Tour de France cycling 2021 - Stage 16, as it happened - Patrick Konrad wins from the break on day of GC stalemate
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 13/07/2021 at 16:38 GMT
On a day of GC stalemate, Austria's Patrick Konrad put in a canny ride to win from the breakaway. Read our live blog to see how the Bora-Hansgrohe rider came out on top... You know the drill by now: watch the Tour de France live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and Eurosport.co.uk. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now
Stage 16 profile: Pas de la Case - Saint-Gaudens
Here's how Patrick Konrad won Stage 16
Thanks for joining me today and be sure to return tomorrow for the first of two summit finishes. For now, you can savour Konrad's victory below...
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2021/07/13/3172792-65011288-2560-1440.jpg)
'The result of a lifetime!' - Konrad wins Stage 16
GC group come home together
Alexey Lutsenko led it out but it was Pogacar and Carapaz who crossed the line on the front with Vingegaard just behind - around 14 minutes down on our solo winner, Patrick Konrad. So, there's no change there with the top 10 all getting the same time. Pogacar will hold a 5'18" lead over Uran going into the first of two mountaintop finishes tomorrow.
Van Aert still pulling
The Jumbo-Visma rider is still riding full-gas on the front of a 15-man group which seems to include all the top 10 riders... Perhaps he's getting some misinformation through his earpiece? The whole thing seems very strange. Of couse, he could be paving the way for Vingegaard on the final ramp to the finish? But he could only ever take a few seconds from Pogacar there...
"It's definitely a waste of energy," says a baffled Sean Kelly.
Van Aert puts in inexplicable attack on the climb
Perhaps he thinks there's still a point available over the summit? In any case, it's odd because the Belgian champion has zipped clear after Cofidis pair Simon Geschke and Guillaume Martin put in a dig - and then carried on with Sepp Kuss a bit later on. Perhaps they sense someone has been tailed off? But all the top 10 seem present and correct...
Still 9km to ride for the main pack
It's soft-pedalling all the way to the finish for the peloton with none of the GC riders prepared to put in an effort ahead of back-to-back summit finishes in the Pyrenees. It's a shame no one had a go today but that's the way it is: Tadej Pogacar is untouchable in yellow while the gaps between the rest of the top five are so fine no one is willing to risk it today.
Patrick Konrad wins Stage 16
The Bora-Hangrohe rider becomes the third national champion to take a stage in this tour after Matej Mohoric (Slovenia) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma). Behind, Pierre-Luc Perichon is caught just before the line as Sonny Colbrelli takes second place ahead of Michael Matthews to keep the green jersey battle alive and well.
Final kilometre
So, Bora-Hansgrohe are about to net their second stage win since Peter Sagan's departure, with Patrick Konrad following in Nils Politt's footsteps with a maiden Tour win - and his only pro win that isn't in the Austrian national championships.
2km: Perichon goes clear of chasers
Pierre-Luc Perichon has surged ahead of the chase group in the battle for scraps behind. Colbrelli and Matthews are looking at each other in the knowledge that their best chance of a stage win on this year's race has gone.
5km: Gap comes down but Konrad holds the cards
His lead is down to 52 seconds as he enters the final five klicks but only a mechanical or a crash will stop the Austrian from winning now...
8km: Cat.4 Cote d'Aspret-Sarrat
Konrad is in the big ring as he devours this short 0.9km climb despite an average gradient of a stonking 8.4%. Behind, they're resigned to race for second place and - in the case of Colbrelli and Matthews - as many green jersey points as possible.
I say that, but Gaudu has put in a dig on the climb with Skujins on his wheel. But it's not going to create any gaps, nor will it do enough to dent Konrad's advantage.
9km: Third Austrian victory in the Tour
If and when Patrick Konrad wins today's stage in around 10 minutes he'll be only the third Austrian rider to win on the world's biggest bike race... It's looking good for the Bora-Hansgrohe rider, whose gap grows to 1'10".
12.5km: Cosnefroy caught
It's only now that Benoit Cosnefroy has been caught by the peloton - and that tells you more about the main pack than it does the Frenchman who was earlier in the break. With the yawning gap now above 13 minutes we're going to have a long wait before we get final confirmation today that there have been no changes on GC...
Konrad, meanwhile, is 1'05" to the good but he still has that 1km climb coming up as well as the ramped finish. He should be fine, though.
15km: It's looking good for Konrad
The Austrian's advantage is now almost a minute and Gaudu is starting to panic, looking over his head as he awaits reinforcements. The Frenchman drops back while Colbrelli continues on his own for a bit longer - but they're both now inside this chase group of nine. Now they all need to work together otherwise it will be a race for second.
22km: Peloton go over the summit
Wout van Aert is back after his bike change and he leads the pack over the top of the Col du Portet-d'Aspet ahead of this key descent. The gap is now over 12 minutes while Konrad now has 43 seconds on his two pursuers, who could well be joined by the Matthews group very soon.
28km: Very nervous descent
It's wet, nervy and very dangerous - and I'll be amazed if we don't see any riders sliding out. Konrad is forced to go very, very wide on one large, sweeping corner. Gaudu looks to be taking a few risks while Colbrelli is hanging back and taking it much easier - going too heavy on the brakes and looking very uncomfortable. The Italian's back wheel locks up on one bend but he's back in with Gaudu again as they continue the chase on Konrad, who is 30 seconds clear.
Just a reminder that there's another small Cat.4 climb which peaks out 5km from the finish - and then there's a punchy ramp to the line which will very much suit Colbrelli more than it does Konrad and Gaudu...
32km: Konrad crests summit in pole position
The Austrian takes 5pts over the top but he's not interested in polka dots but the stage win. The gap is 25 seconds back to Gaudu and Colbrelli, before Matthews leads a five-man chase group over another 20 seconds back.
The GC group, meanwhile, is a whopping 11 minutes back now - and Wout van Aert is off the back after needing another bike change. Let's hope the riders take things easy on this descent, which is infamous in pro cycling because of its tarnished history.
34km: Shake-up behind Konrad
Doubey was dropped by Bakelants and also passed by the chase group, which has Gaudu setting the pace in the knowledge that he needs to distance those fast men if he wants a chance of winning today in Saint-Gaudens. Gaudu's surge does just that - to an extent - and he goes clear with Bonnamour and Colbrelli.
36km: Konrad attacks
Mindful of the presence of the chase group behind, the Austrian champion kicks clear in pursuit of glory. The chasers are just 35 seconds down and he'll be aware that Sonny Colbrelli is there and the Italian is a fast finisher - as are Matthews and Aranburu.
38km: Cat.2 Col de Portet-d'Aspet
The three leaders are about to start the next climb, which is 5.4km long at 6.9%. This climb - in particular the approaching descent - is best known, sadly, as the location of the Italian Fabio Casartelli's fatal crash during the 1995 Tour de France. More recently, Philippe Gilbert crashed over a wall in 2018 - as you can see in the video below...
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2018/07/24/2378247-49463710-2560-1440.png)
Gilbert cycles away after terrifying crash over wall
42km: Eight minutes for break
The trio still has 30 seconds following the descent, with Cosnefroy chasing potatoes over two minutes back. UAE now lead the peloton with a couple of riders on the front - Mikkel Bjerg and Vegard Laengen - for their man in yellow, who is tucked behind a trio of Jumbo-Visma riders: Sunday's winner Sepp Kuss, the Belgian champoion Wout van Aert, and the man in white Jonas Vingegaard. The gap is over eight minutes ahead of the next climb.
54km: Nine chasers regroup
Our leading trio of Konrad, Doubey and Bakelants now have 30 seconds on a reformed group of chasers that features Skujins, Gaudu, Perichon, Colbrelli, Matthews, Juul-Jensen, Aranburu, Rota and Bonnamour. It's just Cosnefroy and Wright who are missing from the original group - they are 1'05" down with the peloton at 6'45".
Scrap that: Wright is now back with the others, so it's 10 in the chase group with only Benoit Cosnefroy who has been distanced.
62km: EF Education-Nippo pacing the pack
Rigoberto Uran's team have three riders on the front of the peloton ahead of Pogacar's UAE train. It's not entirely clear what they're trying to do - perhaps the Colombian is planning something for the descent? And here come Ineos Grenadiers to tuck their train in alongside EF and Movistar. Jumbo are there as well as Davide Formolo comes to the front for UAE ahead of the summit. This descent could be key.
68km: Konrad takes KOM points
The Austrian champion leads the trio over the summit of the Col de la Core to take the 10 points but the Gaudu chase group is only 10 seconds behind and Michael Matthews, dropped earlier, is battling back. The pack is now seven minutes back with a Cavendish gruppetto at 8'40". Wout van Aert needed to change bikes but is back in the thick of it, while polka dot jersey Wout Poels is taking things easy today in the knowldge that tomorrow and Thursday will be far larger hunting grounds for KOM points.
70km: Gaudu takes it up
The Frenchman ups the tempo in the chase group and it's caused things to whittle down. He had Fred Wright in his wheel - working for teammate Colbrelli - but the Briton is soon dropped, leaving Bonnamour and Colbrelli there with Gaudu. A small gap appears between than and the other chasers. Skujins, the Latvian champion, then joins the fray.
Meanwhile, Konrad's pacing on the front sees Juul-Jensen dropped. But Doubey and Bakelants hold on. The chasing quartet has almost caught Juul-Jensen now.
73km: Konrad rides clear of chase group
The Austrian champion, still in his arm warmers, clearly has good legs after the rest day: he was in the thick of early moves and has now gone clear of the chase group in pursuit of the three leaders who he will catch - and perhaps even pass - in no time at this rate. The pack is now almost six minutes down so it looks like we'll have two races today: one for the stage, the other for the minor podium places on GC.
That said, we're hearing reports of wind on top of the wet weather towards the finish, which could put a cat among the pigeons...
76km: Yellow jersey group over four minutes down
The gap grows as the peloton sits up and takes it easy - so much so that the green jersey has managed to rejoined the main field. Order restored has UAE Team Emirates on the front for their man in yellow with the three leaders 4'40" up the road, leading that chase group by 50 seconds.
80km: Cat.1 Col de la Core
We're now onto our first big test of the day, which is a 13.1km climb at 6.6%. We have an 11-man chase group around 30 seconds down on the leaders. They are: Tom Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Cofidis), Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2R-Citroen), Sonny Colbrelli and his roommate Fred Wright (both Bahrain-Victorious), Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange), Alex Aranburu (Astana-PremierTech), Lorenzo Rota (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels). This is the first time the Tour has taken on the Col de la Core since 2015.
84km: Bakelants wins sprint; Matthews cuts green gap
It's the Belgian Bakelants who beats Doubey and Juul-Jensen in the intermediate sprint at Vic d'Oust. But the real battle comes a bit later on when the main field comes through: Michael Matthews holds off a late surge from Sonny Colbrelli to take fourth place and 13pts which puts him up to 220pts in the green jersey standings - 59 down on leader Mark Cavendish. Colbrelli's 11pts for fifth sees him up to 170pts which is still four points behind Jasper Philipsen in third.
90km: Three go clear
Chris Juul-Jensen (Team BikeExchange), Fabien Doubey (Team TotalEnergies) and Jan Bakelants (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) manage to establish a gap on the pack. It seems like that second group, which got tailed off on the descent, are about to rejoin the main bulk of the riders.
94km: Sextet reeled in
Colbrelli and Matthews were indeed involved in a six-man move that opened up a little gap off the front as the road continues downhill along this valley towards the intermediate sprint at Vic d'Oust. But the move was neutralised. Still very active on the front and we're hearing there's a big split in the pack with the second group 1'35" back. No big names reported to be in this one as yet - just Ineos duo Richie Porte and Dylan Van Baarle. The Cavendish group is at 3'15" and so definitely out of the question for the sprint.
100km: The race is in pieces
It's going to take a bit of time for the dust to settle after that descent because there are riders all over the road in a snake which stretches for kilometres. It seems that the three escapees have all been caught and it's the world champion Julian Alaphilippe who is piling on the pressure as they hit the valley road. Alaphilippe's motivation could be two-fold: he's after a second stage, but also he'd like to get a breakaway together to spoil things at the intermediate sprint in 15km because the two contenders for his teammate Mark Cavendish's green jersey - Sonny Colbrelli and Michael Matthews - are both still in the main pack.
108km: Near miss for Asgreen
The Dane is forced to ride the inside of a corner across a grass verge before slamming on the brakes after over-riding into the apex. Looks like his back wheel locked up there as he was leading the trio down this descent. As Kwiatkowski, in second wheel, passes, he gesticulates caution to his colleague - and he has a point: their gap is only 15 seconds and there's really no point crashing out on one of these corners. Better stay safe.
114.5km: Trio go over the top
Michal Kwiatkowski manages to put on his rain cape ahead of the summit as he follows Mattia Cattaneo (5pts) and Kasper Asgreen (3pts) over the summit to pocket 2pts. The last point is taken by Paret-Peintre when the chasers come over at 35 seconds - but they're followed by the main yellow jersey pack just a few seconds back so it's still very much touch and go.
The four QuickStep riders who aren't in the break (Cattaneo and Asgreen) or in the main pack (Alaphilippe) or who aren't wearing green, are surrounding Mark Cavendish in a group which goes over the summit a few minutes down. It's all about damage limitation and beating the cut today for the Manxman.
118km: A lot of movement in the pack
French duo Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Ag2R-Citroen) and Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels) go clear - and there's a series of accelerations behind, including Patrick Konrad, Wout van Aert and Miguel Angel Lopez again. Strangely, Pogacar, riding on the wheel of teammate Brandon McNulty, seems motivated in closing these moves down. Perhaps the Slovenian is really keep to take a second stage today and put the race to bed? Either that or he has some kind of personal vendetta against Movistar's Lopez?
Meanwhile, on the front, Cattania - who has enjoyed an armchair ride in the wheel of Kwiatkowski - has joined his teammate Asgreen. So we now have a trio out ahead with a 40-second gap over the yellow jersey group, and numerous riders trying to bridge over - including Konrad, Paret-Peintre, Bonnamour, Dylan Teuns, Sergio Higuita, the world champion Julian Alaphilippe and a few others...
120km: Pogacar on the attack?
Strange scenes on the Col de Port. First up, we saw Miguel Angel Lopez of Movistar go clear of the main pack in pursuit of the two chasers. "Superman" was soon joined by Omar Fraile, the Spanish champion from Astana, before Tadej Pogacar rode clear of the pack and closed the gap. It looked more of a case of following rather than attacking - and the yellow jersey indeed looked surprised that no one came with him when he looked over his shoulders. But it's ominous for his rivals: the 22-year-old seems utterly peerless out there.
Meanwhile, we already have scores of riders off the back including the green jersey Mark Cavendish and the former four-time winner Chris Froome.
122km: Two zip clear in pursuit
Michal Kwitakowski (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep) have accelerated to open a gap. Ineos have had a rotten Tour - they're yet to finish in the top 5 of any stage - and so it's no surpise to see the Polish rider roll the dice here after days of burying himself, to little effect, for Richard Carapaz. The rain is back after seeming to ease up for a little.
125km: Cat.2 Col de Port
After a little kicker ahead of the climb - on which Pedersen and Stuyven were swepped up by the pack - we're now on to the first categorised climb of the day, which is 11.4km long at 5.1%. The peloton is all strung out with Wout van Aert, again, heavily present near the front. Asgreen's lead is still 1'30" but it looks like we'll see a big shake-up on this climb with a proper breakaway finally forming. Much to Asgreen's pleasure, you'd imagine.
132km: First climb approaching
Asgreen is about 5km away from the first climb with an advantage of 1'15" over that chasing duo and 1'45" over the peloton. He would not only have hoped for more time, he would have liked some reinforcements ahead of the first of four uphill tests. As things stand, he surely doesn't have enough time to consider a stage win in a few hours...
142km: Two in pursuit
Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Casper Pedersen (Team DSM) have managed to extricate themselves from the peloton in pursuit of lone leader Asgreen. The rain has eased up so that's one bonus for the riders out there.
150km: One minute now for Asgreen
With the gap up to over sixty seconds, a few riders have come to the front of the peloton as the road starts to ease a little ahead of the valley road. Pierre Rolland appears to be one of this trio, which has an ever so small gap on the rest of the peloton. It comes to nothing and then Wout van Aert, the Belgian champion, comes to the front. Meanwhile, at the back we have just seen Wout Poels, the polka dot jersey, riding amid the cars, so he must have had a mechanical issue.
160km: Chase disrupted by rain
It's started to tip down, which has played into Asgreen's hands - if you take it as his aim to ride this entire stage out ahead before taking a sixth stage win for Deceuninck-QuickStep. On the other hand, the young Dane may well have appreciated some company - but the heavy rain seems to have deterred those riders who were readying themselves off the front of the peloton, which is all strung out now around 20 seconds back.
169km: Stage 16 under way!
Once everyone is back in the pack following that scheduled pit-stop, Christian Prudhomme waves the yellow flag from the sunroof of his trusty red Skoda and we're officially racing. Two riders ping off the front from the outset - from AG2R-Citroen and Cofidis - before the QuickStep train edge up towards the front and send Kasper Asgreen forward. The Dane sweeps past those two early escapees and then continues on his way. He has a small gap as the road continues downhill - as indeed it will do for the first 20km of today's stage.
Peloton comes to a standstill
Just ahead of kilometre zero, Christian Prudhomme has indicated with a hand signal that the riders will stop and get ready prior to starting this stage. Most riders were all wrapped up with leg warmers and jackets for that long descent and 20km neutral zone - and it looks like they are now shedding these extra layers and taking their clobber back to the team cars. We're hearing that it's raining pretty much all along the route today so it's likely that this won't be the last time clothes and extra layers go on and off.
Pog has won, surely, but what else is still to be decided?
Only a miracle can stop Tadej Pogacar winning a successive Tour de France title next Sunday after a second week which could not quite build on the emotional fireworks of the first. But there remains a lot left to savour – not least a thrilling polka dot jersey battle, Mark Cavendish’s pursuit of a record-breaking 35th win - and a first green jersey since 2011 - and the small matter of the minor podium places.
Since Pogacar took over the race lead at the end of Stage 8 at Le-Grand-Bornand there has been an air of inevitability that the yellow jersey battle had already been put to bed. With his main rival watching from home, Ineos Grenadiers failing to click, and the gulf between the defending champion and the second-tier of GC riders all so apparent, Pogacar has been able to ride this Tour largely on auto-pilot and without the need of much team support.
The Slovenian’s only wobble – on the second of two ascents of Mont Ventoux, when Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard put him in the red near the summit – resulted in a strengthening of his GC position after Ben O’Connor, the winner of Stage 9 to Tignes, dropped away to see Pogacar’s gap at the top grow to 5’18”.
Rigoberto Uran, Pogacar's closest challenger, seems content to defend his second place, which would give him another runner-up spot in Paris four years after the first – mirroring his two second-place finishes earlier in his career in the Giro (making the Colombian just as much an ‘Eternal Second’ on Grand Tours as Raymond Poulidor).
Read on by clicking the link below...
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2021/07/12/3172008-64995608-2560-1440.jpg)
The final podium of the 2021 Tour de France?
Image credit: Eurosport
Stage 16: Riders in the neutral zone
Bonjour le Tour! The third and final phase of the 108th edition of the Tour de France is pretty much under way. The remaining 145 riders have just been given the get go from Pas de la Case in Andorra and they're edging their way through what is a very long neutral zone which pushes 20km. It's largely downhill so shouldn't tire them out too much - but it's a cold and overcast day, with the riders all in long-sleeves and leg warmers. Here's what's in store - with four categorised climbs and 21 KOM points up for grabs along the undulating 169km ride to Saint-Gaudens.
'Phenomenal' Kuss 'doesn't believe in himself enough' - Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins feels Sepp Kuss has the makings of a Grand Tour team leader, but is unsure if he is ruthless enough to take on the role.
Team Jumbo-Visma’s Tour de France victory hopes were dashed when Primoz Roglic abandoned following a horrible crash in the first week.
Jonas Vingegaard has looked extremely strong in the mountains, and made race leader Tadej Pogacar look human on Mont Ventoux, to raise hope of securing a podium finish.
Wout van Aert’s brilliant solo ride up Ventoux secured a stage win for the team, and Kuss followed up with victory on Stage 15.
The American was imperious on the final climb and held off Alejandro Valverde on the descent into Andorra, and his ride made a deep impression on Eurosport pundit Wiggins, who gave his views on his latest podcast.
"He's such a nice guy," Wiggins said. "An hour, an hour and a half after the finish, he's still there talking to journalists. And he deserves that as well. He was pivotal to Primoz Roglic's second GC ride last year. It hasn't panned out for him [Roglic] this year, but Jumbo-Visma have come of age over this past couple of days.”
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2021/07/11/3171627-64987988-2560-1440.jpg)
Highlights as superb Sepp Kuss claims Stage 15 victory
Bernie Eisel suggested Kuss is too nice to be a team leader, and Wiggins concurred.
“You've got to be a bit of a c*** to be a leader,” Wiggins said. “Not in normal life, but when you're riding you've got to get in a different mindset. And it's hard, you know?
"We've seen guys try and take that mantle on and fail at doing that. [Stage 14 solo breakaway winner] Bauke Mollema being one of them. He gave up his GC aspirations and look at the single-day success he's had.”
Kuss spoke after his stage win to suggest he could not comprehend being in that position, and Wiggins feels that mindset must change if he has aspirations of being a team leader.
"That sums it up to me,” Wiggins said. “He doesn't believe in himself enough. What he does today is phenomenal. The riders he rode off his wheel on the severity of that climb, he has all the makings of a Grand Tour winner, physicality wise."
- - -
You can watch the Tour de France live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and Eurosport.co.uk. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now. You can also watch the most comprehensive live & ad-free racing on GCN+. Go deeper and get interactive with live polls & quizzes, plus rider profiles, race updates, results & more – plus stream exclusive cycling documentaries.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement