[mp417]

Stage 6 Results

As expected the finish line battle was between Demare, Greipel and Kittel. The last km had some of the most twisting roads and with riders doing 60+ kmph, it looked scary. Luckily there were no crashes in final kms.

Now coming to the sprint, Kittel made it look so simple. Watch the sprint video below. I was really surprised to see his power and he came out of nowhere. He stunned everyone (especially Greipel) by winning the 2nd stage this year. Greipel was so frustrated.

Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) showed that he is in flying form at the 2017 Tour de France, claiming his second stage of the race on Thursday.

Kittel accelerated from behind his rivals in a perfectly-timed effort to win stage six in Troyes, having already won stage two on Sunday. It brings Kittel’s career Tour stage win tally up to 11.

French national champion Arnaud Démare (FDJ) came home in second place with German André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) in third.

https://youtu.be/V-1kQ6OyXgg

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by mp417

Now coming to the sprint, Kittel made it look so simple. Watch the sprint video below. I was really surprised to see his power and he came out of nowhere. He stunned everyone (especially Greipel) by winning the 2nd stage this year. Greipel was so frustrated.

I didn't watch the race but saw the summary. After the race, Demare said that he thought he had the race in his pocket when a blue bullet flew by

[mp417]

Stage 7 : 7-July-2017

Stage Map



Stage Profile



Start City/Location: Troyes, France

End City/Location: Nuits-Saint-Georges, France

Local start time: NA

Total Distance: 213.5 kms

Type of stage: Flat

Mountain passes

• At Km 147.5 - Côte d'Urcy 2.5 kilometre-long climb at 4.2% - category 4

TV Schedule for India: Not available

Live streaming (free): http://tiz-cycling.racing/stream/

Stage Summary

Another long flat stage. Sprinters will have a real go at the finish line.


Results

Marcel Kittel makes it two in a row and wins third stage this year. Takes green jersey as well. Froome stays in yellow.



Stage seven of 2017 Tour de France decided by photo finish as Marcel Kittel and Edvald Boasson Hagen cross the line almost simultaneously

Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) almost left it too late to claim his third stage victory of the 2017 Tour de France in a close sprint battle with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data).

The two riders appeared to cross the line simultaneously in Nuits-Saint-Georges at the end of stage seven on Friday. Neither rider celebrated as they finished – a sure sign of how close it was. However, after the jury studied the finish-line photo they awarded the win to Kittel. That makes 12 career Tour stage victories for Kittel, equalling Erik Zabel’s tally to become joint most successful German sprinter at the Tour.

Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) finished third, with British sprinter Dan McLay (Fortuneo) in 10th.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished in the peloton alongside all of the general classification contenders to retain the overall lead. Team Sky team-mate and fellow British rider Geraint Thomas stays in second spot at 12 seconds, with Italian Fabio Aru (Astana) in third at 14 seconds.

Early breakaway












Few other high-res snaps from the day

[mp417]

Stage 8 : 8-July-2017

Stage Map



Stage Profile



Start City/Location: Dole, France

End City/Location: Station des Rousses, France

Local start time: NA

Total Distance: 187.5 kms

Type of stage: Mountain

Mountain passes

• At Km 101.5 - Col de la Joux 6.1 kilometre-long climb at 4.7% - category 3
• At Km 138.5 - Côte de Viry (748 m) 7.6 kilometre-long climb at 5.2% - category 2
• At Côte de la Combe de Laisia-Les Molunes (1 202 m) 11.7 kilometre-long climb at 6.4% - category 1

3rd massive climb of the day



TV Schedule for India: Not available

Live streaming (free): http://tiz-cycling.racing/stream/

Stage Summary

First real test for climbers. Stage 8 brings three major climbs of this year. The last climb is massive 11.7 kms. Today's stage will test the GC contenders.

After five stages dedicated to the sprinters, one to the time trialists and one to the climbers, to the taste of Marcel Kittel (three times), Peter Sagan and Arnaud Démare, Geraint Thomas and Fabio Aru in their respective capacities, stage 8 from Dole to Les Rousses is the first one for the attackers. Several of them have done their best to lose enough time in the first week of racing in order to get some freedom to attack this weekend, either today or tomorrow. Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) are former Tour de France stage winners who have clearly opted for chasing a stage victory rather than riding for GC this year. Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) looks like another candidate for a break from far out. That's how Sylvain Chavanel became the stage winner on the last visit of the Tour to Les Rousses in the Jura. This is the second mountain massif used by the Tour de France this year after La Planche des belles filles in the Vosges but the GC contenders eye more at the grueling climbs of col de la Biche, Grand Colombier and Mont du Chat the day after.

[mp417]

Moments from last few days. For your eyes only














































Get the inside view of peloton and some behind the scene footage with GoPro

https://youtu.be/LeX0UPJqJMg

https://youtu.be/mhk0BMZm7BQ

[mp417]

Stage 8 Result

Frenchman Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) takes breakaway victory on fast and hectic stage.

Froome and Team Sky had a massive scare on one of the decent when they overshoot the corner.

The Tour de France 2017 really came to life on the eighth stage of the race in the Jura Mountains, with Lilian Calmejane delivering a precious stage victory from the breakaway for home team Direct Energie.

The 24-year-old French rider attacked with 6km to go on the final category one climb and around 18km to the finish.

With 4 kms to go, Calmejane got massive cramp in his feet and everyone thought the 2nd rider Robert Gesink (LottoNL Jumbo) who was 35 seconds behind will take the stage. But somehow Calmejane survived. He showed great strength and determination

Today's stage saw multiple breakaways in large groups with top teams playing tactics of sending few riders in the front including Team Sky.

The GC remained same and there was no change. The sprinters suffered the most today. The french champion and green jersey holder yesterday, Arnuda Demare was behind the peloton by 12 kms at one point.

Tomorrow brings another mountain stage and with 9th consecutive race day, we will definitely see some action and overhaul for top 10

[mp417]

Stage 9 : 9-July-2017

Stage Map



Stage Profile



Start City/Location: Nantua, France

End City/Location: Chambery, France

Local start time: NA

Total Distance: 181.5 kms

Type of stage: Mountain (massive )

Mountain passes

• At Km 3.5 - Côte des Neyrolles 3.2 kilometre-long climb at 7.2% - category 2
• At Km 11.0 - Col de Bérentin 4.1 kilometre-long climb at 6.1% - category 3
• At Km 38.0 - Côte de Franclens 2.4 kilometre-long climb at 6% - category 3
• At Km 67.5 - Col de la Biche (Croix de Famban) (1 316 m) 10.5 kilometre-long climb at 9% - category H
• At Km 91.0 - Grand Colombier (1 501 m) 8.5 kilometre-long climb at 9.9% - category H
• At Km 134.0 - Côte de Jongieux 3.9 kilometre-long climb at 4.2% - category 4
• At Km 155.5 - Mont du Chat (1 504 m) 8.7 kilometre-long climb at 10.3% - category H

TV Schedule for India: Not available

Live streaming (free): http://tiz-cycling.racing/stream/

Stage Summary

With the first climb at 3.5 kms from start, expect a wild ride tomorrow. With three hoarse category climbs, there will be lots and lots of attacks on yellow jersey. Anticipate to see some overhaul at the top 10
All the GC favorites will be eager to break Team Sky tactics.

[mp417]

Stage 9 was a mayhem. Many major contenders are out of the race.
I was travelling so could not watch the stage Will post a detailed review shortly.


Day 10 is a much needed rest day for the riders.

[Queryanalyzer]

Stage-9 was crazy, so much drama and agony.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/cycling.. I go here for live commentary now (you take what you get). But I didnt get to follow stage-9 live :(

[mp417]

Stage 9 Results

Crazy mayhem is how I would describe the Stage 9.
I was able to watch the entire stage for the first time in life (though not live, watched the full stage video).
Now I realize how much of coverage we miss while watching the last 50 odd kms on usual days.

It was attack right from 0th km. With so many climbs and tricky descent, it was challenging.

Few important highlights from the stage:

• The stage was marred by multiple crashes of GC contenders. Porte's crash was most scary
• Geraint Thomas, Richie Porte abonden the tour due to crash
• Team Sky still remains the strongest team to beat
• Bad sportsmanship shown by Fabio Aru by attacking Froome when he faced technical problem with bike (eventually other riders Porte and Martin had a word with Aru)
• Treacherous conditions were the highlight of the day
• Multiple large group breakaways
• French champion Demare also abonden the race

Rigoberto Uran wins in photo finish as Froome keeps lead on dramatic Tour de France stage nine

Chris Froome (Team Sky) held onto the overall lead of the 2017 Tour de France as Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) pipped Warren Barguil (Sunweb) to victory on a dramatic ninth stage in the mountains.


Barguil thought he had beaten Uran to the line in a reduced sprint among climbers including Froome, Fabio Aru, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), but the photo finish showed the Colombian had taken it by a tyre.

It’ll come as a bitter blow to Frenchman Barguil, who found himself among the GC contenders having been in the breakaway all day on the 181.5km stage that took in seven categorised climbs.

He had gone solo over the final climb of Mont du Chat before being caught on the flat towards Chambéry by his countryman Bardet, but in the end the final group came together to fight it out for the stage win in the sprint.


Uran had suffered gear problems in the final 20km, but was able to lead the sprint towards the line, with Barguil rushing up to his right hand side.

The Cannondale man was able to hold his speed enough and his bike throw was good enough to pip Barguil to the victory, with Barguil initially thinking he had taken it.

Froome was able to take third in the sprint to grab four bonus seconds on the line and extend his overall lead.

However, thoughts will certainly be with Australian Richie Porte (BMC) after he suffered a horrific crash on the final descent from Mont du Chat and was taken away in an ambulance.

Dan Martin (Quick-Step) lost time after being caught up in the Richie Porte crash, while Nairo Quintana (Movistar) finished with him having been dropped by Froome’s accelerations over the top of Mont du Chat, losing 1-15 to the yellow jersey.

Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) lost even more time after cracking on the final climb, and looks to have dropped out of contention for the overall.

How it happened

The day began uphill towards the first of seven categorised climbs and as expected, a breakaway tried to get away as soon as the flag dropped.

Unlike stage eight, which was a huge, drawn out fight for the break to get clear, 40 men were able to free themselves before the summit of the second climb.

Team Sky, once again controlling the peloton for Froome, were happy to let them get a gap, and after much fighting for mountains points, the breakaway was eventually slimmed down to a more manageable group on the first hors categorie climb of the Col de la Biche.

Behind, there was a blow for Team Sky on the descent off of the Col de la Biche as Geraint Thomas was forced to abandon the race after crashing and breaking his collarbone. Thomas, who won the opening time trial of the Tour, was second overall on GC at 12 seconds behind Froome.

By the time the breakaway were on the next HC climb of the Grand Colombier, Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), Alexis Vuillermoz (Ag2r La Mondiale), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Warren Barguil (Sunweb) and Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) had gone clear towards the ascent.

With 72km left on the stage, Carlos Betancur (Movistar), Michael Matthews (Sunweb), Jan Bakelants (Ag2r), Daniel Navarro (Cofidis), Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal), Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo) were then able to bridge back across to form the break group, getting a maximum gap of almost five minutes on the peloton.

Bakelants and Gallopin went away from the group after Matthews took the intermediate sprint points and hit the final climb of the Mont du Chat with 3-30 in hand on the yellow jersey group.

Gallopin was first to try his luck on his own, but after much toing and froing, it was Barguil that found himself heading to the summit of the HC climb alone with around 30km to go.

Behind, the GC riders began shedding the rest of the peloton and controversy struck with around 33km to the finish.

Froome, appearing to suffer a mechanical, raised him arm to alert the team car that he wanted a bike change. Fabio Aru then tried to attack, quickly distancing Froome but taking Quintana and Porte with him.

As Froome made his bike change, the Aru group then slowed up allowing the race leader to climb back.

With Porte trying his luck further up the climb, it was Froome that split the group with a stinging attack at 26km to go.


Contador and Quintana were the first to drop off, with Dan Martin also in trouble but able to clamber his way back.

Barguil was able to summit the climb with 25 seconds on the Froome group, with the race leader beginning the ascent with Fuglsang, Aru, Porte, Uran and Martin.

It was with 22km to go though that disaster struck for Porte, who appeared to hit the dirt on the left side of the road on the descent before being thrown across to the right and into the stone wall, taking down Martin.

The rest of the contenders were able to safely pass, though Uran damaged his gears trying to avoid the incident.

They successfully negotiated the rest of the descent to the flat roads at the bottom, where they eventually caught Barguil and a late attack from Bardet to set it up for a sprint finish.

[mp417]

Stage 10 : 11-July-2017

Stage Map



Stage Profile



Start City/Location: Perigueux, France

End City/Location: Bergerac, France

Local start time: NA

Total Distance: 178 kms

Type of stage: Flat

Mountain passes

• At Km 100.5 - Côte de Domme3.5 kilometre-long climb at 3.3% - category 4
• At Km 138.5 - Côte du Buisson-de-Cadouin2.1 kilometre-long climb at 5.6% - category 4

TV Schedule for India: Not available

Live streaming (free): http://tiz-cycling.racing/stream/

Stage Summary

After the massive stage 9 and rest day. The riders return to the road to a flat stage. This is designed to help sprinters. With majority of the names abondaning the race, stage 10 will provide good hunting ground for the likes of Kittel, Mathews and Greipel.

Stage Results

Another win for Marcel Kittel. Froome retains overall lead.

Marcel Kittel has won four of the five bunch sprints he contested at the Tour de France as he easily beat John Degenkolb and Dylan Groenewegen in Bergerac at the end of stage 10 that highlighted the breathtaking landscapes of the Dordogne province.

Lotto-Soudal was the most active team at the head of the peloton in the last five kilometers. But in the final stretch, Kittel was the most powerful sprinter. He won for the fourth time at this year's Tour de France, by one length of a bike ahead of his compatriot John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) to become the German record holder of stage wins at the Tour de France with a total of 13 since 2013. He consolidated his lead in the points classification while Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey.

Gesbert and Offredo, at the front all day

Gesbert was first atop the two category 4 climbs of the day while Offredo won the intermediate sprint at Saint-Cyprien where André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) won the first battle of the sprinters ahead of Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors). It was a very scenic stage through the wonderful landscapes of the Dordogne province but not an eventful one like the two previous stages. Gesbert and Offredo were reined with 7km to go as the headwind was not helping them to stay away.

[mp417]

Mods: Posting back to back posts to maintain continuity.

Stage 11 : 12-July-2017

Stage Map



Stage Profile



Start City/Location: Eymet, France

End City/Location: Pau, France

Local start time: NA

Total Distance: 203.5 kms

Type of stage: Flat

Mountain passes

• At Km 145.5 - Côte d'Aire-sur-l'Adour1.2 kilometre-long climb at 4.2% - category 4

TV Schedule for India: Not available

Live streaming (free): http://tiz-cycling.racing/stream/

Stage Summary

Another bunch sprint on the horizon

Following Marcel Kittel's fourth stage win at Bergerac, another bunch gallop is expected at Pau, the third most visited city behind Paris and Bordeaux in the history of the Tour de France. At half way into stage 11, the peloton will greet “The Chapel of the Cyclists” at Labastide-d'Armagnac. It's a church full of cycling memorabilia such as champions' jerseys and bikes. Jacques Anquetil, Tom Simpson, Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx are among the stars who donated some of their personal items to this museum of cycling. The last time the Tour de France passed by was in 2000 when the riders were going from Agen to Pau. It'll be the fifth time since 1984. In 1989, Labastide-d'Armagnac was even the starting location of a stage to Pau.

Stage 11 from Eymet to Pau is a long one, over 203.5km. The GC contenders will try to save as much energy as they possibly can ahead of the two Pyrenean stages that will follow. There's no difficulty on the course and very few possibilities for a different scenario than a sprint finish on the Verdun square nearby the castle of Henri IV.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by mp417

Stage 10 : 11-July-2017

Nacer Bouhanni has been penalized for hitting a QuickStep rider

Bouhanni Penalized

He has been docked 1 minute from his overall time and fined 200 CHF.

[mp417]

Stage 11 Results

Marcel Kittel continues Tour de France 2017 sprint domination with fifth stage victory. Froome keeps yellow.

Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step) won his fifth stage of the 2017 Tour de France on stage 11’s run-in to Pau, beating Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) to the line after a late surge.

Boasson Hagen was the first man to unleash his sprint in earnest with around 150m to go, with Kittel making his move in the middle of the road to the left of Boasson Hagen shortly after and once again looked like he was simply coasting to victory.

Groenewegen jumped on Kittel’s wheel and was able to follow the German in for second place. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) took fourth and some green jersey points, though Kittel was able to extend his lead in that jersey.

Though the stage was straight forward there were two crashes in the middle. None of the GC contenders were affected by these crashes. There were few incidences of technical issues for the likes of Romain Bardet.



Yellow Jersey standing after Stage 11




Green Jersey standing after Stage 11




Polks Dots (climber) Jersey standing after Stage 11




Team standing after Stage 11




Other updates and news

First of all let's take look at Richie Porte's scary crash

https://youtu.be/r1FMMjEcYcQ

It looks like it was a split second mistake by Porte and he misjudged the curve. After falling down, due to high speed he was dragged and took Dan Martin with him. Porte hit the rock wall really hard. He was stretchered away into ambulance immediately. Dan Martin was lucky to be able to continue the stage though he lost more than a minute.

Originally Posted by amitoj

Nacer Bouhanni has been penalized for hitting a QuickStep rider

Nacer Bouhanni handed fine and time deduction in Tour de France after apparent punch

French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni has been handed an 200CHF (£161) fine and deducted a minute in the Tour de France’s general classification standings after video footage appeared to show him punching a Quick-Step Floors rider during stage 10.

The Cofidis rider can be seen from an aerial shot having a discussion in the peloton in the closing stages of the race to Bergerac with an as yet unidentified member of the Quick-Step team. Bouhanni then strikes the rider with the right of his hand, although it is not clear if he made contact with the rider.


Tour de France rider causes hotel fire alert after leaving towel on radiator

A towel left by a Tour de France rider on a hotel’s hot electric radiator led to a hotel in Boulazac to be partially evacuated.

France Bleu Périgord reports that the incident happened on Monday – the 2017 Tour’s first rest day – at the Hôtel Campanile used by the French-based Fortuneo-Oscaro team.

Elie Gesbert – the youngest rider in the 2017 Tour de France at 22 years old – reportedly placed a towel on the electric radiator to dry it off, then left for lunch leaving it on at around 2 pm local time.

[mp417]

Stage 11 Updates

I missed to share these crashes occurred in yesterday's stage.

1) A crash at the feedzone with just over 90km to go saw one of Fabio Aru’s key Astana helpers, Dario Cataldo, fall and abandon the race with his injuries.

2) There was another small crash on the only categorised climb of the day with around 50km to go, as Arthur Vichot (FDJ) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) took a small tumble. That caused a brief split in the peloton but everything was back together shortly after the climb.

3) Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) then had a crash at 22km to go with team-mate Michael Gogl, but looked uninjured as he was paced back to the bunch by Jarlinson Pantano.



Stage 12 : 13-July-2017

Stage Map



Stage Profile



Start City/Location: Pau, France

End City/Location: Peyragudes, France

Local start time: NA

Total Distance: 214.5 kms

Type of stage: Mountain

Mountain passes

• At Km 64.0 - Côte de Capvern 7.7 kilometre-long climb at 3.1% - category 4
• At Km 111.5 - Col des Ares (797 m) 7.4 kilometre-long climb at 4.6% - category 2
• At Km 139.5 - Col de Menté (1 349 m) 6.9 kilometre-long climb at 8.1% - category 1
• At Km 184.0 - Port de Balès (1 755 m) 11.7 kilometre-long climb at 7.7% - category H
• At Km 209.5 - Col de Peyresourde (1 569 m) 9.7 kilometre-long climb at 7.8% - category 1
• At Km 214.5 - PEYRAGUDES (1 580 m) 2.4 kilometre-long climb at 8.4% - category 2

TV Schedule for India: Not available

Live streaming (free): http://tiz-cycling.racing/stream/

Stage Summary

Following sprint finishes won by Marcel Kittel in the south west of France, the Tour hits the Pyrenees with a so-called “marathon stage” that includes four major climbs in a 214.5km long race finishing uphill at Peyragudes. Col des Ares, col de Menté, Port de Balès and col de Peyresourde are on the menu in the last 100km. Peyragudes hosted a stage finish for the first time five years ago. Alejandro Valverde won up there, so did Alexandre Geniez at the 2013 Vuelta a España, but it's a different finale this time around. The winner will be crowned at the altiport of the French Pyrenees. The movie Tomorrow Never Dies in the James Bond series was filmed in this location before going on screen twenty years ago. The last kilometer has sections with a gradient of 16%! It'll be a crucial stage for the climbers with opportunities for the likes of Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet and Rigoberto Uran to attack race leader Chris Froome. It's also an occasion for Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana to remind how good they are as climbers. And Warren Barguil is extremely excited by the polka dot jersey.