British revelation Adam Yates leads home Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome with Richie Porte and our own Dan Martin just behind; it looks like they are the big five of this Tour. But there's a long way to go yet (Photo: Sirotti)
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 Sunday's stage 9 in Andorra, the best of the Tour so far.
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.
Stage 9; the first spectacular of the Tour
The Tour’s ninth stage, finishing 2,200m high at Andorra Arcalis, saw Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) take a beautiful stage victory from a break.
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And there were real gaps among the classification riders, who finished 6:30 minutes or more behind the Dutchman.
The stage started furiously on the Col de Bonaigua as a large break went away. When Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) dropped back from the move the peloton allowed the attackers to ride away to gain more than 10 minutes advantage.
The middle phase was rather slowly paced before the real racing recommenced on the Beixalis climb, where Team Sky started the action and thinned out the field.
Dumoulin started the last climb to Andorra alone and was not seen again by his former companions, while the group of favourites lost one rider after another until only a small elite remained.
The key numbers from stage 9
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War on the Bonaigua
After just 6km, the profile started to rise up significantly with the 13.7km, 6 per cent, Bonaigua ascent.
Attacks unfolded repeatedly until a group went away and many riders were dropped at once. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) was part of the large break and took second place on the mountain prime behind Thibaut Pinot.
De Gendt put out 388W for 33 minutes (5.62W/kg) and sprinted against Pinot and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) for the points at 581W for nearly 1 minute.
Majka, the mountain jersey holder, took 3rdplace on the climb, riding the whole ascent at about 350W or 5.65W/kg.
The breakaway climbed the Bonaigua in a breathtaking 24.7km/h.
After the break had established a good gap, the mid-section featuring the Port del Canto, was ridden at a significantly slower pace. De Gendt had to put out 311W (4.51W/kg) for 51:12 minutes to take the maximum mountain points there.
How the Bonaigua broke down
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Dumoulin unreachable, Froome hangs tough
After good tempo set by Team Sky on the Col de Beixalis had reduced the main group size and Tom Dumoulin had charged away alone up at the front, the mountain top finish in Andorra Arcalis- 10.1KM at 6.5 per cent - brought the fight that everyone had hoped for.
Several attacks where launched by Froome’s teammate Sergio Henao and the strong Daniel Martin (Etixx–Quickstep).
Dumoulin climbed to Arcalis in 30:20 minutes, putting out an estimated 5.21W/kg (365W) in the process.
His strong performance is underlined by the fact that he added 1:30 minutes on his advantage to former break ally Winner Anacona (Movistar), a Colombian climbing specialist, who rode the ascent in 31:53 and at a power of 5/07W/kg.
Further down, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was one of the few riders to weather the storm of attacks and the torrential rain, staying with Froome and the big surprise Adam Yates (Orica – BikeExhange).
The Colombian’s time for the final climb was 27:35 minutes; at a power output of approximately 335W (5.78W/kg).
Andorra last 10km
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A curious incident occurred when George Bennett, who had been part of the break, collided with a spectator about 1.5km into the final climb.
Before the crash, he had settled into a controlled rhythm of 277W to ride the race home without expending too much energy.
After the incident however, he started flying again, putting out 5.72W/kg (332W) for the next 4minutes to secure a strong 7thplace on the day.
This appears as a great illustration of an adrenaline burst that boosts the performance to another level for a short period of time.
Rest Day and easier stages ahead
The riders can enjoy a well-deserved rest day now before two easier stages that lead the Tour de France eastwards and to the Mont Ventoux.
The sprinters will look for success once again before the monstrous Ventoux will feature during the twelfth stage. It will probably provide us with an even more defined overall classification.
Tuesday's stage 10 profile
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