Riders Prepare: There is a one kilometer warm-up track that some riders have cycled before riding to their places on the grid. It's with a heavy heart that I must inform you that they are not doing what the Formula 1 drivers are doing with their steering wheels en route to the official network training to warm their tires. So for marginal gains, huh?
An email from Angus: "Do you know how much there is difference between the different lines on the grid? " He asks.
This is not more than a bike or two as the graph below explains. It is interesting to note that this grid start also announces bad news for the sprinters who are not climbing and who are at the bottom of the overall standings, as they will be at the back of the pack, struggling to make the time limit
Although he was able to finish the special after the horror crash that saw him Catapulted on a wall and in a downhill ravine yesterday, it was discovered that Philippe Gilbert had a broken cap after the stage of yesterday and retired from the Tour. The peloton has now fallen to 146 runners, among the 176 starters.
Philippe Gilbert, the pilot of the Quick-Step team, takes stock after climbing into the ravine that he finished yesterday. Photography: Tim de Waele / Getty Images
Instead of the usual rollout , where the peloton is neutralized until race director Christian Prudhomme emerges from the sunroof of his car and the semaphores announce the start, today 's race will start with a departure in wire rack.
Just like the star of a Formula 1 race, the riders will line up in the order of their position on GC, with the top 10 in two formations leading the five arrow and five, followed by the next 10 in two banks of five. The rest of the peloton will be positioned according to their GC positions in groups of 20, where each runner is free to position himself wherever he wants. When the flag signaling the start of the race falls, there will be no neutralized zone and everyone will be free to start the cannon.
The start of the grid means that the main runners of the GC will be isolated from their opponents kilometers and will therefore be forced to decide whether or not he should pursue himself his first attacks or wait to be united with his teammates lead the race.
The Australian Mitchelton-Scott team is still looking for his first stage victory of the Tour this year and had it in sight only so that it was ripped from their grip when Adam Yates crashed on the final descent until the finish line while looking at home and watered and every inch the winner of the stage. Here's the team's video diary of another disappointing day on this year's Tour.
Sean Ingle and Jeremy Whittle were in Bagnères-de-Luchon to chronicle a day Extraordinary at the Tour de France, involving farmer protests, pepper spray in the bunch, a couple of macabre crashes and – finally – the French stage victory. This is how they saw the events of the day unfold.
The Tour de France riders were sprinkled with chemicals while the police tried to stop the demonstration of the farmers – video
Geraint Thomas retains control of the yellow jersey, with a lead of 1min 39sec over teammate Chris Froome, with Tom Dumoulin of the Sunweb team 11 more seconds in third position
Top 15 of the Tour de France on GC Photo: Tour de France
Stage 17: Bagnères de Luchon at Saint Lary Soulan Portet Pass (65km)
Excerpt from William Fotheringham's step-by-step report: In a unique way, this short stage will see the favorites "squared" at the start because the battle for the position will be intense with the race towards the pass of Peyresourde, followed by another first cat, Val Louron, before a top finish made for Rafal Majka or Nairo Quintana – 2215m altitude after a climb of 16km. The stage starts at 2:15 pm (local time) and the attacks should start from the gun.
