njlonghorn

This year's TdF has special meaning for those of us who pay attention to the Lanterne Rouge, because 2016 winner Sam Bennett is in green -- and it looks like he could keep it all the way to Paris!! Alas, Bennett is 29 minutes back of the current leader, so he'll really have to struggle in the mountains to earn the green jersey and the red lantern in the same year.

Here are the standings after 11 stages:
1 Jerome Cousin 49h 13' 39"
2 Pavel Sivakov +6' 48"
3 Roger Kluge +14' 22"
4 Marco Haller +15' 55"
5 Maxime Chevalier +16' 32"

* * *
23 Sam Bennett +29' 17"

njlonghorn

Stage 12 resulted in a fair amount of shakeup on the Lanterne Rouge leader board.

• Cousin was in the 20-rider autobus, solidifying his hold on the top spot.
• Kluge was in that group too, moving past Sivakov -- who was in the main peloton and fell all the way back to 10th.
• Another rider in the autobus, Frederik Frison, shot up from 28th to 3rd.
• Haller and Chevalier were also off the back, but not in the autobus. They lost 6' 38" to Cousin and Kluge, but stayed at 4th and 5th (passing Sivakov but passed by Frison).
• Sam Bennett was also in the autobus, so he didn't gain or lose time on Cousin -- but he did move up to 14th. A few good showings in the mountain stages and he could end up at or near the top.

Here are the standings after 12 stages:

1. Jerome Cousin 54h 48' 53"
2. Roger Kluge -14' 22"
3. Frederik Frison -18' 08"
4. Marco Haller -22' 23"
5. Maxime Chevalier -23' 00"

14. Sam Bennett -29' 17"

HeyItsSara

is that even still a thing? I never hear it reported or discussed

njlonghorn

No major changes.

• The top 4 stayed the same, but the time gaps adjusted somewhat as the gruppetto imploded on the last climb.
• Chevalier fell from 5th to 6th, and was replaced in the top 5 by Bonifazio, who jumped 3 spots.
• Once again, Sam Bennett finished the stage dead last, over 4 minutes after Cousin. With this showing, he climbed from 14th to 7th on the Lanterne Rouge leader board. Could he get to the top, and still win Green? I'd love to see that happen but it seems unlikely.

Here are the standings after 13 stages:

1. Jerome Cousin 60h 20' 41"
2. Roger Kluge -13' 07"
3. Frederik Frison -17' 51"
4. Marco Haller -20' 44"
5. Niccolo Bonifazio -21' 58"

* * *
7. Sam Bennett -24' 57"

njlonghorn

It was never officially a thing. Some years it seems to get some attention, and other years it doesn't. I don't think I've ever heard it mentioned on a TV broadcast. But I find it interesting and somewhat inspiring, so I usually follow it.

Marcus_Ti

Used to be one of those joke things to make lemonade out of lemons...TdF has tried to make it less of a thing to stop people from actively trying to be dead last--but still finish. Which used to be a thing. Was hilarious, then the ASO got bees in their bonnet about it.

njlonghorn

True. I wouldn't respect a rider who tried to earn the LR. That's not what it is about. I enjoy watching rides who choose stages where they can be competitive, and then otherwise just try to finish. As an overweight cyclist who is addicted to climbing, I have great respect for those guys.

Even better is the domestique who toils away in support of a teammate, then fades to the back. Luke Rowe is a perfect example of that. I like him way better than the Yellow Jersey winners he has supported over the years.

79pmooney

Not Lanterne Rouge, but I watched footage of the desperate struggle of the gruppetto to make the time cut a few years ago. Far more dramatic than the stage was. From miles out, it was as hard riding as you see. They mad it to carry on another day, but just barely.

Marcus_Ti

It would be really hilarious, if Sam Bennet could manage to simultaneously hold the Green Jersey and the Lanterne Rouge at the same time at Paris. Not ragging on the man at all--it would just plain be funny.

GrainBrain

Oh great thread! Lawson Craddock would be my favorite, first American to have the dubious distinction as well as hold it for every stage.

Marcus_Ti

Whew.....Bennet finished today. Was worried, but lost (gained?) 2 places in the LR.

njlonghorn

A large gruppetto of 60 riders finished in a pack. Ordinarily that would mean the LR standings were static. But not today -- because 4 riders finished 8' 59" after the gruppetto. (I'm curious how close they were to the time cut.) Two of those riders, Roger Kluge and Frederik Frison, were already in second and third, and stayed there but with smaller gaps between themselves and current leader Jerome Cousin. One of the other stragglers vaulted into the top 5 (Caleb Ewan, vaulting from 13th to 4th). The last of the final finishers, Jasper de Buyst, climbed from 15th to 6th, missing the LR leader board by just under a minute. The changes pushed Marco Haller down from 4th to 5th and bumped Niccolo Boniafazio from 5th to 7th..

There was also a small adjustment because 4 riders in the gruppetto (including Cousin) were split from the rest by a time gap that added 8 seconds to their total.

Here are the standings after 14 stages:

1. Jerome Cousin 65h 08' 47"
2. Roger Kluge -04' 08"
3. Frederik Frison -7' 52"
4. Caleb Ewan -18' 38"
5. Marco Haller -20' 52"

* * *
9. Sam Bennett -25' 05"

Marcus_Ti

Oh my, total shuffle of the LR rankings today...the Top (Bottom?) 10 are all within about a minute of one another.

gpsblake

Ah, memories of Wim Vanseveant, who did the feat of winning that 3 years in a row. He was starting to get so much attention about it, the organizers of the race entertained thoughts of kicking out who was last in the GC after each stage.

njlonghorn

Of the 156 rides who finished on Sunday, 85 came in at least 30 minutes after the leading group. The largest group, including LR leader Jerome Cousin, was at +37' 26". Frederik Frison (3rd place) finished in that same group.

Relevant gains and losses compared to Cousin:

• Roger Kluge came in dead last, 1' 50" behind Cousin. This didn't change the standings, but did close the gap behind Cousin to just 2' 18".
• Caleb Ewan (4th place) and Marco Haller (5th place) both came in 1' 31" after Cousin and 19 seconds before Kluge. Again, this didn't change the standings but did reduce the gaps behind Cousin to 17' 07" for Ewan and 19' 21" for Haller.
• Sam Bennett finished with Ewan and Haller, holding steady at 9th place but slightly closing the gap.

Here are the standings after 15 stages:

1. Jerome Cousin 70h 20' 26"
2. Roger Kluge -02' 18"
3. Frederik Frison -07' 52"
4. Caleb Ewan -17' 07"
5. Marco Haller -19' 19"

* * *
9. Sam Bennett -24' 18"

njlonghorn

You must've been looking at the stage rankings instead of the general rankings. The standings didn't change much at all.

njlonghorn

I had a weird dream last night. Bennett beat Sagan by a nose in the intermediate sprint on stage 21, extending his lead to 51 and clinching the Green Jersey. All he had to do was complete the 7 laps around central Paris. Unfortunately, Bennett slightly pulled a hamstring in the sprint, and had to pedal in intense pain for those 40 miles or so.

The entire Deceuninck team stayed back to support Bennett. When the leading group lapped them, all but a few teams had a rider or two stay with Bennett. The field lapped Bennett again a while later, and his group swelled even more.

The Bennett group was finishing lap #4 just as the leaders came in for the final sprint. Sagan managed to pick his way through the chaos and win. Thus, the final gap for Green was 1 point.

Then, all attention turned to Bennett. He gutted out the final 3 laps, finishing just inside the time cut. The riders who had stayed back to support him all took the extra lap(s), even though they had technically finished the race.

In the effort, Bennett gained 30+ minutes in the Lanterne Rouge standings, vaulting to 1st place by 1 second.

That would be epic.

HeyItsSara

Not true. In Ye Olde Days, it came with a cash prize and the organizers had to make sure ppl didn't slow down on purpose in order to claim it.

njlonghorn

The Lanterne Rouge contest just took a dramatic turn in the direction of boring. But there's still hope for an exciting race to emerge.

Jerome Cousin finished 2' 05" outside the time cutoff and said g'bye to this year's Tour. That shuffled the order as follows:

• The gruppetto finished 27' 27" after the stage winner. The only rider on the LR leader board in that group was Marco Haller (5th place). With Cousin missing the time cutoff, Haller stood to move up to 4th. But....
• Previous 2nd place (Roger Kluge), 3rd place (Frederik Frison), 4th place (Caleb Ewan) and 6th place (Jasper de Buyst ) were the last riders to finish inside the time cutoff, 3' 25" after Haller and the rest of the gruppetto. This was enough for de Buyst to leapfrog Haller.
• Four other riders finished between the gruppetto and the Ewan group. Among those, only NIccolo Bonifazio is at all relevant, moving up from 7th to 6th (because of the Cousin DNF) and closing his gap behind Haller to 2' 04".

Here are the standings after 16 stages:

1. Roger Kluge 75h 01' 52"
2. Frederik Frison -05' 34"
3. Caleb Ewan -14' 49"
4. Jasper de Buyst -19' 42"
5. Marco Haller -20' 28"

* * *
8. Sam Bennett -24' 41"

Ordinarily, a 5' 34" time gap with 5 stages to go would be an exciting LR contest -- especially with 2 mountain stages to come. But this year is different, because the top 4 are all from Lotto Soudal. Caleb Ewan will presumably continue to struggle on the upcoming mountain stages (17 and 18), and we can expect Kluge, Frison, and de Buyst to continue staying back to help him. If they keep making the cutoffs, the time gaps should remain the same until the 19th stage, which is flat and probably won't yield significant (if any) time gaps. Then comes the ITT, which will have some time gaps, but probably not enough to change the podium positions. The standings are tighter between 4th and 8th place, but who cares really?

If Ewan and Co. don't make the time cutoff, Bennett could be back in the picture for the Green and Red combo. I suppose I have something to root for (or against).

njlonghorn

Not true. In Ye Olde Days, some teams and outside sponsors offered cash prizes. But the Tour itself never did. I wouldn't ask you to trust me, but maybe this article will do the trick. It says: "The Lanterne Rouge has never had his own jersey – it has never been an official award – or any other prize."

njlonghorn

So, things didn't go quite as boringly as I expected, but still overall less exciting than it could and should have been. The final climb tore the gruppetto to shreds. Just one rider, Jens Desbuscherre, missed the time cut. But the 50 riders before Desbuscherre received 34 different times, ranging from +28' 27" to +35' 45" behind stage winner Miguel Angel Lopez. Relevant to the LR:

• Near the rear were (surprise!!) Ewan and Kluge, who finished together, 31' 13" after Lopez.
• Frison came in 56" after Ewan and Kluge, so he slightly closed the gap between 1st and 2nd.
• Haller was another 23" back of Frison, which was enough to move up from 5th to 4th.
• de Buyst was 2 or so minutes up the road, and thus fell behind Haller.
• Sam Bennett finished 51" before Ewan and Kluge, costing him time but he nonetheless moved up to 7th.

Here are the standings after 17 stages:

1. Roger Kluge 80h 22' 13"
2. Frederik Frison -04' 38"
3. Caleb Ewan -14' 49"
4. Marco Haller -19' 09"
5. Jasper de Buyst -21' 15"

* * *
7. Sam Bennett -25' 32"

njlonghorn

What a boring stage from the LR perspective (though a reasonably exciting day otherwise, especially for the polka dots).

• The gruppetto pretty much stayed together, with the last 55 finishers coming in at +31' 23", + 31' 25", or + 31' 32".
• Seven of the top 10 LR contenders were in the last cut of the gruppetto, and thus did not gain or lose time.
• Two of the other top ten (De Buyst in 4th, and Chevalier in 10th) finished before the last split, and thus lost a whopping 7 seconds to the rest of the leaders.
• The final member of the top ten (Andre Greipel, 8th place) withdrew. Thus, Bol and Chevalier moved up a spot and Guy Niv joined the top 10.

Here are the standings after 18 stages:

1. Roger Kluge 85h 41' 48"
2. Frederik Frison -04' 38"
3. Caleb Ewan -14' 49"
4. Marco Haller -19' 09"
5. Jasper de Buyst -21' 22"
6. Niccolo Bonifazio -23' 31"
7. Sam Bennett -25' 32"
8. Cees Bol -25' 58"
9. Maxime Chevalier -30' 32"
10. Guy Niv -32' 10"

The closest thing left to excitement is the 26 second gap between Bennett and Bol for 7th place. Other than that, the top 10 seems to be set in stone.

njlonghorn

I briefly got excited when I saw that only 146 riders finished stage 19. Could there be a shake-up on the Lanterne Rouge leaderboard? Alas, no. All three withdrawals were way down in the standings.

Of the 146 finishers, 129 were in the main peloton and 15 were out front. Of those out front, the only relevant rider was Sam Bennett, who finished 6' 26" before the main field and thus slipped from 7th to 10th in the Lanterne Rouge standings.

The two riders who finished after the main field were -- surprise!! -- Frederik Frison (2d place) who finished 24" to the better of the main field and Roger Kluge (1st) who finished 1' 42" to the better of the main field.

All told, the Lanterne Rouge competition got even more boring than it had been. The leaders' cushions grew, and the Green Jersey wearer fell further out of contention. He might even lose his spot in the top 10 if he rides too fast into and around Paris -- his cushion over 11th place Maximilian Walscheid is only 57".

Here are the standings after 19 stages:

1. Roger Kluge 89h 27' 50"
2. Frederik Frison -05' 56"
3. Caleb Ewan -16' 31"
4. Marco Haller -21' 30"
5. Jasper de Buyst -23' 43"
6. Niccolo Bonifazio -25' 44"
7. Cees Bol -28' 19"
8. Maxime Chevalier -32' 23"
9. Guy Niv -34' 01"
10. Sam Bennett -34' 29"

canklecat

This may have been the most fun discussion of the 2020 TdF. I appreciate the absurdity of a green jersey being so close to also being the lanterne rouge. Schönbacher and Durand would approve.

diphthong

can the maglia nera discussion with the (hopefully) upcoming giro be far behind...?