At around 11 PM Beijing time on July 16th, the Tour de France 2024 S16 (Gruissan to Nimes) came to a close. The first half of the race proceeded almost entirely as a “parade ride” with the main group, while attempts at breakaways in the latter part were reeled back in before the final sprint showdown. Alpecin-Fenix firmly controlled the situation, assisting their leader, Philipsen, to an easy victory. Let’s recap this match.
Race Prelude
Scrub-a-dub-dub. Team mechanics are the busiest staff before and after races. Ensuring that the bikes are clean, maintained, tuned, and ready for the riders each day is their responsibility.
“Wielsa” Ice Cream. During rest days, Wielsa provides various recovery packages for the riders, and the first sweet treat is recovery ice cream.
The ingredients are as follows: 150 grams of fresh mango or passion fruit, 110 grams of frozen mango, 200 grams of skim yogurt, 30 grams of honey, 45 grams of meringue.
The process: 1. Blend the mango; 2. Add honey, yogurt, and farmer’s cheese; 3. Chop the meringue and place it on top; 4. Freeze for 12 hours.
Recovery Package. After 15 stages of racing, the riders are exhausted, but this doesn’t faze the experienced support staff. A recovery package is arranged.
▲How relaxing is the full-body massage?
▲A local massage
▲A small sip
▲Fully recharged
Race Route. This stage was 188.6 kilometers long, starting from Gruissan in southern France and heading northeast. There was one climb and one sprint point along the way. The first half of the route was flat without climbs or sprints, so the riders might have chosen to parade to the sprint point before testing their skills. Subsequently, some riders attempted to break away, but the peloton caught up about 15-20 kilometers before the finish line, leading to a final sprint showdown among the sprinters.
With the cheers of the Gruissan crowd, the race began. Since the first half of the route was flat and the climb and sprint points were in the second half, the teams in the peloton chose to continue the relaxed atmosphere of the rest day in a “parade ride” manner.
When they reached the intermediate sprint point, the team sprint leaders tested their skills, with Caukel (Cofidis) winning first place. Following this, some riders couldn’t resist the urge to break away and make their presence known.
Gachignard (TotalEnergies) broke out to start his solo breakaway show. The peloton behind him wasn’t in a rush to reel him back in, and both sides tacitly maintained a gap of about two minutes until the last 20 kilometers when FDJ led the peloton to catch Gachignard. Riders who had been freeloading at the back of the peloton rushed forward to form their team’s sprint train formation for the final sprint battle of this event.
However, reality always plays jokes. About 1.5 kilometers before the finish line, the peloton suffered a crash that split them into two groups. Green jersey holder Gilmour suffered a fall and abrasions, unfortunately missing the sprint showdown.
Under the lead of super domestique Van der Poel, Alpecin-Fenix delivered their leader, Philipsen, within 300 meters of the sprint range. Philipsen took the initiative to launch a decisive attack, easily winning his third victory. In a post-race interview, he said, “I’m enjoying the moment. My teammates gave me the greatest motivation to win the race. It will indeed be very tough starting tomorrow, but I have confidence that I can ride all the way to Nice.”
After the race, Pogacar won the yellow jersey, Gilmour won the green jersey, Pogacar won the polka dot jersey, Evenepoel won the white jersey. On July 17th, the Tour de France S17 (Three Cities of Saint-Paul to Super Devoluy) will take place. Stay tuned.
Race Photo Album
(Image source: Tour de France Organizing Committee)