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news
Tour de France logo on yellow 3x2Formula 1 grid-style start for "dynamite" Tour de France stage in Pyrenees
What already promises to be one of the most explosive stages of next month’s Tour de France could prove to be even more fascinating with the revelation that race organisers ASO will be experimenting with a grid-style start similar to that used in cyclo-cross and in Formula 1 motor racing.
Stage 17 from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary Soulon, with an unprecedented summit finish on the Col de Portet – the third of three big climbs that day – is at 65 kilometres the shortest mountain stage of this year’s race, and the shortest in more than three decades.
Race director Christian Prudhomme has described it as potentially a "dynamite stage," even before details of the novel way of starting it came to light.
Typically, shorter Grand Tour stages in the mountains – this one is expected to last no more than two and a half hours – make for exciting racing, especially when they come this late in the race, with the overall battle approaching its climax.
Usually there is also frantic racing from the off as teams without riders fighting for the GC look to get into the break, while team mates of overall contenders may also try and slip into it to act as a bridge for their leaders later on.
But in an added twist, Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad has revealed that the riders will line up in a grid-style formation, with the holder of the race leader’s maillot jaune effectively in pole position.
The second-placed rider will be positioned to his left, the third-placed man to his right, with the top 10 riders taking up position on the start line.
Behind them, the riders in 11th to 20th position overall will form a second row, then the following 20 riders will be placed in what is described as a ‘cage’, then the remaining riders in groups of 40 according to GC position – although outside the top 20, each group will be bunched, rather than riders having to line up in strict adherence to their precise place in the overall standings.
While some may see it as a gimmick, route director Thierry Gouvenou believes the innovation will can enhance the tactical aspect of the start of the stage as teams and riders decide how best to handle the departure of the stage.
“It’s a bit of a start like in Formula 1, or in cyclo-cross,” he explained. “We only do that day. Just before the start of such a short stage there will be tension in the air anyway. This special starting formula accentuates that.”
There will be no neutralised zone, and instead organisers will make provision for riders to be able to warm up on rollers, with the road heading straight uphill from the start as they head towards the foot of the 15-kilometre climb of the Montée de Peyragudes.
“Anyone who wants to sprint to the foot of that bottleneck can do so,” explained Gouvenou. “Any leader who prefers to wait for his team mates can also do that. It’s at your own risk.”
Once the descent of the Peyragudes has been negotiated, the riders then take on the second Category 1 ascent of the day, the Col de Val Louron-Azet, crested with 28 kilometres remaining.
After coming down from that, they then have to contend with the climb of the Col du Portet, covering 16 kilometres at an average gradient of 8.7 per cent.
That unique start therefore introduces an “extra element,” according to Gouvenou, to what was always likely to be a gripping stage, and although shorter, the stage has a profile not too dissimilar to that of the final 80 kilometres of Stage 19 of last month’s Giro d’Italia, where Chris Froome launched his solo attack to seize control of the race.
Could we see a similar out-and-out attack from a rider here to which the leaders of rival teams will have to respond, isolated from the start from their team mates?
Or will the likes of Team Sky and Movistar, both of which could well have three riders in the top 20 given their strength in depth, be able to try and control the racing, albeit with fewer riders than usual?
Could it be that due to the unpredictability caused by the new format of the stage start, the overall contenders will quietly agree to take it easy at the start to allow their full teams to assemble, while letting riders in the following groups who aren’t a threat on GC charge off up the road?
And what of the men towards the bottom of the overall standings including the sprinters, who with three big cols to tackle on a stage that could be over within a shade over two hours may struggle to make the time cut and will have the added handicap of starting the stage right at the back of the bunch?
We’ll find out on Wednesday 25 July.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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17 comments
Strange. Seems like some daft novelty idea dreamnt up over one to many bottles.
What next?..tandems, tricycles fancy dress?
YES!! Tandems!!! Yellow jersey gets to ride with lanterne rouge guy and so on.
Or how about a stage in which they're allowed electric bikes but the yellow jersey has a smaller battery? Or a certain number of sticky bottle pulls is allowed be stage? Or a stage where they swim a bit, cycle a bit and then run a bit?
maybe the gc contenders should have to ride holding an egg on a spoon- that could be interesting. gimmick.
It would be even more fun if they went with a 60's Le Mans style start, i.e. the competitors have to run to their bikes, clip in and scoot off. That would be hilarious, seeing them all clip-clopping along on their cleats.
Mind you, Froome has good running form, as demonstrated on Ventoux 2016.
I can see how some of the GC teams won't wait for their full team and just go for it. If they have a couple of domestics nicely placed in the top 40 they could easily form a small group to start an attack from the off. Don't give others a chance to get their teams in order and it's like stage 19 of the giro all over again. It only needs one GC contender feeling fresh and everyone else will have to follow or risk being left behind
anyone planning anything will wait for their teams, anyone not planning anything will keep well out of the way.
All the teams who've not gained anything from the race at that point will see an opportunity, it's only a 65km stage and a chance for TV time and or a stage win.
Or maybe other GC's will look at Froomes 80km break and want to give it a go on that stage also.. it's totally doable on a stage like that, up down up down up.. no flat, little drafting advantage on the up's and 'he who dares' decending on the downs..
I was picturing a Le Mans style start... everyone running to their bikes in their clicky clacky cleats...
17 stages in, short (65k!) full gas mountainous stage from the off with all the GC boys on high alert.
It could be chaos at the start, totally a novelty, but why not. The question will be, will the 20ish GC boys wait for their team to get around them or will the 160ish other riders race to gather around their GC leaders..
Or is it ideal for an unexpected or rather uncontrolable breakaway from the start by a top 20 GC guy?
I'm all for it, a very unpredicable stage.
The Giro and the Vuelta have raised their games over the past few years and have left LeTour behind imo. I do feel like the TdF is throwing the kitchen sink at this tour novelty wise.. but I'm pleased that they are doing 'something', it always gets boring to watch at times over the three weeks! (Blasphemy!!)
While I can see what they're trying to do, I have a feeling that it'll just end up with most of the top 10 riders pedalling fairly slowly at the start while their teams assemble, it's not like at the vuelta a few years ago where contador led the mugging raid with the help of movistar while team sky where all gathering near the back. If the top 10 are all starting together they'll mark each other if anyone tries to pull away, and unless one of them is on an awful day (unlikely to be the case on the first climb) then they're not very likely to put the hammer down and leave their team mates behind. Perhaps they should start the stage in reverse grid order, let the lower placed riders try to get into the breakaway and then see the GC riders close them down or catch up with team mates who could help them.
How about sending one team off at a time every 30 seconds, in a random order decided at the start (Poulidor picking names out of a chapeau)? Ought to take 11 minutes and could well throw a chat among les pigeons.
I like the sound of that. Be interesting to see if the teams go for it.
Froome should have no trouble making a 65k break for it...
I'm in the Pyrenees next week doing this exact route, first time cycling in the mountains so thought I'd do this one and half of stage 16 too! Be good to see the race after getting to know the roads!
Way to go on decreasing rider safety as chaos ensues as some from the lower placings bomb through whilst the front riders wait for their team mates, there are far too many crashes between riders as it is what with the risk taking and liberal use of common sense, this is just another crash right at the start waiting to happen.
Hopefully the teams will tell ASO to fuck off and stop pricking about with something that has worked just fine for a long time.
if they want to make things more interesting they could have a team time trail at the beginning of week three, they could give bigger bonus seconds for stage finishes and indeed not give the breakaway sprint points/bonus seconds because rarely are they ever contested as a proper sprint just some mates agreement and the proper sprinters are usually mopping up a few points in the peleton which is why the likes of Cav wasn't always that bothered.
As we saw in the Giro, 'boring' SKY managed to win the race by employing superb tactics and with a rider prepared to go all in and absolutely bust a gut especially on the descent whilst his tactically naive opponent flapped about like a flat fish waiting for others to take up the chase couldn't hack it on the descent and thus lost the GT, what a fucking noob!
Maybe they could have a salary cap of the team, maybe they should give a handicapp to the team with the least green/environmental ethos, maybe they should allow bikes to be as light as a rider wants.
The current 6.8kg limit is a joke and indeed most riders are well over that for fear of reprisals. An extra 1-2kg that you have to drag up the steep shit on a three GT makes a difference, it might not be a huge amount but ask any rider if they can shed that in bodyweight without having any detriment in power output/wellbeing and they'd bite your hand off, this rule alone is the one that is the worst from a technical POV and should be relaxed.
Difficult to imagine how this is going to work in practice and it could be chaos as teams try to push through the peloton in order to get to their leaders.
However what this does show is that race organisers are trying to think of ways to spice up the racing both for riders and the audience. Not all ideas are going to work, some won't work 1st time but eventually something will stick and it will be a revelation.
Load of cock. What will probably happen is the teams will talk among themselves to decide what they want to actually do once they set off.
No need for silly modifier rules in cycling, there's enough of that in motorsport like F1 and touring cars with silly grid swaps and weight penalties. What next, yellow jersey to wear a 5kg backpag and run Quando hubs?
I'd be curious to see if the leader's domestiques will attempt to improve their position in the lead-up to this stage to play defense.