With one ultimate dash stage left at this 12 months’s Tour de France coming in Nîmes on Tuesday, it was no shock to see a cluster of fastmen battling to hold on within the race because the time minimize loomed on the stage 15 summit end on the Plateau de Beille.
Stage 5 winner Mark Cavendish was among the many sprinters to finish the second half of the weekend’s Pyrenean double-header within the nick of time, finishing the 197.7km stage 1:47 forward of the minimize.
He completed the day – which took in 5 climbs, all first-category or above, and 5,000 metres of elevation – alongside three Astana Qazaqstan teammates, Cees Bol, Alexey Lutsenko, and Davide Ballerini at 51:35 down on stage winner Tadej Pogačar.
The quartet, together with a bunch of different non-climbers, had been properly out the again of the race from early on within the day, which started with a 6.9km climb to the Col de Peyresourde earlier than tackling the Col de Menté, Col de Portet-d’Aspet, and Col d’Agnes.
A number of lengthy stretches of valley street could have provided these battling for survival the prospect to make up time on the leaders, although it was nonetheless contact and go for the Astana riders and quite a few others on the 15.8km Plateau de Beille.
Whereas race chief Pogačar blew away Marco Pantani’s climbing document on the closing climb, riders fought to make it house throughout the 53:22 restrict.
Astana and DSM riders race up the Plateau de Beille to beat the time minimize (Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
Earlier within the day the time minimize had been prolonged from 15% to 17% of the winner’s time, making the restrict a number of minutes extra lenient than it might often have been – across the 47-minute mark.
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Cavendish, the a hundred and fiftieth rider to complete, got here in forward of fellow sprinters Fernando Gaviria and Arnaud Démare, who each minimize it even finer at 52:02 and 52:37.
Additional again, the final man on the street, DSM-Firmenich PostNL rider Bram Welten, was out of luck. The Dutchman, who had earlier been a part of the Cavendish group together with a number of teammates, crossed the road at 57:12 down on Pogačar, 3:50 exterior the time minimize.
Barring any relaxation day withdrawals on Monday, the Tour is ready to proceed with 152 riders for Tuesday’s anticipated dash 188.6km stage from Gruissan to Nîmes.
Cavendish, Gaviria, and Démare battle on to do battle as soon as extra with a bunch of different sprinters nonetheless within the race, together with inexperienced jersey Biniam Girmay, fellow stage winners Jasper Philipsen and Dylan Groenewegen, and different contenders together with Arnaud De Lie and Wout van Aert.
🇫🇷 VIDEO: @LeTour Effectively, for us it was a day to outlive and to carry our chief @MarkCavendish to the end line atop Plateau de Beille contained in the time minimize. And we succeeded after a powerful workforce effort! You’re legends, guys!#TDF2024 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam pic.twitter.com/3esYQLTt61July 14, 2024
