The Tour De France is the great multiple stage bicycle race held in France that began its 102th edition on July 4th. The race is in 21 stages, including 9 flat stages, 3 hilly stages, 7 mountain stages that include 5 summit finishes, 1 individual time trial, 1 team time trial, and 2 rest days. There no doubt that the bikers of the Tour de France are pushed to the brink of their endurance, but the race will soon be over on Sunday. At this writing, Stage 18 has just been completed, with Stage 19, 20, and the final 21st stage in Paris to conclude the race over the weekend. This is a Tour de France 2015 update including the Top 5 and General Standings
According to The Guardian, Romain Bardet repeated his solo break in the Dauphine on the same route to claim his first stage win at the Tour de France as Chris Froome maintained his GC lead.
This puts the Stage 18 Top Five as:
1. Romain Bardet
2. Pierre Rolland
3. Winner Anacona
4. Bob Jungels
5. Jakob Fuglsang
Here are the General standings after Stage 18, according to The Telegraph.
|
Position |
Rider/team |
Time |
|
1 |
Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky |
74 hr 13' 31" |
|
2 |
Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar |
+3' 10" |
|
3 |
Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar |
+4' 09" |
|
4 |
Geriant Thomas (GB) Team Sky |
+6' 34" |
|
5 |
Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo |
+6' 40" |
|
6 |
Robert Gesink (Hol) Team Lotto NL-Jumbo |
+7' 39" |
|
7 |
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana |
+8' 04" |
|
8 |
Mathias Frank (Sui) Iam Cycling |
+8' 47" |
|
9 |
Bauke Mollema (Hol) Trek Factory Racing |
+12' 06" |
|
10 |
Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R LA Mondiale |
+12' 52" |
So what is next for Stage 19? According to Cycling Stage, the action begins on Friday, July 24, 2015. In 138 kilometers, riders head from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to La Toussuire in the Les Sybelles ski-region. It is the third Alpine trip in a series of four, containing four cols (a pass between two mountain peaks or a gap in a ridge). It is not the longest route ever, but it is pretty grueling, which will make it very interesting and really ramp up the drama before the second-to-the-last stage.
According to the Le Tour website, Stage 20 is another Mountain Stage at 110.5 kilometers which begins on Saturday, July 26th. This appears for the first time 24 hours from the finish of the Tour, and this climb to l'Alpe-d-Huez could easily change the classification with challenging climbs like the Col du Telegraphe, the Galbier (the summit of the 2015 tour) and the l'Alpe-d'Huez.
After Stage 20 is complete, the competitors are flown to Paris for the final stage, Stage 21, on Sunday, July 26th, 2015. This is the route that goes all over the city of love, crossing the Seine multiple times as the streets of Paris serves as the final course.
Those who are interested in livestreaming the event can go to sites like NBC Sports to catch the biking action.
