Vuelta a Espana 2013 : Stage 20 Preview

THERE are some mountains in the cycling word who's merest name conjures up romantic images, wonderful scenery, amazing crowds and epic battles.

In France you have Alpe d'Huez where you think of Dutch Corner and of 1986 with Lemond and Hinault.

Mont Ventoux brings lunar landscapes to mind, as well as Tom Simpson and searing pain.

In Italy there is the Stelvio and the Zoncolan.

Spain has it's own mountain worthy of mention along side these greats.

The Alto de L'Angliru.

But there is romanticised talk when this is brought up. This is the type of mountain that is spoken of in hushed tones, in dark, dimly lit corners, well away from the public glare.

Mention it to any pro-cyclist and you'll see his face lose colour, beads of sweet form on his forehead and the religious types may even cross themselves.

For l'Angliru is a awful climb. Great if you're watching from the comfort of your armchair but an absolutely beast for anyone who dares conquer it's slopes.

The basic numbers just give a glimpse to it's severity. 12.2km long it has an average gradient of 10.2% (that's an average gradient of 10.2%) and it's maximum is a mind-blowing 23.5%.

Compare that to Alpe d'Huez. The Alpe is basically the same length but it's average gradient is 8.4% and it's maximum is only 11.5%.

But we still haven't really scratched the surface and as much as I'd like to, I don't think my words will ever do it justice.

So here's the profile of the climb:

Let that sink it. It's a daunting prospect.

 

But that's just the final climb. The stage is 142.2km long starting from Aviles and has three categorised climbs to get over before the final showdown, all of which are difficult climbs.

 

The Alto de la Cabrunana is a third cat, climbing for 5.2km at a gradient of 6.6%. It is followed by the second category Alto de Tenebredo which climbs for 3.4km but has an average of 10.5%, higher than the l'Angliru.

 

The final ascent before the finish is the Alto del Cordal. This is first category simply because it only goes on for 5.2km. It's average gradient however is 9.6%.

 

On their own they would have made for a monumental stage. And all three have just as savage descents as ascents.

 

Chris Horner will go into this stage as favourite, and now is 3 seconds up on Vincenzo Nibali in the general classification.

 

Horner has looked by far the better climber throughout this tour and the steepness of the slopes should see him edge clear of Nibali.

 

Nibali therefore may not be able to wait until the final climb. Where he can really make a difference however is coming off the Cordal.

 

The Italian is one of the best in the peloton at going downhill fast. If he can get an edge over the top of the Cordal and hit Horner hard on the descent then he could arrive at l'Angliru close to a minute ahead of his rival.

 

It would put RadioShack under a lot of pressure and as Horner has only really had Robert Kiselovski as backup in recent stages, it may mean the American has to do a lot of the chasing himself.

 

Alejandro Valverde and Joaquin Rodriguez are third and fourth, at 1.06 and 1.57 respectively. Both will need to put some serious pressure on to take the overall win and it will probably be too much of a gap to pull back.

 

But they will both be fighting for a podium and as both can descend and climb, they too may be looking at the descent of the Cordal.

 

I really can't see the stage win going to anybody but these guys. And that's probably only right. The l'Angliru deserves the main men to be battling to it's summit.

 

The last two winners on here went on to take the overall title. If Nibali and co don't steal the initiative early, Horner could well complete the hat-trick.

 

It is fitting that the final climb of this epic Vuelta a Espana is itself an epic monument in world cycling. And if everything pans out as expected it could well see a man 39 days shy of his 42nd birthday taking the final Grand Tour title of 2013.

 

You've got to love this sport!

 

Tour de France 2013 : Stage 18 Preview

I MAY have already said this earlier in the race but if I did, and apologies if I did, I lied! Because THIS is the one stage not to miss!

The organisers have wanted to include as many iconic and infamous monuments to the tour as possible, and no tour is complete without the inclusion of Alpe d'Huez.

The Alpe is 13.8km with an average of 8.4%. It starts however at a gradient of 10.4% and just after the village of Huez it maxes out at 11.5%.

It is so iconic and so linked to the tour that each of it's famous 21 hairpin bends are named after previous winners here.

But it is not just the numbers or the hairpin bends that make it so memorable. For this, to the average cycling fan, is Mecca, Glastonbury and Las Vegas all rolled into one.

They come in their thousands. For years it used to be known as Dutch mountain as the Netherlanders turned the mountain orange. Now each corner seems to be adopted by a country, turn 10 for example is I believe Irish corner.

The road up to the Alpe was closed on Sunday, making the only way up it either by bike or on foot. People will have started camping there from last weekend, and possibly even earlier.

By the Tour arrives the atmosphere will be at fever pitch and it has been known for the crowd to get a little bit out of hand.

Taking all of this together makes the Alpe one of sport's greatest spectacles. But the organisers have taken it a step further this year.

Because we don't just climb it once, we're going up it twice!

For the first time in Tour history we are going to peel right and head over the the second category Col de Sarenne before heading back down to Le Bourg-d'Oisans and doing it all over again.

The stage itself runs a total of 172.5km from Gap to Alpe-d'Huez and takes in a total of six climbs, the Col de Manse (cat 2), Rampe du Motty (cat 3), Col d'Ornon (cat 2) as well as the two ascents of the Alpe (cat HC) and the Sarenne (cat 2).

It will be a stage that will see plenty of attacking from the GC men but the timing could be critical. Do you go on the first climb of the Alpe? The final run up? Do you try your luck on the tricky and technical descent of the Sarenne?

Then there is the question of who are you attacking. Following the time trial Chris Froome has opened up a massive lead over his nearest rival. Alberto Contador is second but he is 4 min 34 seconds adrift. Bauke Mollema is now 4th but has slipped to 6.23.

People will still want to put Froome under pressure on the off chance he will crack big style but the likelihood, barring any mechanical or other mishap, is that the Brit will ride into Paris on Sunday as the victor.
  So if Froome is now practically out of reach, focus for the rest of the top men will be on the remaing two steps on the podium and in making/retaining a top 10 position. And there are plenty of opportunities here.

If the top contenders keep looking at each other then someone may get away and gain a bit of time. We saw this on Mont Ventoux as the likes of Sylvain Chavanel and Mikel Nieve had a go and for a while they managed to get away.

However that advantage didn't last for too long when the Sky hammer went down.

And I can't expect the same again up the Alpe. I really can't see anybody outside of the top GC men winning the stage. Froome will be desperate to win here in the yellow jersey, regardless of the fact he doesn't really need to chase down every move. It would rubber stamp his victory and would be prove he is the best rider by far in this race (even if it may not silence the doubters).

Movistar are clearly planning something too, evident by time trial specialist Jonathan Castroviejo and Andrey Amador taking it easy in the TT. They will look to use Alejandro Valverde and Rui Costa on the climbs, either as super-domestiques or by getting them to attack constantly, to set Nairo Quintana up for the win, and hopefully a podium spot.

Contador will still fancy his chances of catching Froome and Saxo Tinkoff will also want Roman Kreuziger, who has moved up to 3rd, to retain that podium spot. They used these two to attack Froome on Tuesday and expect both to be active again.

The Belkin pair of Laurens Ten Dam and Bauke Mollema will be under serious threat. Ten Dam lost a minute into Gap and I think will drop away from the top spots. Mollema has done well so far though, despite a tough time trial, and may be able to stay with Froome and co.

The only outsider I can come up with is Joaquin Rodriguez. He has had a poor tour by his standards but does seem to be showing signs of coming into form. He is afr enough down on GC to maybe be given a little leeway and that might be enough to snatch the stage win.

Depending on Movistar's tactics Valverde may sneak away but it is likely when Quintana attacks, and it is a case of when not if, he will be caught by Froome's group.

But two ascents of Alpe d'Huez will punish even the best riders, including Froome.
  Once again this legendary mountain will play host to another spectacular stage where anything could happen.

And one you really need to watch!


 

Tour de France 2013 : Stage 15 Preview

WHEN the route of the this year's Tour was announced last October there was high expectations that Stage 15 would be a cracker, this being the 100th running of 'La Grande Boucle'.

And the organisers have not disappointed!

Sunday 14th July is Bastille Day, the biggest of the national holidays in France. Think Independence Day in America and you're pretty much there.

The public will be out in force for one huge party and Le Tour will be one of the main ingredients. And the biggest party will be on the slopes of the 'Giant of Provence', Mont Ventoux.

The mountain stands 1912 metres above sea level and climbs just under 1600m over a distance of 20.8km (12.9 miles) to an almost lunar landscape.

The average gradient is 7.5% but there are 8km where the gradient is above 9%, the maximum being 10.6%.

It is a beast of a climb, and even claimed the life of British cyclist Tommy Simpson in 1967.

On it's own it would make for a tough stage but the race director has gone one step forward, putting this at the end of the longest stage on the Tour.

The stage runs from Givors and is a total of 242.5km long (150.6 miles).

Then you have the heat, temperatures are forecast to be in the 80's and with a wind in the riders faces, the peloton will be very glad of Monday's rest day.

The stage has two possible scenarios, both of which are as likely as the other.

Firstly a breakaway will go away and depending who is in it, it may stay away until the end.

One thing is guaranteed, it will contain many Frenchman! I would expect Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voeckler and current French champion Arthur Vichot to be very active and trying their upmost to be involved.

The other French teams, Cofidis (Chrisophe Le Mevel? Jerome Coppel?), Saur Sojasun (Jerome Simon?) and AG2R La Mondiale (John Gadret?) will also be under orders to infiltrate the day's break.

Team Sky will have enough problems to try and control the big favourites and defend Chris Froome's lead. So if those in the breakaway have big enough time gaps, Sky will be more than happy to just control the peloton and allow the break to fight for the stage.

However the second possibility is, in my eyes, more probable.

Teams like Belkin, Saxo Tinkoff and Movistar will fancy putting Sky and Froome under pressure. The pace will be incredibly high coming to the bottom slopes of the Ventoux  and Sky seem to be imploding at the minute.

If they crank the pace up they will pull back the break on the last climb. It will then be a shootout among the 'big boys' for the win and for the GC.

Favourites? Well the heat and severity of the final climb seems to play into the hands of Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador. Froome is originally from Kenya and does spend a lot of time in Africa but a lot will depend on how much he has in his legs and how much he will need to go into his reserves to stay with the front guys.

I have been impressed with Roman Kreuziger so far but he will be on domestique duty for Contador. Bauke Mollema came into this tour on form and it will be interesting to see how he goes today. Same goes for his team mate Laurens Ten Dam and Astana's Jakob Fuglsang.

Outsiders could well come from Euskatel. Mikel Nieve has been the strongest in that team and the Basque rider will enjoy the challenge.

Look for someone like Katusha's Daniel Moreno too. His leader Joaquin Rodriguez is currently 10th but almost six minutes down. Moreno may be given free rein to attack which would mean Rodriguez could follow the rest and let them do the work.

Final outsider? Romain Bardet from AG2R, if he isn't in the break, has showed some good form in the mountains. A young man with a big future according to the French press, he was 14th into Ax-3 Domaines and 24th into Bagneres-de-Biggore.

An ideal French win on the ideal French stage? Don't bet against it!