The stage into Switzerland was dominated by the two-man escape of team mates Tony Martin and Julian Alaphillipe before a savage final saw Peter Sagan just about beat Alexander Kristoff for the stage win.
Stephen Gallagher and Philipp Diegner of Dig Deep Coaching have teamed up with @VeloViewer on a fascinating data project for the Tour de France
They bring us this easy to follow top notch analysis of the data from some of the stand-out riders during yesterday’s stage 16 into Berne.
A lot of the information is contained in three images below and you’ll need to click on them to make them full size and easier to read.
The Sprinter last Chance before Paris
A Strongmen’s Finish
Tour de France stage 16 led the peloton into Switzerland for a finish in their picaresque capital Berne. The mostly flat course resulted in a relatively straightforward sprint stage with some rolling hills and short climbs as the major obstacles.
Advertisement
They proved too hard for some of the riders however, including Marcel Kittel, and the tricky final in the Swiss city with cobblestones and a short steep climb caused an even more significant selection.
Some 32 riders arrived intact into the last 500 metres to contest the sprint; the kind of final that is suited perfectly to Peter Sagan (Tinkoff).
And the World Champion did not disappoint by outsprinting Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) for another victory on this Tour.
Monday’s stage 16; the main numbers
Click on image for a larger, easier to read, version
Etixx duo dominates
The majority of the stage was dominated by Etixx-Quickstep duo Julian Alaphillipe and Tony Martin, who rode away after 10km not to be seen again until 20km to go.
They charged away during a fast starting phase and covered 49.5km in the first hour.
They had 1:25min on the peloton at this point with a chasing group between breakaway and bunch including Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Lawson Craddock (Cannondale-Drapac).
They rode hard to get to the Etixx boys on the slightly rising roads.
After the attack at the 50km point, Craddock put out 386W (5.44W/kg) for the next 18 minutes.
Roosen’s numbers show that they kept on chasing as the next 75 min saw the group ride at 41km/h on lumpy terrain.
They never caught Alaphilippe and Martin and gave up around the time the race entered Switzerland.
Related News
Being on the attack made the stage a lot harder for the riders out front.
Roosen put out 269W average for 4hrs 30mins and an impressive 324W normalised (NP).
Breakaway companion Craddock rode the stage with a normalised power output of 315W, or 4.44W/kg, while teammate Kristijan Koren in the bunch could save more energy (294W; 4.08W/kg).
Breakaway caught, intense final ensues
As the peloton started to power through Switzerland, it did not take long for the gap to the remaining duo to dwindle.
After a fast paced KOM 25km before the finish, where Paul Voss (Bora-Argon18) had to put out 5.6W/kg for nearly 3minutes to stay in the peloton, they were caught.
The same climb saw Marcel Kittel get dropped under a now very fast pace that would not slow down again.
How the final played out
Click on image for a larger, easier to read, version
The peloton rushed into the city of Berne at nearly 51km/h for the last 8.5km, catching late attacker Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida).
The last 2km featured cobbles and a short, steep climb where Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) tried is luck from an already thinned out group.
He rushed across the 500m sector at more than 41km/h but was brought back before the final sprint began.
Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin) put out 495W (7.86W/kg) for 70 seconds to stay with the best riders of the day, as Vanmarcke accelerated from the front!
The sprint from the small group saw the specialists make a bid for victory and Peter Sagan came out on top once again. His top speed on the finishing straight was 65.6km/h just 0.1km/h faster than second placed Kristoff.
After a rest day, the Alps will host the next four stages and bring about the decision in the overall classification.
The first stage in the mountains will be a tough 184km that ends atop Finhaut-Emosson.
The last climb alone awaits the riders - 10.4km at 8.4 per cent and it is hard to imagine that the main contenders will let another chance for a stage win slip by.
Wednesday's stage 17, after today's rest day
Click on image for a larger, easier to read, version
Topics
