Christophe Laporte gave France a much-needed stage win. He blasted past the sprinters in the final kilometer and actually won by a second over the second-place finisher.
Team Jumbo-Visma is having quite a Tour de France! They got their fifth stage win today, and they'll have the yellow and green jerseys in Paris.
Now I come to our terrible prediction. I sat watching today's stage much like I did on 7 July while watching Stage 6. Speeds were through the roof today. The breakaway and the peloton were both moving at incredible speeds. Halfway into today's stage, I knew our prediction was headed the way of Stage 6's prediction.
- Stage 19: 3h 52' 04" (actual), 4h 15' 51" (prediction), 23' 47" slow (10.25% error)
Check out the winner's average speed.
- Stage 19: 13.52 m/s (48.68 kph or 30.25 mph)
That is close to a time-trial average speed! Tour de France organizers figured 46 kph (29 mph) as the possible maximum speed. They are probably scratching their heads as much as I am! Frank Bonnamour was the last rider to finish today's stage. He came in 139th place with a time of 4h 13' 59". We want to model the winner, not the guy who comes in last! I'll definitely need to devote a lot of time to analyses after this year's Tour de France is over.
Tomorrow's 40.7-km (25.3-mi) time trial begins in the French commune of Lacapelle-Marival and takes riders west to the commune of Rocamadour. Our prediction is given below.
- Stage 20: 46' 53" (prediction)
It's a fast prediction, but the way cyclists have been taking the flat French stages, they might challenge half an hour!
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