Britain’s Steve Cummings (MTN-Qhubeka) has won Stage 14 of the Tour de France, pipping French riders Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet near the line shortly after a tough final climb. Chris Froome has retained the overall lead, gaining more time on his rivals.
The 178.5km route from Rodez to Mende culminated with the second category Côte de la Croix Neuve, a 3km climb at an average gradient of 10.1% after which there was just 1.6km to the finish line.
The day’s break was large and stayed away to the finish. Among others, it included Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, as well as yesterday’s winner, Greg Van Avermaet, plus the man he beat, Peter Sagan.
Bardet attacked what remained of the group on the steep final slopes and while Simon Yates initially followed, a second attack saw the British rider fall away.
Pinot caught Bardet at the top but Cummings caught the pair shortly afterwards and pretty much roared straight past, holding them at bay to take the victory. It was the first stage win for an African team at the Tour de France and fittingly, it came on Mandela Day.
Further back, Nairo Quintana attacked the overall contenders on the climb with Nibali and Valverde following. Chris Froome was out of team-mates but eventually reeled them in and not long after, only Froome and Quintana remained. The yellow jersey sprinted at the finish to gain another second on the Colombian, while Tejay Van Garderen, who had been second at the start of the day, finished 40 seconds later and slipped to third overall.
Stage winner, Steve Cummings of MTN-Qhubeka
“I wasn’t the strongest today and I knew there were better climbers in our lead group. I had to play the waiting game today as FDJ were looking to set up Pinot for the win. I waited and waited and eventually the last climb arrived which I rode at my own pace.
“Pinot and Bardet were just ahead and I used them as the carrot dangling in front of me for motivation. Everyone went bananas at the start of the climb but the key was to remain calm and take my opportunity when it arrived. I made contact with the two Frenchman at the top of the climb and knew they might hesitate to chase me if I got the jump on them on the flat part before the finish.
“I threw caution to wind and just went for it. It paid off and I won the stage. This is an incredible day for me and the team, with it being Mandela Day the team was motivated more than usual but I don’t think we can quite believe what has just happened. It may take a while to sink in.”
Race leader, Chris Froome of Team Sky
"As far as the racing went, it was a really good day for us," he confirmed. "The team did a great job getting me to that final climb in a good position, and then I just rode at tempo to keep things under control.
"It was a short, steep climb at 3km, and I knew what pace I had to ride. I knew Quintana wouldn’t be able to get that far away from me so I didn’t panic, rode at my own speed, and brought him back before the top. He’s my main rival on the climbs, and deserves that respect, but he wasn’t getting away from me today.
"Having over three minutes lead going into the Alps is a dream situation for me. My guys have done a phenomenal job riding on the front every day and I couldn’t have asked for any more support.
"I’d like to congratulate MTN Qhubeka for their victory today too. Having an African team take a win on Madiba Day was really special, and even better for me that it came from a fellow Brit, and former team-mate in Steve Cummings."
43 thoughts on “Tour de France Stage 14: Victory for Steve Cummings while Chris Froome gains more time on his rivals”
Cummings did fantastic to
Cummings did fantastic to take advantage of French indecision and I really like MTN so on Mandela day a great win.
But Froome can sprint as well, no end to this man’s talents ?
I’ve never been a Froome fan
I’ve never been a Froome fan but I have to admit all this doping bullshit has changed my mind he is a fantastic and I believe clean rider who i 100% hope wins!
Steve Cummings! What a babe!
Steve Cummings! What a babe! What a dude! What a Babe-Dude!!!
Great stage but overshadowed
Great stage but overshadowed by the relegation that Froome had a small cup of urine thrown at him.
On twitter his wife has kicked off at the likes of Ross Tucker and Vayer blaming them for this when all they have done is to question him.
That is called free speech and sometimes it becomes unpleasant.
ianrobo wrote:Great stage but
Throwing urine in somebody’s face isn’t what I’d call exercising your right to Free speech. I think froome’s wife had a right to be upset with those morons for stirring this situation up. Total disgrace and doing the sport of cycling a massive disservice.
Kojima wrote:
Throwing urine
At least it’s the right colour.
Well done to Cummings on a
Well done to Cummings on a very special day for his team.
As for the urine thrown at Froome, there is no need after all he’s taking the piss out of everyone else 😀
Oh and a rider was chucked
Oh and a rider was chucked out for a lift for 100M in a AG2R car after a chain break. He must have had a mind melt for that, such a stupid error to make
ianrobo wrote:Oh and a rider
Yet Peraud was pulled along by the Dr’s car for ages and his 1 1/2 minute gap to the peloton was wiped out but nothing happens. Even Sean Kelly expressed his concerns over that stating that if he was that injured to be pulled along for so long he should have been off the bike. But he’s french after all. 😕
yep agreed if treatment any
yep agreed if treatment any more than say a min the rider should stop
I do want Froome to win, but
I do want Froome to win, but I would just love it if Quintana or van Garderen got into a decent break that wasn’t immediately closed down by Sky. I’d love them to pick up 3 or 4 minutes so Sky would have to push rather than defend. Maybe its just me, but it all feels a bit robotic at the moment.
Kadinkski wrote:I do want
exactly like when Brad won because the team is far too strong for any others. No other team can push them because they do not have the resources. The only way is if deals are done with other teams to use some of their resources. Not likely.
A lot of the bullshit that
A lot of the bullshit that Team Sky are dealing with in the media and on the road is pure xenophobia. The hate the English speakers for being so dominant. If Contador or Valverde (convicted cheats) or Nibali (riding in the cheats team of choice) was winning the race no-one would bat an eyelid.
HalfWheeler wrote:A lot of
Ah the standard reply from the Sky fan boys, who never ask themselves if this team was not British would you being saying the same thing ?
If a team was say based in Russia, employed a doping doctor for ‘weighing’ riders and had known dopers as employees despite all they say that you would be saying this.
Course not
ianrobo wrote:HalfWheeler
I think the ‘Sky fanboy’ or ‘Sky hater’ comment is a weak insult. I have no allegiance to Sky or anyone else yet have had both thrown at me. It’s a dick move and just shows the poster to be hiding behind something bigger.
I don’t think Sky are clean. I don’t think Astana, BMC, Etixx, Saxo-Tinkoff, Alpecin are clean (but they may have clean riders). But it seems ridiculous to pick on Sky. They don’t win everything.
On the other hand there’s part of me that thinks maybe direct action may make a difference. But the main part of me thinks Froome and co are being victimised.
ianrobo wrote:HalfWheeler
A Sky fanboy? Hilarious. You know this from one reply? Oh dear…
I can’t imagine devoting that much time to watching the pro scene (too busy training, working, getting on with life etc,) let alone being a Sky ‘fanatic’. Not least because it’s sponsored by the Great Satan himself (Murdoch).
As for a flag waving Brit? Even funnier, was only 10 months ago I was voting for Scotland to sail off into the sunset.
My problem with the vitriol being poured on Sky is that it stinks of hypocrisy. Convicted cheats in the media accusing them of foul play or goons at the side of the road watching actual cheats like Contador or Valverde race by but then target Froome and his teammates, accusing them of cheating without one scintilla of proof.
HalfWheeler wrote:Convicted
If you talk about ex riders most of them are ex cheats whether caught or not, inevitable.
But your point is totally valid, which is why I watched the Giro with Contador leading and Astana as the main team with laughter.
However if Froome is beating known dopers, lets face it so easy, what does that so to you ?
ianrobo wrote:HalfWheeler
Hmm…so you think I’m making valid points but still took the opportunity to say the following;
“Ah the standard reply from the Sky fan boys”
“if this team was not British would you being saying the same thing…Course not”
Ok then. I wonder what your like when you disagree with people.
ianrobo wrote:Ah the standard
That’s the sort of question that should be directed at the Sky/Froome hate mob. It’s funny how we don’t seem to be hearing stories of such vitriol being directed at Astana riders.
If Sky had a French rider challenges for major races, I have a feeling that these idiots by the side of the road would have a rather different attitude.
Was Lance being victimised
Was Lance being victimised ?
LookI am not saying Froome or sky are doping but there are serious questions the team have to answer From the involvement of Leinders to their apparent lack of testing of Vo2Max.
In cycling any dominant team will get this Check the posts when the Giro was on and the laughing over want Astana through Landa etc were doing.
No difference at all to me as the same questions being asked of Sky/Froome
Quote:Was Lance being
no. Lance was the one doing the victimizing.
The point is valid about
The point is valid about others. It is why I cheer Cav, Loved Cummings today, Like Dan Martin, all of these I believe to be clean.
Even Sagan I believe to be clean.
So therefore when you say a valid point I agree with just not with a lot of the other you make.
ianrobo wrote:The point is
I think it weird that you choose to believe certain riders over others. There’s as much motivation to cheat for Sagan as Contador, but the difference being that Contador’s cheating wins him a Grand Tour, but Sagan will win Classics and stage wins. The focus is obviously on Contador, but there’s no reason to assume that any of the others are not cheating because they have different goals, just that the media are less fixated.
What makes you think that someone who competes at the same speed (if not faster
than) as a rider who has used HGH, EPO and steroids can do without and compete.
PS I am cynical about all of them, but they usually end up proving me right. I’ve got to a point where I see the winners all as cheats, but that some have better doctors than others. A level playing field is found of sorts, but the point is still that we should strive for sport without drugs and that we are deprived of true sport, and deeper meaning to the struggle and suffering. Cheating is cheating even if it generates excitement. The worst thing is the expectation it puts on future generations to compete with or exceed.
I’ve heard some simplistic
I’ve heard some simplistic and naïve belief systems in my life but this one is waaay up there.
I think it weird that you choose to believe certain riders over others.— ianrobo
I think it’s utterly illogical that you think all people react to situations and events in the same way – that all riders have the same motivation and all decide to act in exactly the same way to achieve their ambitions.
What makes you think that the ability of an individual to win stages and races is entirely down to physical strength and endurance ? Why do you think that teams or strategy have no effect on the outcome of races ? What makes you think that all riders are within ‘doping’ range of all the others – that athlete A cannot have the same performance clean as athlete B who dopes (presumably in such a way, and at such dosages and with such undetectable gains in performance that they are not caught or flagged) ?
Well hubris aside it’s a good religion. You believe all are doping so every positive is another piece of proof of your theory – every rider who escapes being caught is guilty but just evading the inevitable. The idea that it’s all down to the quality of the doctors is priceless but at least can be bent to explain some of the complete failures to detect 99% of all doping, retrospectively in many cases.
All our opinions are based on conjecture to some degree, but I think that some are statistically more likely than others – this one strikes me as one of the more outlying data points.
fukawitribe wrote:I’ve heard
Your reply followed mine so i dont know if your refering to me or someone else ?
If it was me then yes it is a very simplistic way of looking at things, in all walks of life you have people who have an inate ability to be very good at something but it needs the right group of people around them for them to fulfill that ability and i think Froome is one of those.
If thats to simplistic then i ask why the need to complicate matters ?
stumps wrote:fukawitribe
Sorry for the confusion stumps, it was Colin I was referring to (in the quotes after) not you. FWIW I agree with you, fortunate enough to have a friend who fitted the innate ability bit in athletics (400m and high jump) 35-40 years ago but more than that, partly didn’t have the support environment/encouragement and partly couldn’t be arsed 🙂 Watching someone whose closest approach to performance drugs was rum and spliff obliterate people – good athletes, nationals even – who had trained and been coached for years was an interesting experience. It gets much closer the higher up you go, but some people do have a bloody good base..
ianrobo wrote:So therefore
Oh right. What points forced you to respond in such a shrill OTT manner?
To sum this up, the next time
To sum this up, the next time a Coppi, Bartali, Anquetil or Merckx comes along we’ll just say that if they are that good they are cheating.
Only on one stage have Sky
Only on one stage have Sky dominated and thats the Froome / Porte 1/2 other than that all the GC guys have been up there at the finish.
You have to remember Contador has the Giro in his legs and Nibali is defo not on form for this race TJ, although a great rider, is not a GT contender at the mo and Valverde is just getting to old so that leaves Quintana and Froome who seem to battle it out at the end.
Just one last question as well to ianrobo – you state you believe Cav and Cummings are clean and like watching them and hate Sky for their hypocrisy etc etc yet both those riders rode for Sky ?
Are you a genuine believer in that Sky cheat, as you would then have to include Cav and Cummings, or is it just a case you dont like Froome, Porte etc and mask it by bundling them all together as “Sky cheat”…………. 😕
It does seem to be a lot of
It does seem to be a lot of sour grapes from certain French media. There’s no doubt they hate not being able to win their home race, but they could have the best riders in the world and if they rode like FDJ did yesterday, then they still wouldn’t stand a chance. You can’t compensate for that kind of incompetence.
True Stumps both did but
True Stumps both did but neither were improved by Sky and Cav got out of there pretty darn quick. He was already a world class sprinter before and after Sky.
Cav’s improvement over the years was not sudden and unexpected, it was a clear curve. Can you say that about Froome ?
Cav signing for Sky for just
Cav signing for Sky for just money talking with HTC about implode and he knew the GC was always going to be top of the list for Sky with the green jersey secondary. Cummings improved massively under Sky hence why BMC wanted him.
As for Froome, he’s very similar to Cav. A team built around him purely with one thing in mind – HTC green jersey, Sky yellow jersey.
His potential was always there but he didn’t have the team and support to realise it and i dont think you can deny it. You can compare it to Peter Beardsley, he played for Vancouver Whitecaps before Newcastle took hold of him, gave him the right training and the team and he became a legend with even Lineker saying if it wasn’t for Beardsley he would never have scored so many goals.
Comparisons are easy to make though and i dont think it will change your mind one iota.
Because if you ride clean
Because if you ride clean doping wipes out strategy and ability. They’re unlikely to be on the juice all the time, but ‘strategically’ doping wins you stages, races and definitely with 1-2 weeks into a tour if you are not juicing you’re at a very serious disadvantage.
Actually I’m not saying they do it all the time and in all ways, but I doubt that if you are competing and at the sharp end you can do so without having ‘topped’ yourself up once in a while. If it’s in the amateur ranks I think it is unlikely that you can get away with it at the pro level. That seems unlikely doesn’t it? Why be clean if your competitors will outshine you with an injection?
If you look back to the ‘bad old days’ of doping even journeymen riders have been insinuated as doping. They had to just to stay with the others. The race speeds have not really decreased since then, and despite what people say, I really don’t think things have really changed (Astana’s Giro was as blatant as you like). The ways and means used have changed, which may limit activity, but it doesn’t stop it. A little bit of Poe here, a little cortisone there, a bit of steroid just to help recovery….it doesn’t have to be much, but if you are being flogged every day you probably need a bit of preparation to get you through.
If my explanation is a little simplistic for you there’s a lot to encapsulate. Perhaps I will write a book about it some day, but I doubt that you will bother to read it. In my opinion you don’t seem to have really studied or read around the subject – may be that sounds dismissive, but that’s because I’m reflecting your attitude back at you.
Colin Peyresourde wrote:If my
It’s simplistic in that you have repeatedly stated that all the teams are doping, that you don’t believe anyone isn’t and also that the top 20% of all endurance sports are on the juice. That’s about as simple as it gets – i’m really not dumbing it down or exaggerating, that’s what you say so please don’t label this as my attitude. It’s your stated position. I’m querying whether that is a likely scenario – that they’re all doing it and yet we have such an anomalously low hit rate both currently (given the situation that all the winners are definitely on the sauce) and in the recent history. I’m positing it’s highly unlikely that it’s the case, and that’s it’s more likely that a significant proportion of the pro-peloton are in some way using PEDs, probably at a lower level than previously, almost certainly with some new variants of enhancements – and that some of them are clean and are still winning races and stages.
It’s that last part that you seem to insist is absolutely and uncontroversially false. That’s what I mean by simplistic – I would maintain that the world is seldom, if ever, that neat.
fukawitribe wrote: It’s
Interesting, because I’ve never ever stated it that way and do not recognise that as my opinion. I can believe that there are riders that rarely or occasionally dope. That the thing that holds them back is a lack of willingness to do the mixture of dope that will take them to the next level. I’m sure that the propensity to be a climber, a puncheur or a sprinter is based on the root ability of that individual to be that sort of rider, not what is contained within a needle. I am sure that all the athletes work hard to perform at the level they do. I cannot be 100% sure that they all dope, I cannot tell what dope they have taken, and when they are on it, but having watched the race for over 30 years the way the teams race, the way the top riders succeed and the way that riders do not struggle in the same way over the course of the tour I feel fairly certain that by the time you get to ride the Grand Boucle you’ll know what preparation is and you’ll have suffered so much that you’ll want cortisone, or testosterone or whatever else your ex-doping DS is suggesting. I do not exactly blame the riders – Pandora’s box is open. They ride in a dog eat dog competition where loyalty is limited to however many months/years contract you have left. If you don’t win anything your career will be short and limited, and so temptation lies very cheaply within your grasp. Plus, you know it’s pretty easy to pass the test. What are you going to do?
There’s an often quoted survey which balloted Olympic athletes. It asked ‘would you use PEDs if you knew you could get away with it?’. At least 80% answered ‘yes’. It likely that they already do. The CIRC survey indicated that riders thought 9 out of 10 riders were doping (although another thought it was 2 out of 10). I think this says a lot about the mentality of sportsmen who are ultra competitive. Deep down there is no nice guy answering questions is demure and charming way, just someone interested in beating his rivals. It’s no surprise to me that Mo Farah has been implicated by association. He’s beating Kenyan known to be doping with EPO…..and how would you match that?
@ Colin Peyresourde
If it’s
@ Colin Peyresourde
If it’s such a corrupt sport, from top to bottom, why the interest in it?
HalfWheeler wrote:@ Colin
Because the outcome is not always certain. Cycling is no different to many other sports apart from the fact they actually catch dopers.
… Anyway… After the usual
… Anyway… After the usual scuffle over doping back to the news that Steve Cummings won a stage of the TDF! Steve?… Steve? Oh he went home an hour ago… :H
(It reminds me of the Judean People’s Front – or the People’s Front of Judea on the site sometimes.) (|:
MercuryOne wrote:…
Good point 🙂
fukawitribe wrote:MercuryOne
Good point 🙂— MercuryOne
Yes, very good point.
fukawitribe – no probs mate 😀
For the record, it wasn’t
For the record, it wasn’t Colin that raised the fascinating subject of the top 20% of enduro athletes being dopers, that was me.
Kadinkski wrote:For the
Got there just before me – found that thread a couple of minutes ago and realised my mistake, hence why i’m back here. Apologies Colin, I take that part back completely.
I think the ‘specially round
I think the ‘specially round wheels’ that Team GB were using during the Olympics have been passed onto Team Sky 😀