As the 2024 Tour de France entered its last third on Tuesday, 16 July, tensions skyrocket in the cycling community. For the past two and a half weeks twenty two teams have been competing for the honour to take the cup home, while sports fans have been following the Tour de France live.
Out of the total number of the competing teams, 18 are UCI WorldTeams, and as such, automatically qualify for the competition. Out of the remaining four UCI ProTeams, two were placed the highest in 2023, and two were invited by the event organizers, the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO).
The full list of teams is as follows:
UCI WorldTeams
- Alpecin–Deceuninck
- Arkéa–B&B Hotels
- Astana Qazaqstan Team
- Cofidis
- Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale
- EF Education–EasyPost
- Groupama–FDJ
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarché–Wanty
- Lidl–Trek
- Movistar Team
- Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe
- Soudal–Quick-Step
- Team Bahrain Victorious
- Team dsm–firmenich PostNL
- Team Jayco–AlUla
- Visma–Lease a Bike
- UAE Team Emirates
UCI ProTeams
- Israel–Premier Tech
- Lotto–Dstny
- Team TotalEnergies
- Uno-X Mobility
An interesting detail about the 2024 Tour de France is that both its starting and finishing points are rather unusual. Instead of starting on the territory of France, the 2024 edition began in Florence, Italy, and for the first time in its history won’t have its final destination on Champs-Élysées in Paris. Due to the preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, the tour organizers opted to relocate the final race, which is the individual time trial, to Nice, France.
Tour de France Live: Current Stage
As the teams have completed Stage 16, let’s review the current developments. The peloton had to cycle 188.6 km (117.2 mi) going from Gruissan to Nîmes. This is the first time Gruissan is hosting a Tour de France race. As the commune is located by the sea, riders had to cycle along exposed roads, making wind direction and speed a significant factor. With the temperature fluctuating between 28°C and 33°C, the teams made sure to have sufficient bidons and ice packs.
Stage 16 is a flat stage, and as such, it is the final stage for sprinters, since the remaining stages, outside of the individual time trials, are mostly mountainous and one hilly stage.
Several COVID-19 cases have been recently confirmed in the peloton, which explains why the riders started out wearing masks. Currently, at Stage 16 and with five more stages to go, there are 150 riders left in the Tour.
The beginning of the stage was quite steady. The peloton kept together most of the time, without attempting any attacks. The pace changed once the teams entered the intermediate sprint. Many were expecting a rivalry between Biniam Girmay and Jasper Philipsen during the intermediate sprint. Girmay and Philipsen came to Stage 16 with 3 and 2 stage wins to their credit correspondingly. However Bryan Coquard was the one to ride away with the intermediate sprint victory, adding 20 points to his score.
Philipsen came second, scoring 17 points, while Girmay finished in the 4th place and earned 13 points. Mark Cavendish kept at the back of the peloton during the intermediate sprint. Tadej Pogačar, who won the previous two mountainous stages, did not take any risks in the sprint.
With 2 km left in the stage, a battle for positions commenced. Things got heated when Biniam Girmay crashed before the 1 km mark, meaning he wouldn’t be scoring any points.
The title of the winner for Stage 16 at the 2024 Tour de France went to the Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen who currently rides for Alpecin–Deceuninck. This is his third sprint win in this year’s Tour. Adding 100 points to his score for a total of 344 points, he is now closing in on Girmay, who currently has 376 points, in the competition for the green jersey.
Results After Stage 16
The first 10 after the completion of Stage 16 are as follows:
- Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin-Deceuninck
- Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
- Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Uno-X Mobility
- Sam Bennett (IRL) Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale
- Wout van Aert (BEL) Visma-Lease a Bike
- Pascal Ackermann (GER) Israel – Premier Tech
- Bryan Coquard (FRA) Cofidis
- Søren Wærenskjold (NOR) Uno-X Mobility
- Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Lidl-Trek
- Danny van Poppel (NED) Red Bull-Bora–Hansgrohe
The general classification after Stage 16 is as given below:
- Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates
- Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma–Lease a Bike
- Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal–Quick-Step
- João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates
- Mikel Landa (ESP) Soudal–Quick-Step
- Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) Ineos Grenadiers
- Adam Yates (GBR) UAE Team Emirates
- Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Lidl–Trek
- Derek Gee (CAN) Israel–Premier Tech
- Santiago Buitrago (COL) Team Bahrain Victorious
Next Stage
Stage 17 starts on 17 July 2024 in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, going east to SuperDévoluy. It will run 177.8 km (110.5 mi) on mountainous terrain.