Today might be Tour’s toughest
STATION DES ROUSSES, France — After nearly 900 miles in eight days of racing, the festival of suffering that is the Tour de France is about to turn the pain dial up a notch or five.
How does scaling half the height of Mount Everest in one day sound?
That’s the monstrous challenge lurking today for the 193 already tired and sunbaked cyclists who have made it this far.
For the moment, when race leader Chris Froome looks over his shoulder, he sees a gaggle of challengers hot on his heels. Just 61 seconds separate him from Rafal Majka in
10th place, and more dangerous contenders are closer still to the three-time Tour champion.
All of that is likely to change today on the succession of seven climbs in eastern France’s Jura mountains — three of them so tough they defy categorization on cycling’s sliding scale of climbing toughness. “A monster stage” is how Froome described it, predicting the race standings will “get blown to pieces.”
Total elevation, when all the ascents are added together: 15,000 feet, which is just shy of the height of western Europe’s highest peak, Mont Blanc, and about belly button-height on Everest.
The last “hors categorie” climb, Mont du Chat, may be named after a cat but looks on Tour maps like a lion’s fang. With an average 10 percent gradient — it’s even steeper than that in parts — it will push riders already exhausted by the previous six climbs to the very limit. Hearts pounding, legs burning, they will have no time to recover from its hairpin bends before plunging into more fast, twisting bends on the descent.
Clear heads and quick reactions are a must, which isn’t easy when brains and bodies are screaming for rest.
“That climb is savage,” Froome said. “I imagine it’s going to blow the general classification right open.”
Saturday’s stage, also in the Jura mountains, was far from easy.
Froome’s teammates at Sky had to ride hard to make sure those who took off at the front of the race, chasing the stage victory, didn’t get too far ahead and take the overall lead away from him. The question now is whether Sky will pay for the effort today and run out of juice on the 112-mile ninth stage from Nantua to Chambery in the Alps, arguably the most grueling of this Tour’s 21 stages.
“It was good to see them pull on the front,” said Richie Porte of the rival BMC team, who is 39 seconds behind Froome and fifth in the overall standings. “I hope there’s some tired legs among them tomorrow.”
Grinding away from pursuers on a small mountain road more suited to goats than bikes, Lilian Calmejane earned his first stage win in his first Tour de France.
The French cyclist, riding for French team Direct Energie, fought cramps after breaking away on the final climb and hung on, tongue lolling, for victory in only the second visit by the Tour to the Rousses ski station. He held off Robert Gesink on the final climb and rolling finish.
Gesink came in 37 seconds later, and Guillaume Martin was another 13 seconds back.
By being the first to scale the day’s last climb, Calmejane enjoyed the added bonus of picking up enough points to take the polka-dot jersey — awarded for points collected on climbs — off the shoulders of Fabio Aru.
“Winning alone like that is incredible,” said Calmejane, who also won a stage at his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana, last year. “It’s everything I dreamed of.”
Froome rode in 50 seconds after Calmejane — plenty close enough to retain the yellow jersey — in a group with all of the other top contenders for the overall victory when the race rolls into Paris on July 23.
“Winning alone like that is incredible. It’s everything I dreamed of.” – LILIAN CALMEJANE