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Three days after coming runner up, Patrick Konrad solos to first Tour win in the Pyrenees

Bora-Hansgrohe the fifth team to claim multiple victories in the 108th edition

Three days ago on the Tour de France’s fourteenth stage Austrian champion Patrick Konrad was runner up after Bauke Mollema soloed 43 km to victory, but on Tuesday, Konrad soloed 37 km to his own win in the Pyrenees. Not only was it Konrad’s first Grand Tour, it was also Bora-Hansgrohe’s second triumph of the 2021 Tour after Nils Politt’s Stage 12 win. For the most part, the GC men cooled their heels before Wednesday’s summit finish stage, and Tadej Pogačar remained safe in the yellow jersey.

You can watch the 108th edition at FloBikes.

The Course

The start of the last week contained two Cat. 2 climbs, a Cat. 1 and a Cat. 4 cresting less than six km from the finish line in Saint-Gaudens. There were sections of the route that were wet and cool.

There were several breakaway attempts before the Cat. 2 Col de Port. Only one fellow had succeeded before the climb: Kasper Asgreen of Deceuninck-Quick Step, the team that announced on the rest day that it would be called Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl next season.

There were the 11 kms of Col de Port for a breakaway to gel. Asgreen got a teammate reinforcement in Mattia Cattaneo, who has been locked in a battle with Pello Bilbao for the last spot in the top-10. However, the fugitives weren’t very far off the front.

The race came back together on the descent, but there were splits. Mark Cavendish was in a grupetto far behind and some of Pogačar’s teammates were distanced.

On the way to Cat. 1 Col de la Core, a new trio slipped away, and a 11-rider chase lit out after it. The peloton relaxed, allowing Cavendish and the UAE-Emirates riders to return. The trio kept clear of the chase and Konrad peaked first. Konrad and pals held off the chase before Cat. 2 Col de Portet d’Aspet.

Midway up the Portet d’Aspet, with 37 km to race, Konrad soloed away from his two breakmates. In the chase, David Gaudu could see that his chance of winning the stage was scampering away, so he started to drive the group. Gaudu and Sonny Colbrelli crested 25 seconds after the Austrian.

Konrad eluded the two pursuers on the tricky, wet descent. Gaudu’s chase group grew and made a last-ditch effort to bridge to the Austrian on the Cat. 4.

There was a ripple of action in the yellow jersey group on the Cat. 4 but it did was create a group containing the top-11 and a few other riders.

With the win Bora-Hansgrohe joined Deceuninck-Quick Step, Alpecin-Fenix, Bahrain-Victorious and Jumbo-Visma as teams with multiple stage wins in the 108th edition.

Wednesday is back loaded with three tough climbs: the Col de Peyresourde, the Col de Val Louron-Azet and the mighty Col du Portet, the first of two consecutive HC-rated summit finishes.

2021 Tour de France Stage 16
1) Patrick Konrad (Austria/Bora-Hansgrohe) 4:01:59
2) Sonny Colbrelli (Italy/Bahrain-Victorious) +0:42
3) Michael Matthews (Australia/BikeExchange) s.t.
60) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana-Premier Tech) +15:14
127) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +17:56
130) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +23:40

2021 Tour de France GC
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 66:23:06
2) Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/EF Education-Nippo) +5:18
3) Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Jumbo-Visma) +5:32
4) Richard Carapaz (Ecuador/Ineos Grenadiers) +5:33
5) Ben O’Connor (Australia/AG2R-Citroën) +5:58
6) Wilco Kelderman (The Netherlands/Bora-Hansgrohe) +6:16
7) Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan/Astana-Premier Tech) +7:01
8) Enric Mas (Spain/Movistar) +7:11
9) Guillaume Martin (France/Cofidis) +8:02
10) Pello Bilbao (Spain/Bahrain-Victorious) +10:59
29) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +1:00:50
63) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana-Premier Tech) +1:55:05
106) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +2:36:35