Stage 16 gives the riders a bit of a respite before heading into the Alps on Wednesday. Starting in Le Puy-en-Velay the course starts with the Category 3 climb of Côte de Boussoulet before hitting some rolling terrain to the Category 4 Col du Rouvey. The course then descends for 35 km before the flat 50 km to the finish in Romans-sur-Isère. The course travels primarily east but as riders approach the finish the course shifts from due south to the east and then finishes heading due north. With the forecasted weather, that could make for a interesting finish.
| Stage Type | Flat |
|---|---|
| Stage Distance | 164.82 km |
| Estimated Time | 03:45:49 |
| Avg. Peloton Speed | 43.79 km/h |
| Avg. Pulling Power | 345.27 watts |
| Avg. Pulling Yaw | 8.66 ° |
Winds are forecasted to be strong out of the south which will be a high cross wind for most of the course. Once the stage shifts south there is 13.5 km section of head wind that will shift to a cross wind into Alixan. From there the final 10 km should be a strong tail wind.
Tony Martin went for it on Stage 15 but the Category 1 climb proved too much for him to hang on. If the wind keeps up as forecasted this could be an ideal spot for a strong TT type of ride over the final 20-25 km. If a rider can get a descent gap heading into the Alxian the peloton or a chase group would need big power and cohesion to reel a break back in with the forecasted strong tail wind.
Analysis was performed by modeling the peloton as a single rider using front of the pack drag characteristics and pulling power targets. Take a look at the entire race plan that was used for this analysis, which includes additional features, metrics and downloadable files.
Stage 16 Race Plan: https://www.bestbikesplit.com/client/72760