In case you missed it, the super-short but super mountainous stage 17 of the Tour de France began with a new and innovative Formula One style grid start today, before riders went straight uphill on the Col de Peyresourde. >>> LIVE: Tour de France 2018 stage 17 – short & brutal mountain stage through the Pyrenees You can read the ins and outs of how it all worked here if you want, but you've probably realised by now that it didn't quite have the impact perhaps the race organisers were hoping. Nevertheless, Twitter users from around the world of cycling were quick to make their assessment of the experiment, and to be honest, it wasn't overwhelmingly positive. Here you can relive the sensation of the Tour de France's first ever grid start: See more Think this means it won't make the podcast: See more Primož Roglič looking the most ready out of this bunch... See more Let's go for the third one. See more Some just kept it simple. See more See more Luis possibly relieved and sad at the same time he didn't get to experience the grid. See more At least the safety car didn't have to come out. See more Pray for Arnaud, dropped before he'd probably even crossed the start line. See more See more But let's look on the bright side... See more You can't argue with that.<doc-sep>There have been short stages in the Tour de France before but few as critical as Wednesday’s 65km mountain stage from Bagnères-de-Luchon to the top of the Col de Portet in the Hautes-Pyrenees. But why is this stage, the 17th in the 2018 Tour, so different to the usual Alpine and Pyrenean stages? First is the distance. This very fast route, the shortest in the Tour’s modern era, has been likened by some in the race convoy to a “team time trial” or a “criterium in the mountains”. Criteriums are the city centre circuit races ridden throughout France, usually at high speeds and with no quarter given. The difference here is the terrain, which includes a start line at the foot of the steep climb to the Col de Peyresourde. Second is the absence of any neutralised zone, or rolling start. This means the riders will race from the start line, unlike in all other races when there is a départ fictif, or false start, and a few kilometres of neutralised riding before the flag is dropped at the départ réel – the real start. Third is the F1-style grid, sited at the foot of the first climb, in which the yellow jersey will start in pole position and the 19 closest-placed riders on the overall standings will line up in order behind him. The rest of the peloton will be held in pens, cyclocross-style, and then start after the 20 riders at the head of the standings. But most teams, while welcoming the initiative, don’t see it as radically changing the way the stage is raced. “This is going to be a very, very fast stage,” the Team Sky sports director, Nicolas Portal, said. “That’s as much because of the distance as anything. We may ride an hour in the morning and then do a very long warm-up before the stage.” “Some will need a longer warm-up than others,” Adam Yates’s sports director, Matt White, said. “Half the peloton will hate the start tomorrow, especially most blokes over 65kg. It’s a really hard start for the non-climbers. “Everybody will be on the home trainer, as usual for these hill starts,” White said. “If you’d told me 10 years ago that we’d see professionals on the home trainer before the start of every Tour stage, I would have laughed. “We never had stages like this before and I think it’s a great idea. They’re trying some new ideas and I think it’s good to mix it up. The sport’s changing.” Tom Southam, of the Education First team, expected attacks from the main contenders from the start. “I think this stage will be decided pretty quickly,” he said. “It will be like a team time-trial. With Rigoberto Urán gone, we have no overall contender. So our only hopes are breakaways, but given the nature of this stage, there’s no hope of that at all.” “I don’t think it’ll change things very much,” Vincenzo Nibali’s coach, Paolo Slongo said of the grid start innovation, “but if a leader attacked and had some teammates near them, then they could have some kind of advantage. Team Sky will no doubt have a strong team and could therefore gain a benefit.” Team Sky will have two riders in the first 20, Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome, while the Movistar team have three, Mikel Landa, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, and the Lotto Jumbo NL team, two – Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruisjwijk. That weight of numbers may see a very volatile opening to the stage and a select group of contenders move clear. If that is the case, then the stage, and perhaps the Tour itself, could be played out on the steep slopes of the final ascent of this stage, the Col du Portet, which climbs to 2,215 metres.<doc-sep>After more than two weeks of fairly standard Tour de France racing, stage 16 of the 2018 race is finally upon us and we can take a step into the unknown. Not only is it the shortest road stage in years with a distance of 65km (although this does include three hard climbs) the organisers have introduced an innovative grid system for the very first time. >>> How will the grid start work on stage 17 of the Tour de France? Where riders start the stage will be determined by their position in the general classification, with Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome, and Tom Dumoulin at the very front of the grid, with the first 20 riders on GC having set positions on where to stand at the start. The rest of the riders will be grouped into packs of 20 and will be allowed to stand anywhere they like in their allocated pen. That means there will be eight groups of riders at the start in Bagnères-de-Luchon, with the final group consisting of seven riders including lanterne rouge Lawson Craddock. With no neutralised section at the start of the race, riders will be able to attack from the very start, with organisers hoping that GC contenders will be tempted to go from the gun while their rivals try to organise with team-mates who are having to work their way up from the back of the bunch. Tour de France stage 16 grid start line-up 1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 2. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 3. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 4. Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 5. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale 6. Mikel Landa (Esp) Movistar 7. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 8. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar 9. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana 10. Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 11. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar 12. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 13. Pierre Latour (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale 14. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 15. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 16. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing 17. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing 18. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 19. Mikel Nieve (Esp) Mitchelton-Scott 20. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida Group two Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky Ion Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Amael Moinard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott Group three Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Jesus Herrada (Esp) Cofidis Mathias Frank (Sui) Ag2r La Mondiale Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates Maxime Bouet (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo Omar Fraile (Esp) Astana Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe Group four Daniel Navarro (Esp) Cofidis Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida Marc Soler (Esp) Movistar Oliver Naesen (Bel) Ag2r La Mondiale Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data Group five Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data Silvan Dillier (Sui) Ag2r La Mondiale Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Team Sky Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe Michael Schär (Sui) BMC Racing Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida Jerome Cousin (Fra) Direct Energie Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Group six Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott Group seven Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First-Drapac Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates Group eight Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac<doc-sep>
Stage 17 of the 2018 Tour de France sees a couple of major innovations by race organisers ASO, who have not only created the shortest road stage in years at just 65km, but will also have to riders line up at the start of the stage in a unique grid formation. Used in cyclocross races as a matter of course, this will be the first time that a grid start has been used in the Tour de France, but how exactly will it work on the day? >>> Who will start where in the grid start on stage 17 of the 2018 Tour de France? How will the Tour de France grid start work? Just like how at the start of a Formula One race drivers are lined up on the grid based on their qualifying times, the riders at the start of stage 17 will be positioned at the start line in Bagnères-de-Luchon based on their position in the general classification. The first 10 riders will be lined up in two arrow formations at the front of the race, with the yellow jersey at the front of the race, with the second place rider overall behind and to his left, and the third place rider overall behind and to his right. >>> Tom Dumoulin: Froome could pull off another long-range giro style attack at teh Tour de France' The next 10 riders will be lined across the road in two banks of five, still relatively close to the start line. The rest of the peloton will also be positioned according to place in the general classification, grouped into packs of 20 riders where they are free to position themselves as they please. When the flag drops, there will be no neutralised zone as is normally the case with road races, with riders free to race from the gun just as is the case with cyclocross races and criteriums. Why has the grid been introduced? The recent trend for short mountain stages at Grand Tours has often produced exciting racing, but the Tour de France organisers are hoping that the exceptionally short 65km stage combined with the grid start will help to make things explosive. The grid style start will see the general classification contenders isolated from their domestiques in the opening kilometres, meaning that if anyone attacks from the gun then it will be up to their direct rivals, rather than their rivals' team-mates, to chase them down. Of course riders could choose not to chase down attacks on their own, instead waiting for their domestiques to make it to the front of the race, but with every mountain domestique trying to move to the front in the first few kilometres and the Col de Peyresourde coming immediately after the start, it could take a while for teams to get organised. However the stage is also likely to be bad news for the sprinters near the bottom of the general classification, who may have tried to get through mountain stages by getting in the break or starting climbs at the front of the peloton to allow themselves to slip back, but will instead start at the back and only get further behind as they fight to make the time cut.