Thibaut Pinot, leading, got a new Strava record on the Col du Tourmalet riding in the breakaway at the Tour.
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 the last two stages in the Pyrenees.
A lot of the information is contained in two images below and you’ll need to click on them to make them full size and easier to read.
Movistar and Sky in Control on Stage 8
No major gaps yet
Saturday’s stage 8 to Bagnères-de-Luchon featured some of the most famous climbs of the Pyrenees, the Tourmalet among them.
But despite all the climbing action Chris Froome was the only one to gain time; on the last descent of all places.
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And he would only gain 13 seconds on the select group he had attacked, at the top of the final mountain, with Dan Martin leading them home for 2nd.
Overall, the tough stage was ridden more conservatively than the previous day, as many riders were already thinking about stage 9 to Andorra and still felt the previous day’s efforts in their legs.
Col du Tourmalet
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No group left off the leash
The stage’s flat first 40km were, as every mountainous stage so far, characterised by a very high pace.
Greg Henderson described it as the “fastest start on the planet” and he covered the 65km approach to the Tourmalet in 49km/h and 281W.
As a consequence, it took more than an hour for a group of attackers to gain any real advantage on the main field.
The riders that were finally able to ride away were some big hitters: Thibaut Pinot, Rafal Majka and Tony Martin, who surprised by hanging on to the climbers on the Tourmalet.
Pinot crested the climb first with a new Strava KOM of 54:59. He put out around 345W or 5.31W/kg (estimate) and rode the 19km, 7 per cent gradient climb in 20.5km/h.
That was 2:30 minutes faster than the group of favourites, where German talent Emanuel Buchmann rode it in 312W (5.03W/kg) over 57:22 minutes.
Team Sky and Movistar controlled things on this ascent, while the gap was slowly whittled down. On the penultimate climb, the Col d’Azet, the three were caught as Team Sky accelerated the pace.
It wasn’t as gruesome as the speeds on the Aspin on stage 7, however, as Laurens Ten Dam (Giant – Alpecin) was able to hang on riding 346W, which equals 5.01W/kg.
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The key numbers from stage 8
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Some Fireworks on Peyresourde
The last climb of the day, its summit coming 15km before the finish, was the Col de Peyresourde (7.1km, 7.5 per cent).
Chris Froome’s team upped the pace to another level on the slopes and many riders felt the efforts they had already put in up to that point.
Laurens Ten Dam ‘s power suddenly fell to 262W for 28:08 minutes and he would go on to lose more than 10 minutes into Bagnères-de-Louchon.
An Attack by Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), who rode the whole climb with an estimated 5.55W/kg (355W) dragged clear the elite selection of 13 riders that would reach the finish in the same time.
The 15th placed rider at the finish was Emanuel Buchmann, who still put out 330W or 5.32W/kg for 21:59 on the Peyresourde.
But that wasn’t quite enough to keep up with the favourites around Froome, who himself rode at around 375W (5.56W/kg) before attacking over the summit and creating a 13 second gap on the rest until the line.
Col de Peyresourde
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Stage 9: Andorra is waiting
Stage 9 on Sunday, with the classic finish on Andorra Arcalis at 2,240m above sea level, will see hard climbing again.
Most likely a break of riders that have lost considerable time on stage 7 and 8 will be let lose as Team Sky will control affairs back in the peloton.
Things will start to become decisive on the Beixalis climb; the steep penultimate climb some 27.5km before the finish.
But at that point, a good climber at the front might have gained enough timeto win the stage while the GC contenders battle for positions further down the road.
Stage 9 profile
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