tour de france 2024: stage 16
by Rémy Rossi
Fiendish finish
The otherwise siesta-inducing stage predictably ended in a bunch sprint, even staying clear of any drama caused by the potential wind that never showed up. In the approach to the line, Alpecin-Deceuninck executed a textbook leadout that offered a clinical finish for an otherwise chaotic Philipsen. Three wins in the bag for last year’s green jersey winner. That’s one less that his total in 2023 but a Tour threepeat is a wildly impressive achievement. His notorious nickname may just be falling out of use… maybe.
“A round of appal”
The Uno-X Mobility outfit narrowly avoided disaster (no, not that distaster) before the finish when a team car was bringing its rider Johannes Kulset back to the bunch. At around 27 kilometers to go, the young Norwegian was closely drafting behind his team’s car as it went through a large roundabout but continued around the traffic island. Missing the correct exit coincided with the other Uno-X car coming through the other side of the roundabout with both cars nearly missing crashing into each other. It’s a wild scene that could only ever happen in pro cycling— bikes, cars, drafting, high speeds, complicated road furniture… oh boy.
In the end, Kulset and his team car went the long way around and completed an extra lap of the roundabout to safely find their way out of that dangerous whirlpool. The team later responded calmly when asked about the incident after the race, seeming having had everything under control but the live images from those moments were scary to watch. The driver intelligently didn’t slam on (or even tap) the brakes while narrowly avoiding the other team car— doing so would have spelled disaster and a sure crash for Kulset who was drafting mere inches behind the rear bumper. I’m glad everyone escaped the situation unscathed. Everyone hates when cycling turns into a contact sport.
Green up for grabs
Following that near crash, there was an actual coming together in the approach to the line as Biniam Girmay went down along with a pair of EF Education-EasyPost riders. The incident took the Ethiopian green jersey wearer out of contention for the day’s sprint and he was escorted to the finish line with teammates pushing him along as he pedalled slowly. Not the most promising sight so we’ll have to see how badly he’s banged up.
Philipsen’s first place finish, however, means he snagged serious sprinter points while Girmay got stuck scoring zero. This positions Philipsen within striking distance of the green jersey but the lack of sprint stages remaining in the race means the competition will be decided by intermediate sprint points. Yet another race-within-the-race, keep an eye out for these sprinters’ ambitions influencing the composition of breakaways in upcoming stages to capture those precious few points.
Diabolical Dungarees
The true villain of this story is the designer of Alpecin-Deceuninck team kit. Initially, I believed the jersey and bib were a kind of soft gray pattern but turns out they are a full-blown Canadian tuxedo. That’s right, we’ve got demin-inspired Lycra fashion hitting the runaway of the pro peloton. The textured effect is cool from a distance but the confirmation of the jean design simply makes me go “bleh, that’s yucky”. It reminds of the Burton faux demin snowboard pants used by the US Olympic team at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Still a bit cringe, but I feel like snowboarders can get away with these kinds of things. Plus, the US team was hella good. Well, I guess Alpecin is also rocking the pavement this year too.
The US team matched the denim pants with a flannel jacket, highlighting those good ol’ working class American vibes, and Alpecin-Deceuninck admitted to a similar source of inspiration. It a weird X (formerly known as Twitter) post, the team launched the denim kit:
“Say hi to our new denim kit, representing our team’s perspective for 2024: daring to stand out, while keeping our feet on the ground. Working hard together, while having fun together.”
I mean, I guess that’s daring. But I don’t know how grounded elite cycling teams can really be, or if we even really expect them to be that way? Just seems like an odd idea that ended up sneaking its way past more stylish decision makers. I’ll just continue scratching my head on this topic. Touches hair. You know, maybe I should try that caffeine shampoo I’ve heard about… I don’t remember where I saw it though.
For a hilarious take on how this denim kit came to be, check out Iain Treloar’s article featured on the Escape Collective.
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