Stage 13: Saint-Étienne to Chamrousse, 197.5km. High Mountains
Today was, pure and simply, a demonstration. Vincenzo Nibali came into today's stage with a 2 minutes, 23 seconds lead in this Tour de France and he'd have been forgiven for playing the defensive game on this the first high mountains stage of the 2014 race; for simply marking his rivals and not losing any time. It was the way Miguel Indurain won five titles after all. But not Nibali. This Italian, destined it would seem to become just the 6th man to win all three Grand Tours, went on the attack. The Shark as he is known, tore his rivals to shreds on the slope to Chamrousse and came out with a 3 minutes, 37 seconds lead over his nearest rival, Alejandro Valverde, in the overall standings.
It was an emphatic third stage win for Nibali in this years race and despite the knowledge that there are so many hard, high mountain stages still to come and that this was just the first trip into the high mountains, it's hard to see him losing the Tour now.
It has become a one man race and while that might ordinarily be cause for concern for the entertainment value of what is left, with Nibali it is anything but. You just know the man is going to continue to put on a show while he feels good and that he has no intentions of stopping on three stage wins.
The suggestion that he could win this Tour by double figures in minutes is not inconceivable, and I hope he does. Yes it's great when the showdown for Yellow comes down to the second to last day, as it is in the Tour, but sometimes you have to admire greatness also. This is a man who won on the rolling hills of Yorkshire, who laid the foundations for a Tour victory on the cobbles of northern Frace, who won on the low mountains of the Vogues and who today he's going to stop now.
Of course one look at the disastrous day that befell Riche Porte and you're quickly reminded how eaily it can all unravel. The new Team Sky leader had hoped today might be the point from which he took a strangle hold on the podium and perhaps put Nibali into trouble, but he cracked early on the final climb and came in almost 9 minutes down on the Astana rider; his GC aspirations in tatters.
Could the same happen to Nibali on one of these tough mountain stages? It could, but then again, unlike Porte, Nibali has won Grand Tours before; he knows what it takes. Nibali could have a bad day, but so could all his rivals and the way this Tour is going, one or two of them almost certainly will. Those behind him on the GC should in theory keep attacking in the hopes it forces him into a bad day and opens the door for one of them again, but the reality is likely different.
The fear now is that the French trio of Bardet, Pinot and Péraud, along with the Spaniard, Valverde and American, Van Garderen will now ignore Nibali and mark one another in a battle to get onto the final two spots of the podium. The idea of that battle in itself is intriguing, but the net result could be Nibali sailing off into the distance on several stages while they look at one another to take up the chase. Only 1 minute, 3 seconds separates Valverde in 2nd, Bardet in 3rd and Pinot in 4th with Van Garderen and Péraud within 2 minutes of Valverde.
Given that we haven't had a Frenchman on the podium of the Tour de France since Richard Virenque in 1997 there is going to be a lot of pressure for one of the three that have suddenly arrived in contention now to deliver the goods.
Then again, there hasn't been an Italian winner since Marco Pantani in 1998 either and Nibali has dealt with that pressure in supreme fashion.
Result:
1. Nibali (AST) in 5h 12'29"
2. Majka (TIN) +10"
3. Konig (NET) +11"
4. Valverde (MOV) +50"
5. Pinot (FDJ) +53"
6. Van Garderen (BMC) +1'23"
7. Bardet (ALM) s.t.
Others:
9. Péraud (ALM) +2'09"
27. Porte (SKY) +8'48"
Overall:
1. Nibali (AST) in 56h 44'03"
2. Valverde (MOV) +3'37"
3. Bardet (ALM) +4'24"
4. Pinot (FDJ) +4'40"
5. Van Garderen (BMC) +5'19"
6. Péraud (ALM) +6'06"
