Cuneo – Jausiers (157 km) Click for route map
I was expecting some of the best scenery of the tour on Stage 16 and I was certainly not disappointed. The start was at the mediaeval Italian alpine town of Cuneo in Piedmont. The riders quickly started the first climb of the day,
scaling the Col de Lombarde which runs through through the The Parc Nationale de Mercantour straddling the French/Italian border. This is the first time on this route in the history of the Tour de France and would be well worth
a return visit. The second climb after the ski resort of Isola 2000 and the town of Isola was to the Cime de Bonnette – Restefond. This is the highest road in France at 2,802 m (the 2nd highest in Europe) following the building of an extra, unnecessary, section round the summit. The summit was like a barren moonscape, not really beautiful in itself but with breathtaking views all around.
Finally, after a gruelling ride, the cyclists dropped down into the small and pretty French lakeside town of Jausiers, still in the Mercantour national park.
RESULTS (British riders in italics)
Cyril Dessel (AG2R La Mondiale)
2nd Sandy Casar – 3rd David Arroyo
YELLOW (individual) – Fränk Schleck (Team CSC Saxo Bank)
2nd Bernhard Kohl – 3rd Cadel_Evans
GREEN (points) - Óscar Freire (Team Columbia)
2nd Thor Hushovd – 3rd Erik Zabel
POLKA DOT (climber) – Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner)
2nd Sebastian Lang – 3rd Thomas Voeckler
WHITE (under 25) – Andy Schleck (Team CSC Saxo Bank)
2nd Vincenzo Nibali -3rd Roman Kreuziger
COMBATIVE – Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner)
LEADING TEAM – Team CSC Saxo Bank
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