Thursday, March 28, 2024

Le Tour de France 2017 – Stage 17: La Mure – Serre-Chevalier, 183km. Primož Roglič ahead of the ‘Royal’ party

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Serre-Chevalier

A decisive battle? No. A day of attrition? Absolutely. The ‘Royal’ group at the head of affairs at Serre-Chevalier behind winning LottoNL ski jumper turned cyclist, Slovenian Primož Roglič speaks for itself.

Christopher Froome (Sky & GB) is back in his usual position, at the front with a hugely strong team to back him and a time trial ‘buffer’ if he needs it; Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale & Colombia) has won a stage in the race, shadowed all the moves that matter and seems set for a podium finish in Paris, the man has won a Giro TT in the past and is back to that sort of level.

Romain Bardet (AG2R & France) is strong, determined and his team is good but he’s not yet at the level of Froome – and finally, Warren Barguil (Sunweb & France) who for all his denials looks like a future Tour podium contender to us.

Serre-Chevalier
Primož Roglič with a fine solo victory. Photo©Pierre Froger/ASO

Losers on the day were: Green Jersey, Marcel Kittel (QuickStep & Germany) whose retiral may have been as much a mental as a physical problem – with all those climbs on the day and the next it was just too much for him to cope with; especially with his opponent Michael Matthews (Sunweb & Australia) soaring on the early climbs and Hoovering up intermediate points.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar & Colombia) cracked again after trying to salvage some sort of honour in attempting to get away with Alberto Contador (Trek & Spain) – of whom, more in a moment – but simply didn’t have the legs.

Can this be the same man who’s won the Giro and Vuelta and seemed entirely plausible when speaking of a Giro/Tour ‘double’ earlier this year?

Dumoulin scotched his Giro ambitions and it’s unlikely he’ll make the top 10 in this race.

Serre-Chevalier
Astana’s tactics have puzzled this Tour, often leaving Aru isolated at important moments. Photo©Pierre Froger/ASO

Fabio Aru (Astana & Italy) faltered and that was enough to put Froome, Uran and Bardet on the offensive.

In these days when the strongest thing that should be in the chill boxes is isotonic drink then his chances of recovery on the Izoard stage are slim and he’s no ‘chronoman’ so he’ll drop more time around the streets of Marseille on Saturday.

Romain Bardet (AG2R & France) despite finishing with the ‘Heads’ and riding an aggressive race, he made no impact on the GC and losing that time bonus on the line may well prove costly in a race this tight.

Serre-Chevalier
Simon Yates. Photo©Pierre Froger/ASO

Simon Yates (Orica & GB) lost time and surrendered some of his lead in the young rider competition to Louis Mentjies (UAE & RSA), who fortunately for Yates, also stumbled.

Their battle on the Izoard should be an interesting one.

Dan Martin (QuickStep & Ireland) lost time too, unable to stay with the Heads; such a pity he came down with Porte all those stages ago.

In the ‘Full Marks For Trying’ file goes Bardet but we wonder if his efforts of Thursday would have been better saved for a an ‘all or nothing’ bid on the final mountain stage?

Joining him is Dan Martin who couldn’t hold the ‘Royal Group’ but enlivened the stage, again.

Primož Roglič
Alberto Contador has raced well in the mid-race stages in the mountains. Photo©Pierre Froger/ASO

But the main man in this category has to be Alberto Contador (Trek & Spain), he may not have the legs he once had but he rode a beautiful stage to help make this another day of good racing.

Roglič was the big winner on the day, that rare combination of climber and time trial specialist; this year there’s been a GC win in the Tour of the Algarve, two stage wins in the Basque Country and stages in Romandie and the ZLM Tour.

He’ll be on the Sky radar for sure.

Primož Roglič
Michael Matthews. Photo©Pierre Froger/ASO

And whilst some may say that Michael Matthews is going to win the green jersey by default, he’s proved himself fast, versatile, mentally strong and possessed of a real ‘never say die’ attitude.

His team too, Sunweb have ridden a superb Tour in support of Matthews and King of the Mountains, Barguil logging big kilometres on the front of the peloton.

Stage 18 is a monster, it’s not far as the cow flies from Briancon to the top of the Izoard but the stage describes a 179.5 kilometre loop over tough terrain which includes a third category climb to start with then a climb to the top of the 1e cat. Col de Vars on roads which drag upwards steadily for around 50 kilometres before the final nine kilometres to the summit.

And the final insult is the 14.1 kilometre @ 7.3% Izoard which starts straight off the descent of the Vars with no valley road for recovery.

If Bardet is to win and secure even second spot on the podium he must see off Froome and Uran.

Bon chance,’ Romain.

Primož Roglič
Romain Bardet meets Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron. Photo©Pierre Froger/ASO

And just to remind us all that there is life outside Le Tour, one of Belgium’s big hopes for the future, 22 year-old World Cyclo-Cross Champion, Wout Van Aert (Verandas Willems-Crelan-Charles) added victory in the GP Pino Cerami to those in the recent Ride Bruges Classic and Ronde van Limburg.

We know what he has to avoid – fast cars and women, night clubs, designer clothes shops and an agent who signs him for big bucks for the wrong team.

We hope it doesn’t work out that way.

Ciao, ciao and enjoy the Izoard.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

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