Stage 8: Tomblaine to Gérardmer La Mauselaine, 161km. Low mountains; summit finish
The French have got themselves a stage winner. A finely timed move by 27 year old Blel Kadri out of a group that had been off the front for most of the day seen him ride clear to win a top Gérardmer La Mauselaine, the first summit finish of this years Tour, for the biggest win of his career. It was a fine rider and it's always good to see a Frenchman get a stage in their home race, but most eyes however were on events further down the road and the first proper stretch of the legs in the hills by the men looking to win the Tour.
As it turned out, Alberto Contador more than looked up to the challenge of trying to reel in the time he lost on stage five, while Nibali was able to match him right until the final ten yards when alleged gear trouble slowed him. Both went clear of the rest and confirmed themselves as the men to win this tour even though Contador still has several riders ahead of him on time.
They say you need a bit of luck to win the Tour de France, that it isn't just the strongest man but also the one who avoids crashes, splits in the bunch and of course mechanical issues. The first two of those isn't always about luck, but sometimes positioning, but the later certainly is and a badly timed puncture or gearing issue can put you into all sorts of trouble.
And it was the timing of Nibali's mechanical incident that strikes me that the bits of luck you need are still rubbing his way. His gearing issue couldn't have happened at a better time; close to the line and only losing 3 seconds to his biggest rival rather than two kilometres from the top, a scenario that would have put him into a world of trouble. Whether that luck continues to hold remains to be seen but so far so good.
What this three day trip through the Vosges mountain range is going to do is weed out those not quite capiable of winning this tour. It's unlikely anyone will do enough to seize an unbeatable lead but plenty will be unable to hack the pace and lose the kind of time they'll be unlikely to be able to make up to ever see yellow.
Today podium pretender Jurgen Van Den Broeck lost 1'17" to Nibali, Pierre Rolland the same, Michal Kwiatkowski 1'36" and Nibali's team-mate and second in GC until today, Jakob Fuglsang, 1'42". Another to lose out was Andrew Talansky, the young American tipped by many to finish in the top five this year. He crashed for the second day in a row, and right before they hit the final climb. It cost him 2'17" on Nibali. That's the bits of luck I'm talking about and the timing of them. Talansky's luck couldn't have been worse these last two days.
But there is a long way to go and many of these riders might yet find opportunities to gain back time, or at least not lose anymore time to some of their rivals, but when it comes to winning the Tour de France, the list of contenders is shrinking and that's what the mountains do best. I don't know what riders not named Contador think, but for the fans, it's starting to get very exciting.
Result:
1. Kadri (ALM) in 3h 49'28"
2. Contador (TIN) +2'17"
3. Nibali (AST) +2'20"
4. Porte (SKY) +2'24"
5. Pinot (FDJ) +2'28"
6. Péraud (ALM) s.t.
Overall:
1. Nibali (AST) in 33h 48'52"
2. Fuglsang (AST) +1'44"
3. Porte (SKY) +1'58"
4. Kwiatkowski (OPQ) +2'26"
5. Valverde (MOV) +2'27"
6. Contador (TIN) +2'34"
