Tour de France 2017 Favourites stage 16: Sprinters or escapees
Sprinters will be eyeing up the 16th stage of the Tour de France, they are favorite to win the race. Although the route takes in a tough climb as an appetizer, today's uphill sectors are doable. Besides, at kilometre 70 the nastiest hills are history and then the last 100 kilometres are played out on gently rolling roads. (Slideshow route/profile)
Stage 16 in Tour de France amounts to 165 kilometres and by far the most hurdles are in the first half of the race. To put it even stronger, the first 20 kilometres are toughest. Once the flag is dropped the road runs uphill to the foot of Côte de Boussoulet, which is a 4.5 kilometres climb at 6.3%. Those are the steepest ramps in today’s road book.
We can expect a high pace with a lot of movement, as the race could come down to a chance for attackers. That is, if they can defy the odds and the sprint teams are missing their chance. The intermediate climbs are certainly doable for sprinters. The aforementioned Boussoulet and the Col du Rouvey, which is averaging 5.6% at 2.8 kilometres, are the only KOM climbs. Furthermore, after cresting the Rouvey a 40 kilometres descent runs to the last 50 kilometres on gently rolling roads. So that’s ample time to re-group. That is, if you have fresh legs…
In short, on paper this one should be for the sprinters with attackers getting lucky when the sprint teams fail to hunt them down. A last option could be echelons, as the finale travels through the Rhone Valley.
Favourites 16th stage 2017 Tour de France
*** Edvald Boasson Hagen, John Degenkolb, Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews, Stephen Cummings
** Dylan Groenewegen, Ben Swift, Maciej Bodnar, Lilian Calmejane, Greg Van Avermaet
* Diego Ulissi, Taylor Phinney, Stefan Küng, Dylan Groenewegen, André Greipel
Tour de France 2017 stage 16: Route maps, height profiles, and more
Click on the images to zoom
Watch the highlights of recent races here:
Related articles Riders - Tour de France 2017 Withdrawals - Tour de France 2017 Favourites - Tour de France 2017 stage 20: Start times ITT - Tour de France 2017 stage 1: Start times ITT - Tour de France 2017 GC Favourites - Tour de France 2017 More articles Summer Olympics 2024 Paris: Route ITT (m/w)
Summer Olympics 2024 Paris: Start list + times ITT – men
Summer Olympics 2024 Paris: Start list + times ITT – women
Summer Olympics 2024 Paris: Route road race – men
Summer Olympics 2024 Paris: Riders road race – men
Summer Olympics 2024 Paris: Route road race – women
Summer Olympics 2024 Paris: Riders road race – women
Clásica de San Sebastián 2024: The Route
Tour de France Femmes 2024: The Route
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 1: Rotterdam - The Hague
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 2: Dordrecht - Rotterdam
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 3: Rotterdam ITT
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 4: Valkenburg - Liège
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 5: Bastogne - Amnéville
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 6: Remiremont - Morteau
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 7: Champagnole - Grand-Bornand
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route stage 8: Grand-Bornand - Alpe d'Huez
Vuelta 2024: The Route
Vuelta 2024: Riders
Vuelta 2024 Route stage 1: Lisbon - Oeiras
Vuelta 2024 Route stage 2: Cascais - Ourém
Vuelta 2024 Route stage 3: Lousã - Castelo Branco
Vuelta 2024 Route stage 4: Plasencia - Pico Pitolero
Vuelta 2024 Route stage 5: Fuente del Maestre - Seville
Vuelta 2024 Route stage 6: Jerez de la Frontera - Yunquera
Vuelta 2024 Route stage 7: Archidona – Córdoba
Cycling Calendar 2024
Tour de France 2024: Withdrawals
Like our Facebook page and stay on top of all pro-race information!