Wiggins blistered the time trial stage in Chartres. (33.5 miles at an average speed over 31 miles per hour!) His Sky teammate Chris Froome came in second. Team Sky won the team prize for the day. All that remains is the champagne run into Paris tomorrow, and the question of whether Sky rider Mark Cavendish can win the final sprint to cap off the total domination by Team Sky.
Top American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) almost moved into 4th place, and added another 3 minutes to his margin of victory over Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) for the white jersey–best young rider.
The green (sprinters) and polka-dot (climbers) jersey competitions remain unchanged, and should remain so through the last stage to Paris. Only a catastrophic accident to Peter Sagan (Liquigas) or Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) could change those prizes.
Team RadioShack-Nissan-Trek retains an insurmountable six-minute lead for the overall team prize, but Sky did cut 8 minutes off that margin today. Which raises the question of how RadioShack managed to win that prize. Looking back stage-by-stage, I discovered that RadioShack owns that prize solely from the results of stage 11, the mountain-top finish at La Toussuire in the Alps. Out of 19 stages, Sky beat RadioShack in six stages, while RadioShack beat Sky in five stages. Not counting stage 11, Sky would be leading RadioShack by 1'31" overall, instead of trailing by -6'02". It comes down to mountain-climbing depth. Sky’s first two riders in stage 11 (Froome & Wiggins) beat RadioShack’s first two riders (Schleck & Horner) by 4'24". But RadioShack’s third rider (Klöden) beat Sky’s third rider (Porte) to the top of that mountain by 11'57". RadioShack’s team score margin on that all-important stage was 7'33"–just enough to give them their final margin of 6'02" for the overall team prize. (There should be no margins in the team scores in tomorrow’s flat stage to Paris.)
To celebrate today's race against the clock, here is another antique French clock. This sundial is on the château at Azay le Rideau in the Loire Valley, just south of Chartres, the site of today's time trial.
As I am reading this post, you are cementing your retirement sundial into a spot in our garden.A gift from the kids...well...I hope we never sell the house! Great posting and enjoyable pics of France! My only question now is...what are you going to do Monday hon?
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