Tour de France 2016 Stage 16: Sagan times it perfectly for number three and Froome keeps Yellow

Stage 16 of the 2016 Tour de France was a tale of two parts.

Part one was the massive move by Tony Martin and Alaphilippe, both of Etixx Quick Step. Such was the big German's time trial power that for most of the stage it took all of the young Frenchman's effort just to hold the wheel.

Part two was the steep cobbled climb that lead to the final kilometer. The home town finish for Spartacus meant that he tried to neutralize the sprinters' kick with a power move on the climb. Unfortunately for him, he managed to pull Kristoff and Sagan with him.

Tour de France 2016: Stage 16 Preview Froome in Yellow

Stage 16 is a sort of flat stage where weather conditions could cause a couple of splits in the pack.

However, the sprinter teams will want to keep things together as this is the second last chance in the tour for the sprinters to pick up a stage.

The cobbled climb inside the last two kilometers could give a classics rider the chance to escape. What are the chances of one last punch from Spartacus near his home town?

Tour de France 2016 Stage 15: Jarlinson Pantano scores for Colombia and Froome comfortably keeps Yellow

Stage 15 of the 2016 Tour de France was a beautifully brutal stage that shattered the peleton all over the countryside.

It presented an opportunity for riders and teams to put Sky and Froome into the hurt locker and gain some time back. I watched and waited. When the attacks did come on the final climb, they were....

Highlights of THIS episode of THE WEEK IN TRI include:

Javier Gomez Noya crashes out of the chance to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games - just four weeks away.

Angry Bird is in Germany this weekend, looking to dominate the women's race at Roth.

All this and more in this week's episode as we take in the latest triathlon news from around the globe and preview the international races this coming weekend...

Tour de France 2016: Stage 8 Preview Van Avermaet in Yellow

An even tougher day in the mountains. Does Van Avermaet have what it takes to hold onto the jersey?

Tour de France 2016 Stage 7: Cummings wins and Van Avermaet stays in Yellow

What a day! Steven Cummings sending a clear message to the Birtish Olympic Team selectors who told him that he is not strong enough to make the British team to Rio.

Then Greg Van Avermaet extending his lead over the GC favourites in the yellow jersey.

All the way to the sudden and surprise attack on the peleton by the Flame Rouge with one kilometer to go.

Tour de France League 2016: Round 3

Here is the third installment of the Coach Edu Tour de France Competition including details of what you can win. Entry is completely FREE.

Tour de France 2016: Stage 7 Preview - Van Avermaet in Yellow

Stage 7 of the Tour de France 2016 and the mountains are here at last. Time for the GC big guns to come out and play.

Tour de France 2016 Stage 6 Cavendish wins again and Van Avermaet stays in Yellow

The day between the Massif Central and the foot of the Pyrenees can go one of two ways. Either a massive break of minor riders goes clear of the sprinters' teams keep things under control. Either way, the GC contenders were always going to be conserving energy ahead of three big days in the mountains.

And so it came to pass that things were kept together in the scorching heat.

Tour de France 2016: Stage 6 Preview - Van Avermaet in Yellow

Stage 6 of the 2016 Tour de France heads back down out of the Massif Central and should suit the sprinters.

BMC have indicated that they do not intend defending Van Avermaet's yellow jersey, so it will be up to the sprinter teams to keep the break of the day under control over the early undulations.

Tour de France 2016 Stage 5: Van Avermaet wins and takes Yellow

Ask yourself the following question: How many times, seriously, does an early break at the Tour de France stay away all the way to the finish? Think about it. Including mountain top finishes, it is usually a maximum of three stages, although usually only two... In other words each break away has less than a 10% chance of staying away - or more than a 90% chance of being caught. Fairly grim.

Why am I starting there? Well, Greg van Avermaet writes his own statistics. Stage 5 of 2016 was the third time in his career that Greg van Avermaet got into an early break. what's more important is that ALL of the Tour de France breaks that Greg has gotten into have stayed away till the finish.

However, out of all of those, stage 5 of the 2016 Tour de France was by far the most dominant.

Tour de France 2016: Stage 5 Preview - Sagan in Yellow

Stage 5 of the 2016 Tour de France takes a 216km road into the volcanic region of the Massif Central.

Three categorized climbs within the final 36km sets the stage for the first eruptions in the GC battle.

Sagan has only 18 seconds advantage over the GC favorites and a mere 12 seconds over Tour of California winner Julian Alaphillipe.

The World Champion will need to dig extra deep to keep the jersey.

Tour de France 2016 Stage 4: Kittel wins and Sagan still in Yellow

Stage 4 of the 2016 Tour de France was the longest in terms of distance and 15km longer than stage 3. However stage 4 was half an hour quicker than stage 3.

We are now 4 stages in and not one rider has crashed out, although I did hold my breath more than once over the final 10km.

In the end the difference on the line was a single centimeter after 237.5km of racing. It almost looked as if Coquard got himself cought behind Kittel's elbow.

Tour de France 2016: Stage 4 Preview - Sagan in Yellow

Although Stage 4 is the longest of the Tour in terms of distance, the riders ought to be quicker than on stage 3 thanks to a tail wind.

Once again we have a slightly uphill spring finish that should suit Greipel.... But then again so did stage 3.

Tour de France 2016 Stage 3: Cavandish wins and Sagan still in Yellow

At just six seconds shy of a massive six hours in the saddle, I am sure that many riders are looking forward to supper, massage and sleep. That was the third stage of the Tour for 2016. Even though stage 4 will be longer in distance, stage 3 will probably be the longest in hours in the saddle. Everyone, including me, was expecting Andre Greipel to take the uphill sprint, but thanks to a neat tactic he was hung out in the wind too early...

Tour de France League 2016: Round 2

Round 2 of the Tour de France League starts today.

Thanks to AMO Sports Eye Wear, each person that enters the Coach Edu TdF competition 2016 (details in the show notes below the video in YouTube) will receive a discount voucher from AMO via Coach Edu. Add your entry NOW.

Tour de France 2016: Stage 3 Preview

The 223km from Granville to Angers is one that ought to suit the sprinters. However, Tinkoff will not defend Sagan's jersey against a break away as they have the more important issue of an injured Contador as their focus.

Armindo Fonseca attacked from the gun building a lead of over 11 minutes. What will happen next?

Tour de France 2016 Stage 2: Sagan wins and in Yellow

Stage 2 of the Tour de France was always going to be an Everest of a challenge for Mark Cavendish to be able to retain the yellow jersey of race leader. Although able to produce pure sprinter power, Cavendish carries more muscle bulk than most. This means that when the road tilts up, it is watts per kilo that make all the difference as we saw all too clearly in stage 2.

Tour de France 2016 Stage 1: Cavendish wins and in Yellow

Stage one of the 2016 Tour de France had winners and losers. Mark Cavendish was the winner, getting the better of Marcel Kittel in a crash marred finale to take his 27th stage win and first ever yellow jersey.

The (potential) loser of the day was one of the pre-race favorites - Alberto Contador who had a BIG crash with 81km remaining.

Alberto has a week to recover from any injuries he has if he can survive the uphill finish of stage 2.

Tour de France 2016 Stage 1 Preview

This year, 2016, there is no prologue time trial to launch the Tour de France. Instead a road race stage tailor made for the sprinter teams with a relatively uncomplicated finale.

Which sprinter will take yellow and will any favourite lost time behind the obligatory crash?

We shall see (vamos a ver)...

Tour de France 2016 Preview: The Main Contenders

The list of favourites for the Tour this year are in 2 groups. The 5 main contenders who will be watching each other. Then there are the 7 others on the B list who could win if they go on the attack and create chaos for the teams of the main favorites and isolate the starts from their teams.

Lets take a closer look.

Tour de France 2016: ELITE Special Forces Protection Deployed

Following the tragic terror attacks that have happened in France over the past months, organizers of this year's Tour are leaving nothing to chance.

This could have an impact on spectators. Lets give the safety and security of riders, teams and spectators a closer look.

Tour de France 2016 Preview: The Young Riders and TT Specialists

An often neglected part of the Tour de France is both the young rider competition and the time trial specialists.

Here we take a closer look at who the favorites are in the young rider classification. It also gives us an idea of who might rise to become the stars of the future.