CHAOS in the rain | Today at the Tour Stage 17 | Valence | Tour de France

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[Music] Well, welcome to the tour of Britain. Today’s finish in Heml Hempstead uh in unusually wet can I’m joking. We’re in Valance in the south of France. Would you believe it’s actually not that cold, is it? But it’s filthy wet. Yeah, it is now. It’s uh first proper day like this in the tour of France. It is absolutely. Um, and of course it kind of like had a big contributing factor to all the chaos at the end. But if we rewind a little bit further uh down to the back to the beginning of the day, David, it was kind of like a really strange stage. Interesting, intriguing, and kind of on a knife edge as to whether or not it would all break up. Yeah, I expected it to go battle a bit more at the beginning, but I think the move that went was so strong from the get-go, it kind of shut it down. And little Trek and Sudar Quickstep were very and even Vismer at that point were kind of shutting the race down for a sprint. And it looked like it was a done deal. Four men up the road. 2 minutes is where little track decided to keep it. But then Inos Grenaders lit it up. Wanted to reignite the race. Unfortunately, they blew themselves up in the process. They followed through and then the next time Wanach tried to get across, but the group of forward is so strong and Quinn Simmons for lead was just an absolute machine and controlled the whole race basically. So inevitably it then came down to a bunch of sprint that had been a prediction. It was really an extraordinary ride from Quinc Simmons because as you say he was either marking moves all over the front or he was simply pulling on the front or at one point when uh his team leader Milan was off the back by about a minute he and Yasper Steven dropped back and did an enormous enormously powerful turn to actually bring those two groups back together again. Yeah, he’s a dream rider for any team and I think the fact he’s up the road doing his own race when he’s got the chance but otherwise the MVP for little trek on a day like to today was truly stunning what he did. I mean he was the first rider on the front of the bunch then covering moves on the counterattacks from Grenadier then dropping back saving Milan with Stoven then back on the front and yeah it was Quinn Simmons all day. It was Quinn Simmons show and then when the sprint actually um came into town so to be that big crash with a kilometer to go it didn’t look like it was anyone in particular’s fault. It’s just the conditions wasn’t it? Well, I mean it was just it pinched a little bit and there were riders that saw two riders just kind of sandwiched each other and it was a the argy bargie of sprints which is why the GC riders get out of there because there crashes like that happen and it’s the first time we’ve seen in a well since the first week anything like that happen but it goes to show the desperation as well. I think at this point they know it’s a last chance really uh so everyone was just taking more more risks. A horrible day for good who looks like he’s on a rad hospital to be checked up. Looks like it might be the end of the road for him possibly. We’ll have to see. Um, unfortunate for Tim Malier, but he’s already got two stage wins. And unlucky for Jake Stewart, who um, his team rode really hard for him today and he had the leadership of the team. Yeah, it’s a real shame for Jake Stewart because they actually said and it was he said in his pre-race interview that they’d given him leadership over Akaman. The team rode fantastically. They were always there. They were always grouped together at the front. They were riding in the final, but he was then left alone. We asked whether Akaman would be able to help him. He was nowhere to be found in that final few kilometers, which is a job of a leadout. That’s normally what Jake Stewart is doing for Akaman, but Jake Stewart find found himself battling on his own trying to get up there and he was too just that little bit too far back and so got caught up in the crash and it was another stage win for Jonathan Milan. He’s also taking a giant stride in the points competition. Let’s hear from the winner. Jonathan Milan, congratulations after surviving the pernees, after surviving Mu. What a great rewards I suppose it must be to to win here in Valance. Oh, you know, uh I think I’m uh I really I’m I’m really happy and without words I have to say. Uh after surviving, you know, I didn’t survived alone. I survived always with with the help of my teammates. I I really have to preside this because without all this uh I would not be here. Maybe I would be already dropped in one of the climbs. So you know with the help every single day of my teammates uh we achieve of this result today was a really tough stage you know I mean tough we we control it from the beginning of course with the help of some other teams uh but you know they helped me also when I when I drop in the first climb in the second one they really did a good pace uh and then yeah it was a difficult final also because of the weather you had to bring this uh yeah this roundabouts in the first position and was a bit I was a bit scared I have to say also uh but uh yeah they help me they support me and this is really uh fantastic I have to say team victory I really have to thanks them uh with the with the bottom of my heart so yeah super super happy for all of us did you did you see what happened in the finish you see that crash with 1k to Oh, you were focused on your efforts. Uh, I actually didn’t know that it was a crash. Uh, I hope no one and uh was really bad. I I didn’t know. I didn’t know. Well, slight change in in terms of answering your Q&A questions cuz I couldn’t figure out how to hold a microphone, an umbrella, and a sheet of paper. But David Miller has mastered it somehow. So, you’re going to have to read the questions. Yes, I am. And you’re going to have to answer them probably. Oh, really? Okay. So, from Seb Dove, love your work. Thank you, Seb. Thank you, Seb. Would you be able to talk about the origins of the word schluging or at least what it means? Struggled to explain it to my dad without it sounding creepy. Bob Roll, American commentator who works with Phil Lig these days for the American network. He came up with the expression. Um I don’t think it’s particularly complimentary. It refers in general to cycling fans, but it refers in that case to us cuz we’re cycling fans. We’re cycling fans. There we go. Yeah. So from Max Copo number one, would a two-stage day work in the men’s tour of France as there are so many riders? Perhaps a TT would not work, but a crit followed by a shortened road race. two opportunities to sprint in a day. Well, um there was once three stages in a day, was there? Yeah. When the tour came to the UK the first time, I think if I remember correctly. Yeah. Yeah. In the 70s and in the Merks years. Yeah. In the 70s going to say. So, the first time Eddie Mksk won in 1969, that was a double stage race in Paris and then a time. I think it’s officially it’s banned by the UCI. Yeah. Um where some of the smaller races still do it and just take the fine. I think the last race that did it was the Criterion International that used to have a crit and time trial on the on the opening day. No, it’s a bit too much. Bit too much. It’s a bit too much. Okay. Uh Roland Rat Red Bull seemed to exceed expectations in the recent time trial. I believe Dan Dan Bingham has a role there. Surely not a coincidence, but he knows a thing or two about aerodynamics, doesn’t he? He does. And I talking to Alex about that. Yeah. He’s I mean and you noticed it in commentary David that that is all about not so much the kit it’s about how to use the kit right yeah it’s the training it’s the discipline it’s the work you put in before because the fact that uh it was only Primos and uh Lipitz who could hold the position on the mountain that’s training that’s just a many many hours in the position training yourself so doesn’t matter what expert you have if you don’t have the buyin from the rider then it means nothing but Dan Bingham is excellent so I’m sure he does contribute uh Julian Winston Winston maybe Win Stanley. Winston Win Stanley. Win Stanley. Win Stanley maybe covered already, but is the white jersey for young R for young riders still relevant? Might it not be better to introduce a gray jersey for the older riders? I’ve got feeling we’ve covered that already. We covered that already. We have covered that already. But um suffice to say, I think it’s here to stay. The white jersey and we couldn’t figure we couldn’t really figure out a cut off point of age in terms of the gray jersey, but it’s a nice idea. Okay. Ian Bernett or Bernett. Bernett. Not so much a question, more of a points about the green jersey and what it represents. I have to question the points of the jersey in the modern era. Back in the day, it was awarded to the most consistent daily finisher. Intermediate sprint points were a separate competition. I seem to remember that jersey being red. To my mind, it should still be for the most consistent daily finisher, which would make Paggatra a valid contender. Surely if the green jersey was for sprinters, then the points would only be available on flat sprint stages. Thoughts? Quite like that actually. The finishing, you know, finishing the race on whatever terrain. Well, it should just simply be when you get to Paris, it’s you add up all the your finishing places and whoever’s got the lowest number gets the jersey. Yeah, it’s a nice idea. Quite like it. Yeah, Alex Dit would hate it. Yeah. Yeah, he would absolutely hate it. Is that it? That’s it. All right, let’s have a look at uh tomorrow’s route. Well, tomorrow is the Queen stage effectively, isn’t it? 171.5 km um three or category climbs. It’s very alpine, isn’t it? Up, down, up, down. Little bit of valley up. Yeah, I it’s iconic climbs. Cordlandon just under 2,000 meters, cord madlin 2,000 m and then the souvenir on de with 2,300 m. So it’s an absolutely savage day and of course as today Pagache has referenced the tour to France keep taking him back to the scene the sights the mountains of his very very few and far between defeats at the hands of Yonas finger. The cold deer la probably is the most famous one of those. But here is Alex Dets who’s looked in a little bit more detail at the Alpine stages still to come. With the Pyrenees behind us now, it all comes down to the last few days in the Alps with some of the world’s most iconic climbs coming up this week. Let’s see what’s awaiting the Pelaton. Stage 18 can probably be considered one of the toughest days on the tour with not one but three port category climbs. The stage starts by summiting the colder grand don a 21 km warm up at 5%. For the remaining climbs later in the day, peaking at exactly 2,000 m, the cold maline, which we’re looking at here, is the 19.2 km ascent, which makes its 26th appearance at Lour. But as this isn’t the end of the stage, time gaps at the summit could prove important as the stage continues deeper into ski territory. The stage ends with a grueling 26.4 km up the cold dalo up to 2,34 m. And this is the highest point of this year’s tour to France. Deep in Leto Valet, the pass was only built and opened 6 years ago and has only been featured twice before in the race. The road winds through the town of Koschal up past the airport and continues breaking through the 2,000 m barrier. Up this high, the temperatures can get down into single digits. So, who can stay cool and who can climb to victory at the end of this HC climb. The following day, stage 19, is the last day in the mountains and the final chance to make a break for the GC for any rider brave enough to launch an attack. After two early crimes, stage 19 continues slowly through a large valley from Bow Fort before kicking up at Ares. From here, the average gradient remains above 9% for much of the climb up the cold depre before slightly kicking back down and skirting around the Rosaland lake across the impressive dam before a bonus category 2 climb up the Kame de Rosaland to continue the day. Stage 19 ends with the conclusion of the tours mountain stages and a final chance to shake up the GC. The multiple switchbacks and hair pins will be a leg destroying endurance test of mind and bicycle. This climb never lets up and expect huge splits and the last chance tactics to decide this year’s to France GC battle. Okay. Okay. Let’s have a little look at the general classification. This is how things stand at the moment. No changes today even though they crashed at the finish line. They weren’t caught up in this crash. Um and there were no time gaps on the line. And so we’ve still got this, I suppose, the headline act, isn’t it? This 4 minute and 15 second gap between first and second. It looks unbridgegable. In all likelihood, it is unbridgegable. But there were just signs on Vonu that Yonas Vingard at least will be encouraged to ask the question one or two more times. Yeah, I mean I think it would be a huge surprise if Vingard doesn’t go on the tack tomorrow and I I think he will. He knows the climate suits him. It’s where Pogata had his big moment a few couple of years ago and so I think uh yeah I think we can await a very exciting race. Can given that it’s a 4 minute and 15 gap can he actually afford to wait until the final climb? Uh I think he’ll have to. I think um I’d like to think not, but the coal law is such a huge climb. If he goes before and Pogata just keeps some teammates around him, he can just measure it and then put everything into the final climb. That’s But yeah, I mean in the romantic racing lover would love to see him go on the Medline. Okay, so that was today. Uh hopefully tomorrow the weather will blow through although the forecast as I say for the Alps is not especially uh conducive uh to having a holiday. It won’t be a holiday for the riders in the tour to France. There’ll be plenty of opportunities for the general classification in the next two days to take a big big shuffle. [Music]