Chris Froome used the strength of his teammates –
especially Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas to preserve his hold on the Yellow
Jersey as the Tour concluded its visit to the Pyrénées. During the final climb to the Plateau de
Beille, most of his GC challengers launched attacks, but the Sky formation
refused to panic, kept their steady pace and methodically reeled them in one
after the other. Attackers included
Nibali, Contador, Quintana and Valverde, some of them multiple times. Tejay Van Garderen saw the futility of
attacking, and chose instead to protect his 2nd place standing by
just riding in the slipstream of Froome and the Sky train. At the very last minute Valverde attacked at
the line and realized a one-second advantage over Froome, but it makes no
difference since he is almost three minutes behind.
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) won the stage, having
distanced his breakaway companions. This
is his second stage win, but he is not a threat for the Yellow Jersey.
Peter Sagan still wears the Green Jersey, but he
conceded a few points to André Greipel at the intermediate sprint.
Error
Correction: I mistakenly reported that Lars Boom (Astana)
withdrew because of cancer. He did
withdraw, but it was because of a persistent fever. It was Ivan Basso (Tinkoff-Saxo) who withdrew
because of cancer. Reports say that he
has already had a successful surgery. Hopefully,
he will have a full recovery.
This year's Tour does not include the famous mountain in Provence - Mt. Ventoux - which is a shame. That climb has often been a deciding factor in past Tours. Here we see Ashley and Matt Jensen nearing the summit of Mt. Ventoux in May 2011.
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