Cycling: The 15th stage of the Tour de France is a crucial one. It goes up the Grand Colombier three times. If you want to be on the podium in the overall standings, you can't hide today.
Trend-setting stage before the rest day
Although we at the Tour de France In 2020, when we already had three mountain top finishes, tomorrow will be the first real endurance test. After starting in Lyon, it's 174,5 kilometers up to the summit of the Grand Colombier. The first half of the 15th stage seems extremely easy. It's flat until the sprint ranking and on to the foot of the first climb. But then it starts. With the Montée de la Selle de Fromentel and the Col de la Biche, two steep and medium-length mountains await the pros before the winner is crowned on the Grand Colombier. This means that three out of four possible access routes to the Grand Colombier will be used. The final ascent is particularly demanding because of its length. The professionals have to struggle uphill for a whopping 17,4 kilometers.
Highlights of Stage 15 of the 2020 Tour de France
- 12:25 Neutral start: Lyon
- 12:50 Sharp start: Lyon
- 116,5 km to go: sprint classification in Le Bouchage
- 63,5 km before the finish: mountain classification category 1, Montée de la Selle de Fromentel (11,1 km at 8,1%)
- 45,5 km before the finish: mountain classification category 1, Col de la Biche (6,9 km at 8,9%)
- Arrival at the finish line and HC mountain classification at the Grand Colombier after 174,5 kilometers (17,4 km at 7,1%)
Velomotion forecast: Roglic sets an exclamation mark!
A stage in the Tour de France has never ended on the Grand Colombier. Tomorrow - before the second rest day of the tour - it will be ready. And it will be a decisive day on which no ranking driver can hide. The cards are thrown on the table! We believe in a victory of Primois Roglic (Jumbo - Visma). The man in the yellow jersey has held back so far. Except for his sprint to win the stage a few days ago, the Slovenian only reacted. His compatriot was much more active Tadej pogacar (UAE). But tomorrow this behavior will change. Pogacar will go offensive again, but Roglic will counterattack seriously for the first time. The distance is too close and the last week of the tour too hard to continue to drive defensively and wait and see.
☆☆☆ Primoz Roglic
* * Tadej Pogacar, Egan Bernal
* Mikel Landa, Richie Porte, Miguel Angel Lopez