The Tour de France officially entered the Alps today as it looped around the city of Grenoble and over the neighboring Vercors and Chartreuse Mountains.
While it’s the high mountains that await the peloton tomorrow, stage 16 was tailor-made for a breakaway, and attacks started early. And when a large group got away in the first hour of racing, it became clear that neither Primož Roglič nor his Jumbo Visma team were eager to chase and the gap opened to nearly 10 minutes.
Julian Alaphilippe and Richard Carapaz were the biggest names in the break and it was no surprise to see them pushing the pace on the final climb towards Villard-de-Lans. But it was 24-year-old Lennard Kämna who upstaged them all, breaking away with nearly 20 kilometers to go and soloing to his second professional win after scoring his career opener just weeks ago in similar fashion at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
And while the overall race leaders cruised in well off the pace, they know that tomorrows stage that finishes on the highly-anticipated Col de la Loze will offer no place to hide.