TDF: Standings after Stage 16

With one final mountain to come the GC classification looks like it will be won by a British rider for the first time. Bradley Wiggins has shown his superiority in the ITT over his rivals who will need to attack in Stage 17 for one final shot at yellow in Paris. For Cadel Evans the Tour defence is over and he may be given a chance to join a breakaway and gain a stage win but at only eight minutes he may still be seen as a threat. Chris Froome will be kept on a leash and will only protect Wiggins and he should be rewarded by a podium finish in Paris for doing so. Vincenzo Nibali will need to gain at least three minutes on Wiggins before the ITT and to do so in one stage looks unlikely considering he hasn’t been able to take significant time off Wiggins so far.

There may be a minor shake up of the GC but it seems the top ten is to be settled in the Stage 19 ITT to Chartes. Wiggins looks like he’ll hold onto yellow after first pulling it on after Stage 7. There may be a final attack by the mountain climbers to shore up a top ten position before the ITT but it appears that there may be too much to lose by doing so and so instead they will look to limit their losses against the clock in Stage 19.

With the final big climbing classification points on offer tonight Thomas Voeckler and Fredrik Kessiakoff who are only separated by four points will be chasing all 52 points that are on offer. There are 6 points on offer during the stage 19 ITT but these two would be keen to wrap up the classification in the Pyrenees. The first of these riders to summit Port de Balés could wrap up the classification with the points on offer at this HC climb. Otherwise the other four categorised climbs with points on offer could witness a strategic battle between these two for the maillot pois.

In the points classification it is looking likely that Peter Sagan will win the green jersey in his debut Tour. There are still two flat stages on offer but as Sagan as been either winning or contending the sprints it appears unlikely that he will pass that jersey onto either André Greipel or Matt Goss who both sit over 100 points in arrears to the Slovakian in the classification.

The white jersey is now a battle between Tejay van Garderen and Thibaut Pinot. Van Garderen holds a healthy 3:48” lead over the French rider and van Garderen should be riding into Paris in white. Van Garderen and Pinot are the two stand out young riders in 2012 as the closet rider to these two sits over 45 minutes behind the BMC rider is Steven Kruijswijk.

The most combative rider classification now has two riders who have both won the award on two occasions in 2012. A combative ride in Stage 17 by either Thomas Voeckler or Michael Mørkøv could settle the classification by Paris.

RadioShack-Nissan holds a commanding 17:15” lead in the team classification over Sky and are all but assured of a podium appearance in Paris. Only Team Sky can really threaten their chances but unless a calamitous final four stages awaits the leaders they should roll into Paris with yellow numbers on their backs.

There are still minor alterations that await in each of the classifications but it appears that the current leaders in the classifications will be the winners. The final ITT looks like it will settle any last gaps in these classifications besides the mountains classification. The points classification should be settled by Stage 19 or if not it will be settled in the final sprint along the Champs-Élysées.

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 74:15:32
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:05”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:23”
4th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:46”
5th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +7:13”
6th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +7:55”
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) +8:06”
8th Janez Brajkovic (Astana) +9:09”
9th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) +10:10”
10th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +11:43”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 356 points
2nd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 254 points
3rd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 203 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 130 points
5th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 127 points
6th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 109 points
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) 100 points
8th Chris Froome (Sky) 91 points
9th Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 88 points
10th Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 84 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 107 points

2nd Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 103 points
3rd Chris Anker Sørenson 77 points
4th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 55 points
5th Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) 38 points
6th Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) 34 points
7th Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) 33 points
8th Chris Froome (Team Sky) 32 points
9th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 32 points
10th Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 31 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 74:23:27”
2nd Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +3:48”
3rd Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +45:26”
4th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +52:39”
5th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +54:43”
6th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +1:01:56”
7th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +1:01:32”
8th David Malacarne (Europcar) +1:18:57”
9th Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) +1:19:10”
10th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) +1:26:02”

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 222:58:15
2nd Team Sky +17:18”
3rd Astana +28:53”
4th BMC +29:13”
5th Europcar +50:03”
6th Liquigas-Cannondale +56:34”
7th Movistar +59:56”
8th FDJ-BigMat +1:01:22”
9th Katusha +1:01:31”
10th Omega Pharma-Quick Step + 1:20:04”

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)
Stage Nine: Not Awarded
Stage Ten: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)
Stage 11: Pierre Rolland (Europcar)
Stage 12: Robert Kiserlovski (Astana)
Stage 13: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 14: Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
Stage 15: Nicki Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 16: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)