back out wide find the next Apex use all the road back to the other side this is good descending by contrast you mentioned tibo puno he said some people have fears of heights and spiders he has a fear of speed this descent is fast hitting the Apex and on the way out with just a millimeter to spin using every cim back out of the seat little Sprint up to the next one heavy on the brakes Naro Quintana he knows he’s got an unsalable lead just needs to hold it together a nice regular flowing descent for the Colombian can the yellow Jersey close down the Gap to the Thomas group at 550 18 seconds easily easily is a confident response from Robbie mccuan what about Egan Bernal he doesn’t as confident downhill as a Julian Al Philip but I think he’s still going down faster than tibo Pino here is tibo Pino who’s on the hoods now into the drops 24 seconds between the group Egan Bernal and this group here we seeing with Thomas Pino land land uran uran bman bman at the back and crev returning next man in shot hopefully is Richie Port not too Far Behind These and certainly he’ll be picked up soon by Julian Al Philip how willing is the Gant Thomas group to take some risks in the hope that they can hold off the yellow Jersey of Julian Ella Philip Thomas signal ahead I know they said the group mayoon where he’s a group on his own yeah he is the mayoon too Soul at the moment this is n kintana who is also all on his own at 607 and a big impact on the overall standings 10K to go gradient not as steep at the moment 57 km hour big gear push it on through some nice straighter sections you ride a straight line down pieces like this and line up that car in the distance and see what the next corner is doing as we saw at the Olympics in Rio with animic Van bluten who looks set to win with just the Descent in front of her it’s not over until it’s over absolutely not he’s got to hold it together but to his advantage had a minute and a half over the top so he doesn’t need to take the risks and he’s still got a minute 33 to Roman B he’s lost 4 seconds on the December in the most technical part that’s nothing you said he was good he is good he is good Bernal at 523 another 31 seconds behind him is the group of Thomas and Pino and just 10 seconds behind him 11 is Julian Al Philip Richie Port somewhere in between well Port will see Julian Al Philip either blast past him or catch up to him and have a wheel to be able to follow it’s an opportunity for Port to return to the guarant Thomas group this is IG and Bernal still on his own 31 seconds now to the group behind him for Bernal start of the day at 202 claing back some time at the moment and he can see remnants of the Breakaway just in front of him for him to be able to chase down Leonard cner Caruso Al pH has caught Richie port and Richie Port is almost back in the group there’s Richie Port trying to keep up with Julian alip who’s chasing the motorbikes Port going wide big difference between the descending ability of Julian alip and pretty much everybody else in this group Port missing the entry in like way wide of the Apex start wide tip it into the inside of that corner follow the lines of Julian Al Philip easier said than done it is easier said than done but the technique is what you’ve got to do start wide get in and hit that inside of the corner Al FIP has the technique and he’s Fearless on the way down and now the pressure is going to be on the rest of these Riders to follow Julian Al Philip that’s a challenge in itself stick with him on the way down we see how much ground he’s already made up and then just whizzed his way through the group tooo looks over the shoulder he sees yellow and and his heart must sink can I keep up we’re about to find out already a few meters between them he’s attacking on the way down 10 me between them 15 M between them the gap opening up this is now the attack I was expecting from Julian Al Philip you offload me uphill just wait I’ll be back sprinting out of each of the corners he’s got to be careful he doesn’t overcook it he’s a very good descender he’ll have the these guys on the ropes also just got to be careful with how much risk he takes there’s only a few guys in the pelaton that you would say can match him Peter San is one of them that’s how good he is Richie Port is struggling to stay in contact but is doing a good job by maintaining that back wheel of cvik another acceleration a look across the shoulder Julian Al Philip he’s all in on the way down quick drink back in the bid on holder raberto uran wants a piece of the action he’s pretty quick on the way down he’s missed that one he’s come in quick to get past the group little bit wide but he’s still in position in front of Lander and raberto uran also a very good descender he is the man to lead them to stay in contact with Al Philip B taking a little bit of time back on N kintana but he has just 5 km to go and from here it’s not technical well there’s a lot more straight sections lower down this descent it really straightens out like you see now for Naro kintana so Julian ala Philip he’s used the most technical part of The Descent to get his way back on the next few Corners he opened a gap but the rest of it there’s really a lot of pedaling and not as many technical Corners anymore this is aegan Bernal so Bernal can maintain this Gap can he find an ally that’s camna no it’s not this even if it’s not an ally it’s a slipstream to run into and back out of build up a little bit of speed and hit over the top 4 km for Naro Quintana this is that flatter section before he enters the outskirts of valir then it’s very steep downhill the roundabout with the elk in the middle of it that’s a sketchy little spot to get through at high speed before he dives into the town itself makes that U-turn across the bridge and kicks up to the finish raberto uran in the pink working with ala F then it’s cvik followed by Thomas Borman Pino Lander and Richie PA at the back well plenty of allies now for Julian Al Philip in the chase behind egun beral crak and uran both contributing 30 seconds the gap between the yellow Jersey and Bernal this is b day second on the road straight on pass for Egan Bernal he can’t afford to be waiting and hoping for somebody to give him a hand he gets on with it I think he’ll leave poles behind with a couple more technical Corners maybe just as it straightens out a bit possibly Po’s give him a turn coros viik is chasing he knows the risk of aegan Bernal and it is pouring with rain at the finish line with the technical final few Corners rain at the Finish Line as you’re coming down into valoir really steep Road and then through that roundabout I just talked about with a couple of K too and here is it here it is is wet roads kintana he’s now in that very steep section that minute and 30 seconds make the most of that buffer no need to take any risks at this point the stage win for Nal kintana is more important than his overall position in the battle for yellow into Val here comes the roundabout just a little further down keep an eye on the car scrub a lot of speed off here more technical than it looks upop over the inside straight through nice and clean for kintana and careful of the zebra Crossings watch for the paint 2 km for Naro kintana the French hope for the stage from the breakway B holding on to Second Brave ride from B he’s matched the speed downhill of Naro kintana taken off maybe 4 seconds since the top he’ll be about as close as he gets and Bernal is continuing to lose a little bit of ground on the yellow Jersey group it’s now down to 35 seconds yeah plenty of riders willing to contribute along with Julian Al Philip crake has done turns Bookman here in third wheel raberto uran has also been riding on the front Port is held on at the back of the group so to is riberto uran and you see the open roads a much more pedling descent so when Al Philip is getting some allies then it is a big Advantage for him this is down coming towards the final kilometer now for kintana Gap stayed around what it was over the top of Gia 135 Bernal still has surge Poes in the wheel as he is about to dive down into valoir with 3 km to go and he’s not worried about the rider behind him he may as well not be there because Bernal will not be looking for help he’s just trying to take time Linko regardless of what happens at the end for me the most combative today outside of Niro Quintana ride of the day from Leno first man off the front in a two up for a long time then join the next move and the one after that every single one and until the big group of 33 Got Away hung on so gamely for so long can’t match the pure climbers but gee got some grunt he’s gone plenty hasn’t he this is another fantastic third place finish this is one of those days we’re for the stages the top three deserve a spot on the podium kuso the next one through with camon this is the battle for fourth Cam’s licking his lips he looks like he’s going to Sprint Robbie well he’s a young man in his first tour get everything you possibly can the Sprint opens up Caruso cam on the right hand side the young German he powers on past he will take fourth across the line the young German from sunweb Leonard camner a good day out from him and fourth kuso he comes across in Fifth Lock it in a huge future for Leonard camner the ray again this time it’s Bernal 1500 me he’s approaching that tricky right hand turn and it’s like he’s at the finish of a prologue he’s giving it absolutely everything this fast downhill section to the corner just has to be sure to wipe off enough speed into that corner and here comes the yellow Jersey through the roundabout 1 km to go for Egan Bernal Serge BS he’s got the front row seat to watch this battle for he’s quick in and he’s quick out [Applause] that even had you nervous I thought I saw a little slip by the back wheel of ser PS as he just got right into the middle of the corner there and all those riders in the following group they’re going to have to be really careful try and go with Al Philip he’ll come through that corner and he will Sprint out of there put them in the line try and split the group and cause time differences T benut and Michael Woods for both these guys their best performance in this year’s two oh berot was second behind sorry I forgot about that that one with this is also a very good performance in the high mountains yeah in terms of placings that was outstanding that second place finish for Woods it certainly is and behind is closing Here Comes Bernal he may well catch these two by the Finish Line te berutz with the salt stains Woods in pink and this is something for Egan Bernal to chase to increase perhaps the time gains over the yellow Jersey that’s the focus where does the clock stop when the white jersey goes across the line he keeps on sprinting buut hits the line 446 here’s the group with Al Philip Bookman is the man on the front Richie Porter stayed in contact at the back Bookman Al Philip crake Pino Thomas Lander all together uran pman sprinting to limit the damage so to a Steven cruzar Al Philipe in yellow another huge defense of his overall race lead it’s Cruz vik who stops the clock at around 5117 thereabouts the time gain for Egan Bernal roughly 30 seconds depending on exactly whether we got the clock stopped correctly with him and the group across the line somewhere between 30 32 maybe so for Bernal it’s stopped when T bot hit the line for the rest [Music] as a French Champion comes across it should put Bernal up into second place just ahead of garant Thomas by a few seconds Here Comes The Evergreen Benjamin Buton valde the 39-year-old still inside the top 10 overall start of the day in eight the guy whose liability is the high altitude he rode pretty well if that was his weakness today he’s conceding a bit more ground but this has been very good by Valverde and the team has won the stage good ride by marttin only a little way from the top offloaded when the attack came from Gant Thomas is when he lost some ground they might lose himself a minute and a half or so minute 40 to the rest of the group he’s done some good business for his GC uh aspirations yeah he’ll lose time on yellow but I think he improve his position overall perhaps from 16th up to 14th last couple of years he’s been 22nd and [Applause] 23rd this is the for the telegraph that we are now taking a look at like many of the great monuments that we see in this region a defensive mechanism Fab aru this has been another good performance by the Italian he is coming back towards some of the best form of his career and it is a really good sight to [Music] see well guess what Robbie that’s another stage ticked off we’re down to two more to go on the Alps I’m still not convinced that I could pick a winner from here but ala Filipe is looking harder and harder to beat and all of a sudden shaping is the favorite they’re Goring away at his lead Bernal taking 30 seconds today the attack from Gant Thomas they’re riding economically today the first of the big three stages in the Alps a descent down to the Finish not willing to take massive risks tomorrow I think they attack him on the is and then it’s an uphill finish to ten and I think they attack him earlier on the ascent of the iseran if they can they don’t want to wait till the last day to do it they’re going to try and unseed him tomorrow then to do it that guy that just went across the Finish Line David goodoo of group armor fdj teammate of tboo might have to be the one to set that Tempo early here’s the classification on the stage kintana ahead of B then Leno camna ahead of Caruso then buuts with Woods Bernard and Pauls and at 46 seconds then the group of the yellow Jersey at 5 minutes and 18 seconds 32 second time game today Yambo vizar are saying that George Bennett crashed on The Descent we don’t here is the general classification it is still Al Philip 130 is his Advantage now in second place it’s Bernal followed by the defending Champion Thomas then Cruz Vie followed by penino Bookman kintana Lander