Tue, July 13, 2021, 4:51 p.m. BST
First published on Tue, July 13th 2021, 10/12 BST
4:51 p.m. BST 4:51 p.m.
4:45 p.m. BST 4:45 p.m.
It looks like 16 people followed Geschke in a breakaway group, but unfortunately for fans of intrigue and excitement, all GC top 10 drivers are there.
4:44 p.m. BST16: 44
Simon Geschke and Guillaume Martin from Cofidis try to break away from the yellow jersey group, and when they react, the group is torn away. Potential for a late-night interest here!
4:41 p.m. BST16: 41
â ???? Very strange phase, â ???? says Bradley Wiggins. â € œThere are not many such stages where you have the chance to go to Pogacar, but there was nothing. Let’s hope that tomorrow is better than today.
4:38 p.m. BST16: 38
The yellow jersey group is still 8.5 km from the finish line and is obviously in no hurry to get there.
4:38 p.m. BST16: 38
On the last kilometer, Pierre-Luc Périchon pulls away from the pursuers in search of second place, but he is overtaken on the line and both Sonny Colbrelli and Michael Matthews cross it in front of him!
4:36 p.m. BST16: 36
Patrick Konrad celebrates his first Grand Tour stage win! The last 600 m are a solo celebration for the 29-year-old Austrian, whose solo runaway began about 35 km from the finish and was never caught.
4:33 p.m. BST 4:33 p.m.
Another 1.5 km: This is BORA-hansgrohe’s second stage win on this year’s tour. Only Mark Cavendish’s Deceuninck QuickStep won more.
4:31 p.m. BST 4:31 p.m.
3km to go: Konrad’s lead is just under a minute. If he stays on his bike, he wins the stage.
4.30 p.m. BST 4.30 p.m.
4.5km before the finish: This is Konrad’s stage, which has been clear for some time and is becoming clearer and clearer. « Matthews wants the target points so he can take Cavendish’s green jersey off tomorrow (or the day after), » notes Steve Green.
16:27 BST16: 27
6.8 km from the finish: Gaudu starts from the lead of the chasing group, but he can’t stand the effort. Konrad is now over the summit of the Cote dâ ???? Aspret-Sarrat, and from here it is only downhill.
4:26 p.m. BST 4:26 p.m.
7km before the finish: Konrad extends his lead, although he has hit the meat of the Cote dâ ???? Aspret-Sarrat and no one else.
4:24 p.m. BST 4:24 p.m.
8 km from the finish: Pogacar and his entire group of teammates from the United Arab Emirates are at the top of the peloton and are pretty happy with how things went. His lead does not seem remotely threatened today.
4:22 p.m. BST 4:22 p.m.
10km to go: Konrad’s lead does not shrink significantly. It takes 1min 3sec while I type, but behind him is a group of nine who look hungry.
16:17 BST16: 17
13 km from the finish: Gaudu and Colbrelli appear to have been caught by seven others, including Michael Matthews and Jan Bakelants. You are one minute and six seconds behind Konrad.
16:16 BST16: 16
15 km to go: « It seems to me that some exciting heroic deeds are happening, » writes MalicousA, « and Gaudu could very well reach into his pocket and properly prepare for it. » Well, I am absolutely ready to see what exciting exploits David Gaudu has in The Bag.
4:14 p.m. BST 4:14 p.m.
16km to go: Konrad is now one minute ahead. If he can handle the Côte dâ ???? Aspret-Sarrat, the stage could be his.
16:11 BST16: 11
18 km from the finish: Patrick Konrad is 40 seconds behind at the front, behind him Gaudu and Colbrelli.
4:09 p.m. BST 4:09 p.m.
19km from the finish: Next up is the last ascent of the day, category four Côte dâ ???? Aspret-Sarrat, the smallest categorized ascent of this year’s tour.
4:08 p.m. BST16: 08
21km from the finish: The peloton has just crossed the top of the Col de Portet dâ ????????? about 12km behind the leaders.
4:06 p.m. BST16: 06
24 km to go: An unforgettable picture from the last visit of the tour in Saint-Guadens, where today’s stage ends.
3:59 p.m. BST 3:59 p.m.
29km from the finish: Another wet descent follows. Gaudu and Colbrelli may have to wait for the incline to subside before they really start eating Konrad’s lead.
3:55 p.m. BST3: 55 p.m.
33km to go: Konrad crosses the top of the Col de Portet-dâ ????? Aspet. Everything is going on behind him, but Sonny Colbrelli and David Gaudu attacked and are about 25 seconds behind.
3:50 p.m. BST15: 50
ð ???? ¦ð ???? ¹ @PatricKonrad goes solo! ð ?????? ¦ð ???? ¹ Patrick Konrad s’en va seul! Le champion d’autriche attaque et léche ses compagnons d’échappée! # TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/mCP9vvmH4b
3:43 p.m. BST3: 43 p.m.
39 km from the finish: you are through Orgibet and about 6 km from the top of the climb. Here is a practical visualization:
?????? Now the riders tackle the ascent to the Col de Portet-d’Aspet. Discover its 3D profile.ð ?????? Les Leaders s’attaquent à l’ascension au Col de Portet-d’Aspet. Découvrez le profil 3D de l’ascension. # TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/BYKGoXzUtk
3:36 p.m. BST15: 36
Another 43km: You are now on the way up the Col du Portet dâ ?????????? Here is an article by William Fotheringham from 2005 about the ascent and its unfortunate story:
A little further down, where there is space between the rock face and the stream, there is the large marble monument for the 1992 Olympic champion, Fabio Casartelli, who is here had an accident on July 18, 1995 and succumbed to severe head injuries. Accidents happen every day on the tour; most of them are banal. This was a reminder that the lines between life and death in racing are indeed very tight.
The tour has a small number of holy sites and the Portet dâ ?? Aspet is one of them. Cycling fans come here to pay tribute and leave their offerings – those hats, bottles and flowers – as they do at the Tom Simpson memorial on Mont Ventoux and the statue of Fausto Coppi on the Col d’Izoard . These are places of pilgrimage: the noble dead of the tour serve as a symbol of the sacrifices and suffering of everyone who tried the greatest bike race in the world.
3:27 p.m. BST15: 27
53km from the finish: you speed up this descent and will soon be climbing another thing, the Portet dâ ????????? You are about to reach a place called Orgibet, which sounds a lot like an online gambling company, but is actually a village of around 200 people.
3:09 p.m. BST15: 09
65km from the finish: Patrick Konrad was the first to cross the mountain, now another tricky descent is pending. Full points are awarded as follows:
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69 km from the finish: The leaders are only 15 seconds away from the pursuers, there are 12 riders in between, the peloton is almost seven minutes behind.
2:55 p.m. BST 2:55 p.m.
70km to the finish: « Just found a clip of Sir Brad on the motorcycle after the race » writes Gary Naylor. « Looks pretty relaxed. » Fantastic footage, with a pleasantly prominent beret, warmly recommended.
2:49 p.m. BST14: 49
73km before the finish line: Everything is a bit warped in the front: the top trio Bakelants, Doubey and Jensen; Patrick Konrad trying to catch up with her alone and about 15 seconds behind; and then a 10 man group 40 seconds back whose big name is David Gaudu. The peloton is about five minutes behind them.
2:39 p.m. BST14: 39
76km to go: up the Col de la Core. This rise has now been shown in seven tours: once each in the 1980s, 1990s, 2010s and now in the 2020s, and not for exactly a decade. There were also three visits to the turntable in 2002, 2003, 2004. What happened to make it so popular in the early nineties I have no idea.
2:32 p.m. BST 2:32 p.m.
Colbrelli moves up to fourth place overall with 170 in the green jersey, but is still 109 ahead of Mark Cavendish’s 279.
2:25 p.m. BST 2:25 p.m.
80km from the finish: â ???? Many drivers only stopped for a short time, â ???? says Bradley Wiggins of EuroSport sitting on a motorcycle to give us these insights on site.
2:24 p.m. BST 2:24 p.m.
Still 82km: A little outside of Oust is the Château de Mirabat, a castle ruin that is so old that it was a ruin 700 years ago.
2:22 p.m. BST 2:22 p.m.
84km from the finish: points in the bank for Bakelants, followed by Doubey and then Bakelants over the finish line.
2:19 p.m. BST 2:19 p.m.
87km from the finish: With Fabien Doubey, Chris Juul-Jensen and Jan Bakelants, three drivers have now started at the front.
2:10 p.m. BST 2:10 p.m.
96 km from the finish: You are about 3 km from Aleu and 10 km from the day’s intermediate sprint to Vic d’Oust. By the way, when you play pétanque at the Aleu Festival, you apparently have to be very careful playing near the linden tree in the school yard, as the roots can devastate your role.
2:06 p.m. BST 2:06 p.m.
100km to go: The riders will soon be driving through Castet dâ ?????, a hamlet on the outskirts of Aleu, which sounds like an interesting place. « The village is famous for its festivals » explains the French Wikipedia. « The highlights of these three days are in particular the pétanque competitions, the egg race and the onion soup. »
14:00 BST14: 00
105 km from the finish: The peloton has caught up with the leaders, so it is back in first place, albeit in a place that is about 70 km closer to the finish than the first.
1:50 p.m. BST 1:50 p.m.
113km to the finish: Aurélien Paret-Peintre was the best of the others over the pass, and picket is the only remaining climbing point. You will now descend again, in light rain and on a very wet road.
1:48 p.m. BST 1:48 p.m.
114.5 km from the finish: And off we go, Cattaneo leads you and Asgreen in front of Kwiatkowski.
1:46 p.m. BST 1:46 p.m.
115 km from the finish: There are now three riders in the lead, Asgreen was overtaken by Kwiatkowski and Cattaneo. You are only 1km from the top and one of them will be the first.
1:37 p.m. BST 1:37 p.m.
119 km to go: They did it pretty quickly: The tour gives times for each stage based on three possible speeds, and the fastest you imagined would be at 14:46 local time on the Reach Col de Port. 1:46 p.m. GMT. I think they’ll beat that by a few minutes. As a result, some drivers are struggling, including Chris Froome, who has just been dropped off.
1:32 p.m. BST 1:32 p.m.
121 km to go: About 6 km from the top of the climb and Asgreen’s lead is shrinking. Michal Kwiatkowski and Mattia Cattaneo are hunting, 30 seconds behind.
1:20 p.m. BST 1:20 p.m.
126km from the finish: Asgreen’s lead is 1min 37sec, and the two people who tried to catch up with him gave up and were pulled back into the peloton.
@Simon_Burnton is Asgreen’s lockdown project. Has he asked Tea Jay van Gardener-en for help? I will show myself.
1:15 p.m. BST 1:15 p.m.
130km to the goal: You are right in the lower foothills of the Col de Port. Col is French for passport, while Port is Occitan for, uh, passport. So Col de Port = pass. According to the first hit I got in a popular search engine, it is « one of the easiest » big ones « ???? climbs in the French Pyreneesâ ????.
1:09 p.m. BST13: 09
134 km to go: On your way up the Col de Port, which you will reach shortly, you cross the village of Saurat. On its official website, Saurat today has the following warning for its residents:
Par ailleurs, il est indispensable from maÃtriser tous vos animaux (chien, chat, poule, ¢ ne etc.) le mardi 13 juillet de 8h à 18h. En cas de divagation dâ ???? un animal vous appartenant, your responsabilité est forement engagée.
In short, you are asked to control your animals, “dog, cat, chicken, donkey, etc.”. Saurat also has a storytelling festival to look forward to later this month.
01:02 p.m. BST13: 02
141 km to go: A few drivers have had enough of Asgreen getting all the attention and are on their way. It’s Casper Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven. All three have names that end in -en, which may or may not be relevant.
12:51 p.m. BST12: 51
151km to go: Asgreen is now a full minute ahead of everyone else. He’s a three-time time trial champion from Denmark, you don’t know. Here he talks about his life in lockdown: “I’ve seen people have different hobbies, like painting, baking bread or learning new languages. We started a big project at home: the renovation of our garden. So yeah, that kept us busy. There was no shortage of activities, let’s put it that way. A green finger, you could say.
12:41 p.m. BST 12:41 p.m.
158 km from the finish: Asgreen has extended its lead to over 20 seconds, although wet roads force the drivers to hold back a little on the descent.
12:37 p.m. BST 12:37 p.m.
165km to go: Kasper Asgreen set out on his own. The gap is short and nobody seems to be very concerned about it.
12:33 p.m. BST 12:33 p.m.
169km to go: And they’re gone! It’s about 35 km downhill to the start of the stage before you get stuck in the first climbs of the day.
12:31 p.m. BST12: 31
12:27 p.m. BST12: 27
Everyone stops a few hundred meters from the start and the drivers take off some of their warmer clothes for the rollout.
12:24 p.m. BST12: 24
Only 3 km before the start of the stage, just enough time to finish Jeremy’s report on yesterday’s stage, won by Sepp Kuss:
12:14 p.m. BST12: 14
Jeremy Whittle spoke to Tao Geoghegan Hart, the winner of last year’s Giro d’Italia, about his « bad luck, but also really good luck ». Debut Tour Experience:
12:10 p.m. BST12: 10
The rollout has started and there are around 15 km left before the actual race begins.
12:10 p.m. BST12: 10
The rest of the tour looks like this: three more Pyrenees stages, starting with today’s, the last two of which have summit arrivals and at least one climb in the Hors category. Then a long, sprinter-friendly rush from Mourenx to Libourne on Friday, a time trial to the wine-growing hotspot Saint-Ãmilion on Saturday and the last drive to Paris.
Whether this will give anyone a chance to overtake Tadej Pogacar, who is at the top of the GC standings five minutes ahead of his closest chaser, remains to be seen, but the very likely answer is that it doesn’t. But there’s a lot of potential for fun starting with today’s stage, bulging as it is with outlier potential. Let’s see what it throws at us, won’t we?
William Fotheringham’s step-by-step guide to this year’s tour had this to say about this tour:
Five days of climbing in the Pyrenees is almost unprecedented for the tour, and everyone is very different: Today there are shorter, steep climbs to be mastered, whereby the main sorting will probably take place on the Col de la Core before the last shooting on the Portet-dâ ???? Aspet. At this point in the race, the outliers will include many of the same riders each day, with teams increasingly panicking if they haven’t won a stage. Overall competitors will want this to be a controlled stage, but these streets are great for skirmishes with players like Alaphilippe or Daniel Martin from Ireland.
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