lotek 

July 16 197.5 km

don d.

.....

brent_dube

I'd like to point out that while the La Mongie climb has an average gradient of 6.8%, the final 7 kilometres are all over %8 in average gradient.

https://www.salite.ch/tourmale1.htm

don d.

Moncoutie has barely finished pi$$ing in the bottle and you're ready to rumble.

Should be an interesting stage tomorrow.

Ajay213

But they aren't climbing the whole Tourmalet, so I'm sure they are still going to hit some of the extra gradient, but not the whole 7km. How far is the stage finish from the top?

Andrew

ChiefCatchacold

Yeah baby, they're gonna hafta enter the sweepstakes if they want to ride with Lance!

Just kidding, interesting indeed. Go Tyler!

By the way La Mongie is at 1715 m, so you can see where it lies on the overall climb.

brent_dube

I know they aren't climbing the whole Tourmulet. I took the altitude in account when saying that the last 7km are over 8%.

The profile that Don gave tells you what altitude La Mongie is.
It's about 5km from the top.

kerank

Prediction: Mayo will attack somewhere!

I love going out on a limb

Devil

Prediction: Voeckler's time in yellow is over as of tomorrow.

If not tomorrow.. DEFINITELY Saturday.

Crack'n'fail

come on Devil, commit!

I don't see Lance winning this stage, there's not enough "pre-climbing" before the final two climbs. I think this stage favors a Mayo break, maybe even Heras putting some time into the main contenders. I think Ullrich and Armstrong will mark each other and limit their losses for a showdown on Saturday. The only thing that could throw it all into chaos would be if Hamilton decides to launch an attack with Sevilla, then Armstrong and Ullrich would be forced to answer.

I'll be curious to see how Postal, T-mobile and Phonak choose to handle the early parts of this stage, will they be content to ride near the front, or will they try to put some of the climbers teams under pressure so they are weakened before the final climbs? All in all, it should be an exciting stage! I can't wait.

brent_dube

I wouldn't be suprised to see Phonak and/or T-Mobile drive the pace before the Col d'Aspin.
And if Armstrong feels well tomorrow, expect to see USPS drive the field on Saturday.

geist

Mayo says:
"The Pyrenees are looming, that's my terrain and so everybody is asking me if I will attack," said Mayo. "Naturally the answer is yes."

"If I could choose, I'd like to win at La Mongie on Friday. I know that thousands of Basque fans are getting ready to line the climb to the finish so it would be incredible to win in front of them. "

"It won't be easy because everybody will be expecting me to attack but that won't stop me trying."

JimCR

I will say Mancebo takes it.. or at least a spanish guy.. its about time one of them wins!

Bruco

Here's another profile of the Tourmalet climb. A month ago, I did the Full Monty myself. I would say that it's is very tough (especially for non-climbers); it took me 1:53 to get to the summit.

I wonder whether the T would qualify for 'Hors Categorie' if the riders would have to cover those extra km's after La Mongie.

Csson

Absolutely. Any climb where the first guy up screams "assassins" to the organizers are automatically HC .

I hope that Mayo takes the stage, two minutes ahead of Ullrich, another minute ahead of Hamilton and Heras, who in turn are a minute ahead of Armstrong and the yellow goes to Casar. That should set the stage for Saturday . That's not likely to happen...

/Csson

brent_dube

There is a good chance of rain, which might change tactics. Instead of saving more energy for tomorrow, some riders might try to put a bigger hammer down today (thinking it might not rain tomorrow). Weather can be a huge factor in a stage like this.

Csson

Yes, it's raining now at the last sprint near the start of Col d'Aspin, and it's not just a shower.

/Csson

pgreene

lance got caught out of the break on the descent. ullrich and mayo are ahead. oh wait. just heard phil say they caught up. it was interesting for a second there.

Csson

The sun is shining again. Hamilton is not going to win the tour, neither will Voeckler. Ullrich is in trouble as well.

/Csson

pgreene

ullrich, hamilton are off the pace on the last climb. voeckler's popped, and virenque is trying to pace him back up (talk about nationalism). good stuff today!

rydwhite

Armstrong is pulling away from Ullrich, Hamilton, and Voeckler by 20 seconds now. Looks like a good day for Lance. I don't think he could do it without Azevedo, just like he had Heras to help in the past.

Laggard

Basso!

Cobra

Awesome race. Do you think Armstrong could have won that if he wanted or did Basso just school him

pgreene

he didn't really contest it. what's scary is that chechu and beltran didn't take a pull today. think they're saving them for tomorrow?

Laggard

So what does OLN do after the finish? Go to a commercial! Unreal.

Anyway, great stage today.

My man Menchov had a good day.