Stage 16 of the Tour de France saw the GC guys take the day off. There was plenty to keep an eye on though, the polka dot jersey competition came to life and a breakaway packed with potential was allowed up the road. Lennard Kämna of Bora won by over a minute from Ineos’s Richard Carapaz. The peloton came in nearly 17 minutes after Kämna and gave us some excitement over the final 2km. However, it all ended with no major change in the overall classification.
The winner
Lennard Kämna’s been threatening to win a stage for a while now. He hasn’t made the eye-catching attacks of a Marc Hirschi but he has shown intent on several stages. Until last month, he hadn’t even won a pro race! Stage 5 of the Dauphine changed at that and today he put himself on another level with a Tour stage on his palmares.
The German joins Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Nans Peters (AG2R), Tadej Pogacar (UAE), Sam Bennett (DQS), Marc Hirschi (Sunweb), Daniel Martinez (EF) and Soren Kragh Anderson (Sunweb) as riders who’ve won their first Tour stage at the 2020 edition. It truly does feel like a new generation coming through.
The Bora rider was in the day’s break, which had more star names than the Live Aid line-up. When things started getting frisky it was Kämna who was the strongest, leaving Richard Carapaz in his wake and soloing away classics-like for the win. If you’re going to win your first Tour stage, why not make it a big one!
He makes it sound so easy:
“It was a fight from the beginning. When I saw that Carapaz was dropping the speed… I just went on until the end”
Pog rocks Rog
The peloton had a bit of a day off until the final two kilometres. Almost inevitably, it was Tadej Pogacar (UAE) who once again tested Primoz Roglic’s legs but the Jumbo rider seemed to have the white jersey’s measure. In the end, it was Miguel Angel Lopez of Astana who headed the peloton over the line. The Colombian’s huge sprint effort gained him a mighty zero seconds on GC.
Polka Warning
Earlier on the stage, Pierre Rolland (B&B hotels) set out on a hunt for KOM points cresting the first two climbs of the day ahead of everyone else.
He’s now tied with Benoit Costefroy of AG2R on polka points but Cosnefroy holds on to the jersey. Some people will tell you this is because of the intricacies of the rules… but we know the truth.
The Tour jury are just totally scared of this…
One for the history books
Surely the first time since … never … that Sky/Ineos went into a Tour stage with the sole aim of winning the stage rather than a mightier goal. Three riders in the break? That page wouldn’t even have existed in the Sky-Ineos Big Book of Tactics.
I do have good news of Ineos fans…. they won *something* today
Last word
Happy birthday to the gorgeous pouting Wout Van Aert [Swoons all round – Ed]
Stage 16 Top 5
Embed from Getty Images1 Lennard Kämna (Bora-hansgrohe) 04:12:52
2 Richard Carapaz (INEOS Gshouldabeenhere) +1:27
3 Sebastian Reichenbach (Groupama-Ou Est Pinot?) +1:56
4 Pavel Sivakov (INEOS two in the top 5) +2:34
5 Simon Geschke (CCC close but never a cigar) +2:35
GC Top 10
Embed from Getty Images1 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 70:06:47
2 Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Emirates) +0:40
3 Rigoberto Uran (EF ProCycling) +1:34
4 Migel Angel Lopez (Astana) +1:45
5 Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) +2:03
6 Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo) +2:13
7 Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren) +2:16
8 Enric Mas (Movistar) +3:15
9 Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) +5:19
10 Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) +5:43
All the jerseys
Leader’s jersey Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)
Points jersey Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step)
King of the Mountains Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R la Mondiale)
Best Young Rider Tadej Pogacar (UAE)
Most Combative of the Stage: Richard Carapaz (INEOS)
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Official race website: Le Tour
Header image: ©GETTY/AFP/Marco Bertorello