Chris Froome Wins 2016 Tour de France
For the third time in four years Chris Froome has won the Tour de France. The British rider completed another flawless tour, as his team played a huge role in the victory. From start to finish Team Sky were there for their team leader. It could not have gone any better.
Froome took two stages on his way to glory in Paris. Winning on stages eight and 18. His performance in stage 11 also was an instrumental moment in his journey to Paris. He linked up with Peter Sagan, and the two riders broke away from the peloton, making it all the way to the finish.
In the mountain stages he was always well supported. Wouter Poels is perhaps one of the unsung heroes of the tour. His tremendous work rate helped Froome immensely. Sergio Henao, Mikel Landa, and Geraint Thomas were three other support riders that performed at the highest level for their team.
Plenty of Hard Work Involved
It wasn’t a cakewalk by any means for Froome. Multiple crashes caused many cycling fans around the world to hold their breath. The crash on Mont Ventoux won’t be forgotten any time soon, as one of the more bizarre days in cycling occurred. Despite the crashes, this tour will still go down as another amazing performance from Sky and Froome.
Sagan Dominates Points Competition
The World Champion successfully defended the green jersey at this years tour. Peter Sagan came away with three stage wins on his way to Paris. Two of those wins came down to a photo finish.
Sagan was there on every sprint stage to pick up points, and in the end it wasn’t even close. He took the points classification by over 200 points. Up next the Slovakian will turn his attention to the mountain bike competition at the Olympics.
Cavendish Shows Fantastic Form
Mark Cavendish had a fantastic tour, as the British sprinter took four stage wins home with him. Moving his way up to second all-time on the Tour de France stage wins list with 30. Heading into the Olympics his confidence has to be enormous at the moment. Will he get the gold medal he’s been chasing?
Young Riders Impress
Romain Bardet, Adam Yates, and Louis Meintjes all had great performances at this years tour. All three have enormous amounts of potential moving forward. These three could be the next stars of cycling.
Julian Alaphilippe was another young rider that impressed many. The Frenchman did not finish in the top 10, but he showed that he can be a factor in the future, with some great efforts in the mountains.
Crazy Moments
As mentioned before, the Mont Ventoux stage was undoubtedly the craziest stage. Froome, Richie Porte, and Bauke Mollema all crashed due to a motorbike that had to stop. The fans on the climb were crowding the road, which led to motorbiking having to stop. Froome’s bike was damaged as a result, and he began to run up the hill. In the end, the times were neutralized and Froome remained in the lead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0zYmQ0zQcA
Adam Yates also had a bizarre moment. The Australian rider had the one kilometer to go banner fall on him in stage seven. A fan was to blame for the incident, as the inflatable was deflated.
Top 5 Stages
Stage 8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5saFFDbm_4
Stage 11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0cavZhAGfk
Stage 14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ0BLr3JfOI
Stage 16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYrOec2j260
Stage 12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaNh5wNdGt0
General Classification Final Standings
- Chris Froome (Team Sky)
- Romain Bardet (AG2R La Modiale)
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
- Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExhchange)
- Richie Porte (BMC)
- Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
- Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha)
- Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida)
- Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quick Step)
- Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff)
Points Classification
- Peter Sagan (Tinkoff)
- Marecl Kittel (Etixx-Quick Step)
- Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange)
- Andre Griepel (Lotto Soudal)
- Alexander Kristoff (Katusha)
- Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie)
- Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal)
- Greg Van Avermaet (BMC)
- Chris Froome (Team Sky)
- Rafal Majka (Tinkoff)
Climber Classification
- Rafal Majka (Tinkoff)
- Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal)
- Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling)
- Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha)
- Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida)
- Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data)
- Stef Clement (IAM Cycling)
- Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)
- Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida)
- Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie)
Youth Classification
- Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange)
- Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida)
- Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Argon 18)
- Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin)
- Wilco Kelderman (Lotto NL-Jumbo)
- Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step)
- Jan Polanc (Lampre-Merida)
- Eduardo Sepulveda (Fortuneo-Vital Concept)
- Alexey Lutsenko (Astana)
- Patrick Kondrad (Bora-Argon 18)
Team Classification
- Movistar
- Team Sky
- BMC
- AG2R La Mondiale
- Astana
- Tinkoff
- Trek-Segafredo
- IAM Cycling
- Team Katusha
- Lampre-Merida
Stage Winners
Stage 1-Mark Cavendish
Stage 2-Peter Sagan
Stage 3-Mark Cavendish
Stage 4-Marcel Kittel
Stage 5-Greg Van Avermaet
Stage 6-Mark Cavendish
Stage 7-Stephen Cummings
Stage 8-Chris Froome
Stage 9-Tom Dumoulin
Stage 10-Michael Matthews
Stage 11-Peter Sagan
Stage 12-Thomas De Gendt
Stage 13- Tom Dumoulin
Stage 14- Mark Cavendish
Stage 15-Jarlinson Pantano
Stage 16-Peter Sagan
Stage 17-Ilnur Zarkarin
Stage 18-Chris Froome
Stage 19-Romain Bardet
Stage 20-Ion Izagirre
Stage 21-Andre Griepel
