2021 season, Grand Tours, Tour de France

Tour de France 2021: Stage 16 – Patrick Konrad solos in damp conditions

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What stage is it today? I have lost count, truthfully. [It’s Stage 16 of Tour de France 2021 – ed] I suppose it doesn’t even really matter given the boringness of today’s stage. Heck, the jackhammering that went on outside my window for three hours this morning brought more excitement and change of pace to my day than the race on my television screen did. The stage saw a less than invigorated breakaway performance, a peloton full of GC favorites content on riding for the podium, and plenty of rain. At the end of it all, Bora’s Patrick Konrad soloed away from his companions to claim his first World Tour victory and saved Bora’s otherwise disastrous Tour. In a turn of events that continues to make me scratch my head, Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Victorious) came home second on the stage with a not-so-shiny Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) in third.

The Winner

Perhaps the best climber in the break of the day (sorry, FDJ. . .), Patrick Konrad was keen to drop the likes of Colbrelli, Matthews, and Alex Aranburu (Astana). He pushed the pace on the stage’s climbs before going clear inside the final 40km. Once he got his gap, he was never to be seen again. The Austrian champ crested the final peak and descended to victory down the treacherous descent.

And it was another emotional post-race interview. Like so many of the greats, he goes out of his way to thank his family, supporters, and team.

What was the point of THAT?

After a day in the peloton of doing diddlysquat to make the race even the slightest bit exciting, Cofidis and Jumbo-Visma lit up the race in the final few kilometers as they raced towards the finish line some 12 minutes behind Konrad. Unfortunately for them, the rain dampened their flame as all time bonuses had been claimed long ago and the mountains were many kilometers behind them. We’re left with the question: What on earth was the point?

At the end of it all, the GC men came home together without a second lost by any of them. With two big days in the Pyrenees yet to come and a time trial at the week’s end, it is another conundrum what exactly any of them thought was going to happen. . . But hey, at least Cofidis is still Cofidis, am I right?

Like all of us, Tadej Pogacar seems to have little understanding as to what his rivals are trying to accomplish. Plucky words for our Big Bird.

Weather you can shake a stick at

If there’s nothing else to write about for this stage, then I suppose we ought to talk about the weather. With rain off and on all day, it was something to be heavily concerned about. In fact, the weather conditions made visibility so poor at the start of the day was a 20km neutralised descent. Once they did that, riders opted to stop for a brief tea to warm up before kicking off again.

Luckily, most riders appeared to keep the rubber side down on such treacherous roads, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t dangers around various bends.

And at the finish line too, apparently. . .

Lachlan Morton: Tour de France Winner Extraordinaire!

Now, let’s move on to the real news of the day! EF has officially won the Tour de France with Lachlan Morton, who reached Paris a staggering FIVE DAYS before any other rider! Lachlan and EF, we support you in this fabulous endeavor of bicycling greatness! Not even the Mighty Dis could have achieved such a feat!

Oliver is spot on here. Lawson Craddock‘s ride for his local velodrome is what brought me back to writing three years ago after a number of years away from the sport. Fast forward three years and Lachlan Morton has done something equally important. His #AltTour has raised more than $500,000 for World Bicycle Relief.

If you’re unfamiliar with what Lachlan has been up to for the past 16 days, then you best dig yourself out from under the rock you’ve been under! Once you get out, you can read all about Lachlan’s adventure on his Alternative Tour here.

The Last Word

Results

Stage 16 Top 5

1 Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) 4:01:59

2 Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) +0:42

3 Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) same time

4 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis) s/t

5 Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) s/t

General Classification Top 10

1 Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 66:23:06

2 Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) +5:18

3 Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +5:32

4 Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) +5:33

5 Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën Team)  +5:58

6 Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe)+6:16

7 Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) +7:01

8 Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +7:11

9 Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) +8:02

10 Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +10:59

All the jerseys

Leaders jersey: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

Points jersey: Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step)

KOM jersey: Wout Poels (Israel Start-up Nation)

Best young rider jersey : Tadej Pogacar (Bahrain Victorious)

For full stage review, go to cyclingnews

Official Tour de France website is here

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