The decision: Richard Carapaz did not give up. In a leading group of four drivers, the Ineos professional attacked three times to shake off his companions. Almost succeeded, only one remained on the Ecuadorian’s rear wheel: Lennard Kämna. Shortly before the summit of the Montée de Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, the German countered, escaped Carapaz and drove alone for the last 20 kilometers. There he demonstrated his time trial and climbing skills and drove away from his pursuer for over a minute. At the finish, Kämna patted her chest – done.
Clarified: You have seen many professionals cry when they win their first Tour stage. But when 24-year-old Lennard Kämna came to the winner’s interview, he was cleared up, or at least that’s how he looked. “I feel great. It’s a wonderful day for me,” he said: “I went all-in on the last hilltop. I knew that on the flat no one could catch me if I step on it.”
Result of the stage: So Kämna stepped on it and won the 16th stage from La Tour-du-Pin to Villard-de-Lans. After 164 kilometers in the Alps, he crossed the finish line ahead of Carapaz and Sébastien Reichenbach. The top drivers in the overall classification crossed the finish line around 17 minutes later, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) defended the yellow jersey. Here is the stage report.
One for the team: Kämna’s team Bora-hansgrohe actually started with the aim of getting Emanuel Buchmann onto the podium in Paris. However, because the captain is in poor health, the tactics had to be switched to daily victories. On the 13th stage, Kämna and his colleague Maximilian Schachmann failed because of the Colombian Daniel Felipe Martínez, but this time the idea for the day worked out perfectly. “It’s also a great relief for the team, they worked so hard,” said Kämna. Another goal of the team is still open: Peter Sagan should win the green jersey. But that will be difficult, in the ranking he is 45 points behind Sam Bennett.
The talent: On the more than 100 kilometers long escape, Kämna had previously shown how talented he is. First of all, his team entrusted him with Daniel Oss, a helper who had worked for Kämna in the group for a long time. Afterwards, the 24-year-old was one of the strongest on the mountain and at the end kept up a consistently high pace. These are qualities that a classification driver also needs. At the finish, Kämna was asked whether the tour victory might not be possible in the future. “Whether I’ll ever get there is in the stars. You can never say I’ll be good enough to win the tour,” said Kämna: “It would be stupid to say that. Not everyone can do that either. “
Number of the day: German riders have already won 92 stages in the Tour de France. However, these statistics also include victories by former dopers. Among other things, two wins by Erik Zabel in 1996 are listed in the statistics. In 2007, the Sprinter confessed to using Epo on the 1996 Tour. Since the doping offense was statute barred at the time of the confession, Zabel’s victories were not deprived.
Everything negative: Before the start of the stage, the teams were able to calm down. All 785 corona tests from the day of rest were negative, said the tour organization Aso. This has significantly increased the peloton’s chances of reaching Paris despite the corona crisis. Tour boss Christian Prudhomme was able to return to the race director’s car, he was also tested negative after his quarantine period. The number of new infections in France, on the other hand, had recently peaked, with the number exceeding 10,000 registered cases within 24 hours for the first time.
Outlier group: About 40 drivers always fought to get into a breakaway group, including Kämna and Schachmann right from the start. At first the peloton did not let a large group escape, only gradually did the fugitives leave. When the top riders realized that they were in no danger, they gave the group around Carapaz, Kämna and Julian Alaphilippe about a quarter of an hour ahead.
Bernal near Greipel: In the top ten there were no big movements at the end of the day, the overall leader Roglic was able to follow a small attack by his pursuer Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) without any problems. More interesting was what had happened earlier at the end of the peloton. Last year’s winner Egan Bernal signaled that he had completely given up the yellow jersey, dropped back and ended up in a group with sprinters like André Greipel. At the finish, Bernal declared that he was plagued by back pain.
Queen’s stage: On Wednesday, perhaps the toughest stage of the tour is ahead. On the 170 kilometers from Grenoble to Méribel, the drivers have to conquer two mountains of the highest category. First it goes to the Col de la Madeleine at an altitude of 2000 meters, then a mountain arrival awaits at the 2304 meter high Col de la Loze – the roof of this year’s Tour of France. “I can assure you that it will be hell,” said tour director Prudhomme.
