Within two days, the majority of Sprint adopted-the Elite of this year’s Tour de France. The responsibility of the Tour organiser, ASO, has made the invoice without the innkeeper.
The two-time stage winner Dylan Groenewegen (R) struggles up the mountain
This year’s Tour de France, the Sprinter. Already on Wednesday, the German Marcel Kittel and Britain’s Mark Cavendish failed on the second Alpine stage at the time limit. With 15 Tour stage wins Kittel record holder in Germany, Ex-world champion Cavendish won in 2011, the Green Jersey of best Sprinter, and celebrated in his long career, a total of 30 Tour stage wins.
On Thursday, the Queen stage through the Alps, the two-time stage winner Fernando Gaviria from Colombia, and Dylan Groenewegen, as well as the German Sprinter André Greipel, Rick Zabel and Marcel Sieberg.
“Record Holder” Cipollini
The record-holder in the Tour-Give up: Mario Cipollini
That Sprint-specialists to throw at the heavy mountain stages of the tour de France in the towel, is not new. The Italian Mario Cipollini in the 1990s, one of the world’s best Sprinter, known to exit on a regular basis in the mountains. Eight times he’s started the Tour at the Start, celebrated a total of twelve stage wins, but never the finish line in Paris.
Normally the sprinters gather in the mountains in the so-called “Gruppetto” (or “L’autobus”, as the French say) at the end of the field, and create it mostly just within the time limit. Almost the entire sprinting elite adopted already on the first mountain stages, is a novelty.
Sky-rider as a pace-maker
It is the fault of the Tour organisers, ASO, had made the bill without the powerful British Team Sky to the defending champion Christopher Froome and the man in Yellow, Geraint Thomas, wearing. The route planners wanted to make the Tour even more spectacular, and therefore more attractive for the viewers. So they sent the driver on to the eleventh part of a 108,5 kilometers unusually short, but heavy track with two passes of the highest category and the final climb up to La Rosiere.
The Sky Team forced in the closing stages of the race, so the pace that Kittel and Cavendish fell from the grace period. According to Tour regulations, the time limit of seven different categories, depending on the length and level of difficulty of the stage. The average speed of the winner then decides the percentage may be, the other driver is slower.
Suffered, in the end in vain – Marcel Kittel in the target area of the eleventh Tour stage
The eleventh stage was a “Hammer,” said Kittel, who had failed in his own words, never been to a Cycling race in the time limit. He did not know how he should survive such a piece, said Kittel, “even if I shape pack, ten percent Extra for it.” He had nothing else to do. “I can tear off a leg and a bit of weigh less,” said Kittel.
“With full throttle in the passport to danger”
The twelfth section was 175 kilometers longer, but peppered with maximum difficulties: with the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Croix de Fer two passes of the highest category, at over 2000 meters located, and the legendary final climb to Alpe d’huez is 13.8 km long with an average gradient of 8.1 percent. And again, Sky made a hell of a pace.
That at this stage, five sprinters tasks, hardly surprising. Finally, the exertions of the previous day and put them in the bones, as they were saved with great difficulty within the time limit. Rick Zabel, the son of six-time winner of the Green Jersey, Erik Zabel, called the 12. Stage in the ZDF as “very questionable”. His team-mate Nils Politt not criticized, especially the organizer, ASO: “I know what the ASO has, if any sprinters are in the race. We are full throttle in the Col de la Madeleine dangers, it was really hard.”
Who will win the Sprint in Paris?
In the race only a few riders with a superior sprint qualities of a world champion Peter Sagan of Slovakia, who rides in the Green Jersey, or the German John Degenkolb, who won the cobbled stage to Roubaix. Both are regarded rather as a classics specialist than as a pure Sprinter.
The final sprint on the Champs Elysees: 2017 wins André Greipel (in the middle)
Who is this time? the prestigious final stage of the Tour de France on the Champs Elysees win, which is almost always decided in a mass sprint The winner of the last nine years – Groenewegen (2017), Greipel (2015 and 2016), Kittel (2013 and 2014) and Cavendish (2009 to 2012) – have adopted, within two days in the Alps.