Tour 2015: Stage 16 Bourg-de-Péage > Gap
STAGE FACT
Two of the last two three stage-winners into Gap have been Portuguese: Rui Costa in 2013 and Sergio Paulinho in 2010
Although it rarely hosts a full-blown mountain stage, Gap is frequently the Tour’s gateway into or out of the Alps, and it rarely disappoints. A town of 40,000 surrounded by dusty mountains, it welcomes Tour chaos with bumper-to-bumper traffic, chockablock hotels and highly memorable racing.
The Tour’s Poggio
It’s invariably the Col de Manse, outside of town that provides the drama. A second-category ascent that summits at 1,268 m 12 km from the finish, it solicits attacks like a punch-bag. These may catch the more lackadaisical GC contenders on the back foot, but it’s the descent that often provides the greater drama.
It’s invariably the Col de Manse, outside of town that provides the drama. A second-category ascent that summits at 1,268 m 12 km from the finish, it solicits attacks like a punch-bag. These may catch the more lackadaisical GC contenders on the back foot, but it’s the descent that often provides the greater drama.
Examples please
This is where Joseba Beloki broke his leg in 2003 and sent Lance Armstrong cyclocrossing across a meadow. In 2011, the Brothers Schleck inevitably lost time in the wet here, while Chris Froome and Alberto Contador had a ‘whoops’ moment going great guns down it in 2013.
This is where Joseba Beloki broke his leg in 2003 and sent Lance Armstrong cyclocrossing across a meadow. In 2011, the Brothers Schleck inevitably lost time in the wet here, while Chris Froome and Alberto Contador had a ‘whoops’ moment going great guns down it in 2013.
What will happen?
If history’s taught us anything, it’s that the win in Gap will come from a break that gains a hefty margin on the GC men early on. It’s the second longest stage of the Tour, gradually gaining altitude as it heads south-east with the second-cat Col de Cabre the only other climb on the way.
If history’s taught us anything, it’s that the win in Gap will come from a break that gains a hefty margin on the GC men early on. It’s the second longest stage of the Tour, gradually gaining altitude as it heads south-east with the second-cat Col de Cabre the only other climb on the way.
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