Tour de France 2014: Michael Rogers takes Tour-stage (as well)

Tuesday July 22th, 2014 - It's a long and tough first day in the Pyrenees. Five cols and 237.5 kilometres between Carcassonne and Bagnères-de-Luchon, whilst the last 21.5 kilometres are all going down. Michael Rogers takes an early break to a strong solo victory. Van Garderen is dropped from the top-5 and Bardet is dropped from the top-3. GC winner is Thibaut Pinot, whilst Nibali and Valverde consolidate. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 16th stage Tour de France 2014

1. Michael Rogers (aus)
2. Thomas Voeckler (fra) + 0.09
3. Vasil Kiryenka (Blr) s.t.
4. José Serpa (col) s.t.
5. Cyril Gautier (fra) s.t.
6. Greg van Avermaet (bel) + 0.13
7. Michal Kwiatkowski (pol) + 0.36
8. Matteo Montaguti (ita) + 0.50
9. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Nld) + 2.11
10. Tony Gallopin (fra) s.t.

17. Thibaut Pinot (fra) + 8.32
18. Alejandro Valverde (spa) s.t.
19. Jean-Christophe Peraud (fra) s.t.
20. Vincenzo Nibali (ita) s.t
21. Leopold König (Cze) s.t.
26. Laurens ten Dam (Nld) + 9.43
31. Pierre Rolland (fra) + 10.53
32. Jurgen Van den Broeck (bel) + 11.32
33. Bauke Mollema (Nld) s.t.
34. Fränk Schleck (lux) s.t.
37. Tejay van Garderen (USA) + 12.08

GC after stage 16th stage
1. Vincenzo Nibali (ita)
2. Alejandro Valverde (spa) + 4.37
3. Thibaut Pinot (fra) + 5.06
4. Jean-Christophe Peraud (fra) + 6.08
5. Romain Bardet (fra) + 6.40
6. Tejay van Garderen (USA) + 9.25
7. Leopold König (Cze) + 9.32
8. Laurens ten Dam (Nld) + 11.12
9. Michal Kwiatkowski (pol) + 11.28
10. Bauke Mollema (Nld) + 11.33

Race report
Skirmishes all around at the begining of the race. The first break to stay upfront for tens of kilometres is with Bernhard Eisel, Michael Rogers, Michal Kwiatkowski, Matteo Montaguti, Jérémy Roy, Kévin Reza, Michael Albasini and Anthony Delaplace, Vassil Kiriyenka, Jon Izagirre, José Serpa and Roger Kluge. No rider of Garmin aboard and the blue brigade sets the pace in the pack with such a power riders like Greipel, Van den Broeck, Sagan, Rodríguez and Porte are shelled out at the back. The chase lasts for tens of kilometres.

Finally, upon cresting Côte de Pamiers the break is history and the pack is back together again. But not for long. Montaguti attacks and he is accompanied by all his companions from the former break plus Jan Bakelants, Samuel Dumoulin, Tom-Jelte Slagter, Tony Gallopin, Greg van Avermaet, Cyril Gautier, Thomas Voeckler, Jens Keukeleire and Florian Vachon. The bunch is happy with this group and the gap grows freely.

Portet-d’Aspet is crested with a 10 minutes gain and at the foot of the Port de Balès the advantage is 2 minutes more. The wild chases of the beginning of the race turned into a zen-like peace in the pack.

Climbing Port de Balès Voeckler attacks and the only riders to follow are Serpa and Rogers. The trio crests the top with a 0’21” gain over Kiriyenka and Gautier. Van Avermaet is at 0’32”.

On the lower slopes Van Garderen, Van den Broeck, Mollema and Bardet are dropped, the last one when Pinot is setting the pace upfront. The two Frenchman are three and four in the overall.

In the descent five riders are upfront, whilst Van Avermaet can’t bridge the gap. With 3.5 kilometres left Michael Rogers leaves his companions in powerful time trialist style. The 34-year old Aussie soloes to victory after his two brilliant wins in the Giro earlier this year. Voeckler is second and Kiriyenka third.

Michal Kwiatkowski is looking upwards in the GC once again, whilst Bardet, Van Garderen and Mollema lose valuable time. Pinot is now third in the overall plus leader in the young rider classification.