Tour de France 2016: Stages 8-13 Final KM

Week two: the Tour de France hit the mountains and the GC began to shake out. Riders endured melting tarmac in the Pyrenees, a hailstorm of biblical proportions in Andorra; the maillot jaune gained time on a descent and in the crosswinds, and then we saw him running up Mont Ventoux!! Don’t worry if you’ve missed any of that action – we’ve got it all covered in our second edition of Final KM from #TDF2016.

Stage 8: Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon

Chris Froome takes a stage win and zooms into yellow with a daring, #superninjatuck of a descent off the Peyresourde. It was tough day over four climbs and we saw the first abandon of the race as Michael Mørkøv finally admitted defeat after a brave fight. Our review is here.

Stage 9: Vielha Val d’Aran to Andorra Arcalis

The heavens opened, the stage ended in a hailstorm, but nothing could stop Tom Dumoulin claiming a beautiful solo victory atop the Arcalis. Thibaut Pinot lifted French spirits by claiming the the polka dot jersey, while many fans’ spirits plummeted when Alberto Contador climbed off his bike and into the team car. We hope to see Baby Blackbird fly at the Vuelta. Our review is here.

Stage 10: Escaldes-Engordany to Revel

The stage after the first rest day kicked off with a 22km climb #OUCH. A strong break stayed away all day, including three from Orica-BikeExchange. They played an absolute blinder to give Michael Matthews his maiden Tour de France victory. Our review is here. Join the celebrations with the #OBE Backstage pass here

Stage 11: Carcassonne to Montpellier

STUNNING STAGE ALERT!!!!! It was slated as a day for the sprinters. It turned out to be a day for echelon action at its finest (for those of us watching from the sofa anyway). It finished with green jersey-clad Peter Sagan out-sprinting the yellow jersey of Chris Froome for the stage win. You read that right – it was a two up sprint and Froome was one of the two. Our review is here.

Stage 12: Montpellier to Chalet-Reynard (Mont Ventoux)

Thomas de Gendt took a fabulous stage win to add to his Giro victory on Stelvio from 2012. After this fact we can safely say we have never seen anything quite like the chaos that unfolded on the slopes of Ventoux – including the yellow jersey of Chris Froome sprinting for the finish without a bike. Our review is here.

Stage 13: Bourg-Saint-Andeol to Le Caverne de Pont ITT

It was a subdued stage in this year’s Tour, with France reeling from the tragic events in Nice. But the stage went on and Tom Dumoulin clocked up his second stage win this Tour with a storming ITT ride through the wind. Chris Froome finished second and put even more time into his rivals to look even more invincible atop the GC. Post stage, there was a moving ceremony to pay respect to those affected by the tragic events in Nice. Our review is here.