Will we soon find out who will be the first Belgian rider to win the mountains classification at the Tour de France? Justine Gecker has already pulled off the trick at this year’s Giro and could now also ride the final stage of the Tour in the polka dot jersey. A little math tells us what needs to be done to take that jersey to Belgium tonight. But it won’t be easy.
Yesterday, Justin Gecker’s wildest dreams came true. The Belgian joined today’s flight to get some mountain points, but he held his own and walked with the lead jumper.
An added bonus in addition to her stage win: she also took full advantage of the mountains classification on the final climb, extending her lead.
Today she started with a proverbial 41 shots. Her closest pursuer is Puck Pieters with 25, followed by Yara Castelin at 3 with 14.
Reassuring, isn’t it?
| Mountain classification order | |
|---|---|
| 1. Justin Gecker | 41 points |
| 2. Book Peters (Ned) | 25 points |
| 3. Yara Castelin (Ned) | 14 points |
Gecker will have to give it his all today.
Calculator at hand
Well, today there are at least 35 points up for grabs, so the final win in the secondary classification is by no means certain. The first hurdle is the Col de Tamié after 27 kilometres. The first five points await there and Ghekiere should usually be able to collect something.
Then the countdown begins to the second part of the stage. There are 15 pieces on both the Col du Glandon and Alpe d’Huez.
With an early flight ticket, Ghekiere can collect some lamps in Glandon, though much will depend on Demi Vollering’s plans.
She must do everything she can to regain the yellow jersey and she can start her adventure early. So it also seems that the full fate in the end belongs to her or to one of the other women in the ranking.
| Final stage of points distribution | ||
|---|---|---|
| Colonel D. Tammy | Second category | 5 – 3 – 2 – 1 |
| Colonel de Glandon | Out of category | 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 1 |
| Alp Doez | Out of category | 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 1 |
| Maximum reach: | 35 points | |
As long as Vollering doesn’t score any points on the first climb of the day, she won’t be able to keep up with Gecker. Yellow jersey Katarzyna Niewiadoma, in turn, must be the first to pass both horse categories to unseat our compatriot, with the same number of points.
But the likelihood of Niewiadoma losing sleep over balls in the middle of the battle for yellow doesn’t seem high. So Pieters seems to be Gekkier’s biggest rival.
If she is to come first on the first two climbs, Ghekiere will certainly have to collect 5 points herself. Not easy, after the great effort she put in yesterday.
Anyway, we’ll keep the calculator handy, because it can be interesting for the woman from AG Insurance-Soudal.
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