The final Cat Four climb knocked out Columbia’s amazing sprinter Mark Cavendish, but the rest of the big guns were there at the end, and Freire had the most in his heart and legs, and took the Stage win.
Long Climb on a Hot Day
Stage Fourteen of the Tour, Nîmes to Digne-les-Bains, was a194.5 miles of climbing. The route started on the plains and climbed in to the Alps, rising steadily if not steeply, gaining 700 meters of the length of the course.
There were only two serious climbs: Cat Fours, neither long or steep. One came in the middle of the route, and the last, longer and steeper, 10 km from the end—a perfect spot to launch a final attack to steal the race.
The final five kilometers sloped very gently downhill and were flat, so any sprinter who could survive the attacks on the climbs would have a good chance—but it seemed unlikely any sprinter could manage that.
The sun was hot, and the sky clear, with only a slight breeze; the temperature hovered around ninety degrees F. The combination of heat, pace, and the final climb hit the field hard. As Garmin Chipotle rider Julian Dean described it, “The last kilometer wasn’t particularly fast; I think everyone was tired.”
On a sad note, Team Barloworld has announced it will withdraw from cycling as soon as the Tour ends, in response to Moises Duenas Nevado getting caught doping. The team’s sponsor decided it was bad for its corporate image, and will shut down the team entirely.
