Stage 5: Ypres to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 155.5km. Cobbles
The image was brutal and beautiful all at once: Vincenzo Nibali on the drops, in his dirty yellow jersey, pushing it at the front of a select group of cycling s hardest men in the driving rain through the mud of a cobbled lane with grass down the middle in northern France. A ride for the ages that surely lays the foundations for his bid to win the Tour de France.
The image was heartbreaking and ugly: Chris Froome on the ground, in his dirty team Sky jersey for the second time today, before they'd even reached the cobbles; lifted to his feet only to hobble over to the team car and climb in. His Tour de France title defense, over. A blanket of disappointment drops over the race, briefly.
The day may have started in disappointment, but then it hit those pave sectors and Vincenzo Nibali started to put on his show. Any mourning over the loss of Froome from the race was filed away under 'that's bike racing', as the race came to life once more.
I said before the start of this Tour that because there was so many possibilities; so much to be excited about, that somewhere inside me I was tempering that excitement with the knowledge that it was all too good to be true. Cavendish vs. Kittel in the sprints and then Froome vs. Contador vs. Nibali in the high mountains. Three weeks of the finest cyclists in their various disciplines at their peak going head-to-head. It couldn't last. It didn't last. It only took a few hours to eliminate Cavendish from the sprints battle and then mere kilometres into today's stage, long before any mountain had come onto the horizon, Chris Froome withdrew himself from that respective battle.
It's been a summer to forget for British sport. England crashing out of the World Cup in the group stages, Andy Murray falling well short at Wimbledon, and then Cavendish and Froome, the two hopes for stage wins and GC glory, both out of the race in the first week. Thank goodness for Lewis Hamilton then who came good with a win in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
For Froome, it was obvious that something wasn't right from his fall early on the day before. Signs of him flexing his fingers and shaking his wrist were worrying, but it would appear that things were worse than we knew. Was it really a case of him starting today to see how it would go only to find out that his wrist wasn't up to it? One fall, then another. If it was this bad now, what would happen once they hit the pave? Froome couldn't go on.
My immediate conclusion was that this loss to the Tour was also a loss to his rivals. They'd surely want to beat him on the road rather than like this. Would the winner of this Tour de France have to carry the tag, 'but what if Froome had been there'? I thought so, but if Nibali goes on to win this Tour on the back of this effort today, then Chris Froome, or the absence of him, shouldn't get a mention. Such was the performance by the Italian.
It was a superb stage for the watching fan and it was a ride into legend by Nibali. Lars Boom took the victory, a brilliant ride by the Belkin rider; the biggest of his career so far, who timed his move from a group that contained only Nibali and his team mate, Jakob Fuglsang to perfection, but it was the Italian in yellow that truly lit up the race and the one who will be talked about for years to come.
A day of chaos probably best sums it up as groups of riders found themselves all over the road. The rain certainly played its part as riders were crashing and splits were forming before they had even reached the cobbles. At one point one of the many splits put Nibali in a group ahead of the majority of his rivals and the hammer went down. An early break was soon swept up and with every passing cobbled sector the lead group shrank in size, be it via crashes, mechanical problems or the inability to stick with the pace. I had a feeling that of the big Tour favourites, Nibali might be the one to stand out, but never did I expect him to come so close to winning; to do so much damage to his rivals.
By the time all was said and done Nibali had taken 2 minutes, 54 seconds from Alberto Contador, the man that without Froome (and perhaps even with him) would have been seen by many to be the Tour favorite. Of other favorites, Richie Porte lost 1'52", Andrew Talansky 2'03" and Rui Costa and Alejandro Valverde 2'09" to the Italian.
Prior to this stage the French media had labelled Nibali as weak on cobbles, but today he proved them wrong. This is a rider who has shown himself to be one of the best all-round rider in the sport. He's superb in the mountains, he's decent against the clock, he was brilliant on that rolling Ardennes-like course on stage two into Sheffield, he was in the mix for this years Milan-San Remo, and could have won last years World Championships in atrocious conditions had it not been for a late crash. And then today he showed why he really ought to take a stab at the Paris-Roubaix next year, to do what so few Grand Tour contenders have done in the history of the sport.
All is not lost for Nibali's rivals however and certainly nothing is won. They said it was a day you couldn't win the Tour on, but it was a day you could lose it and they were probably right. Froome lost it here, but Nibali's efforts today will be what we look back to should he hang on to win his first Tour. Today has set up the mountains perfectly. Alberto Contador must attack at every opportunity, not only to overhaul the gap to Nibali, but to get back the time he lost on several other rivals. It would have been nice to see how Froome would have managed that also, but such is the way of the Tour de France with its always unpredictable, ever developing story line that makes history while we watch to remind us that no one man is bigger than the tour, that when it might look as though the show has been spoiled, there is always others ready to step into the spotlight and light it up.
Nibali's ride coupled with such a dramatic stage was the perfect tonic to the news that Froome's tour had come to an end and we'll just have to make do with the suddenly mouth watering prospect of Froome vs. Nairo Quintana at the Vuelta.
Today, in tribute to Le Tour and Vincenzo Nibali, I'll include that nasty 6km broken up stone covered lane, that I always avoid, into my evening ride.
Who said the greatest stages in the Tour de France had to be in the mountains?
Result:
1. Boom (BKN) in 3h 18'35"
2. Fuglsang (AST) +19"
3. Nibali (AST) s.t.
4. Sagan (CAN) +1'01"
5. Cancellara (TRE)
6. Keukeleire (ORI) all s.t.
---
Others:
7. Kwiatkowski (OPQ) +1'07"
16. Van Den Broeck (LTB) +2'02"
20. Porte (SKY) +2'11"
22. Talansky (GRM) +2'22"
25. Costa (LAM) +2'28"
26. Valverde (MOV) s.t.
37. Contador (TIN) +2'54"
Overall:
1. Nibali (AST) in 20-26-46
2. Fuglsang (AST) +2"
3. Sagan (SVK) +44"
4. Kwiatkowski (OPQ) +50"
5. Cancellara (TRE) +1'17"
6. Van Den Broeck (LTB) +1'45"
---
Others:
8. Porte (SKY) +1'54"
9. Talansky (GRM) +2'05"
10. Valverde (MOV) +2'11"
13. Costa (LAM) s.t.
19. Contador (TCS) +2'37"