2021 Tour de France – Stage 16 – Highlights, Report, Results
Highlights
Report
After the second and final rest day, there was nowhere for the riders at the Tour de France to hide – if they didn’t have the legs this week, there was nothing more to be done. While the 169km stage today started with a downhill stretch, there were four categorised climbs over the parcours, each one evenly spaced to have the maximum impact on the tired legs of the peloton.
The highest altitude start in Tour de France history meant there would be a fast descent, with attacks being followed by counter-attacks. However, the high-speed opening made it difficult to get away – Emanuel Buchmann and Ide Schelling each trying to get away – and an escape group didn’t form until 50km of racing, a trio heading the race, with a smaller attack group that included BORA-hansgrohe’s Patrick Konrad. Patrick’s group was a minute behind the leaders and wasn’t gaining ground, the frustration at the lack of progress causing the Austrian national champion to go on the attack with 78km to go in an attempt to bridge across, catching the trio with 71km remaining and maintaining a slim lead over the chasers.
After working so hard to get into the lead group, it was clear Patrick had his eye on the stage win and, in an attempt to escape his colleagues in the break, went on the attack once again with 35km left. Putting a target on his back with this audacious move, the Austrian had the other attackers desperate to make the catch, but as the kilometres were knocked off, Patrick’s lead began to increase, and with 10km remaining, the gap was exactly a minute. While the chasers did their best, there was nothing that was going to stop Patrick from taking the win, and doing it in style, becoming the first rider in the Austrian national champion’s jersey to win a Tour de France stage, crossing the line solo after an exceptional effort.
Results
Stage
| 1 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 4:01:59 |
| 2 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious | 0:00:42 |
| 3 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Team BikeExchange | |
| 4 | Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis | |
| 5 | Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
| 6 | Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech | |
| 7 | Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:45 |
| 8 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | |
| 9 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:00:47 |
| 10 | Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | 0:01:03 |
General Classification
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 66:23:06 |
| 2 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-Nippo | 0:05:18 |
| 3 | Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma | 0:05:32 |
| 4 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:05:33 |
| 5 | Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team | 0:05:58 |
| 6 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:06:16 |
| 7 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech | 0:07:01 |
| 8 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:07:11 |
| 9 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | 0:08:02 |
| 10 | Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious | 0:10:59 |
Points
| 1 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 279 |
| 2 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Team BikeExchange | 242 |
| 3 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious | 195 |
Mountains
| 1 | Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious | 74 |
Young Riders
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 66:23:06 |
| 2 | Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma | 0:05:32 |