Le Tour review: In conclusion...

So often the Tour de France is defined by the high mountains. All our memories are built around the big mountain stages when we think back to some of the most magical moments of the Tour. The Alps and the Pyrenees dominate the historic books just as they dominate the horizon when the race approaches. The obvious exception was, perhaps, last year when that epic stage on the cobbles became one of those stages for the ages. And maybe that's fitting because it's only in the most recent of Tours that the race organisation has tried to put more emphasis on stages away from just the mountains.

There's too much love for the suffering and drama of those high Alpine and Pyrenean stages to remove them (though it would be fascinating to see a Tour with just one mountain stage and lots of others like what we seen in the first week or on the transition between the Alps and Pyrenees! Peter Sagan would surely fancy his chances!) but the race organisors have been looking for ways to spice up the first weeks racing in an attempt to make those stages count for something in the grand scheme of the three week race.

And now they have succeeded.

For the first time that I can remember, this Tour might well be remembered most for the first week of racing. Gone for sure are the days of sprinters dominating the first week of racing with the contenders doing little more than avoiding accidents on pan-flat stages while using them as glorified training sessions to find their form ahead of the real stuff in the later two weeks. Once upon a time only a time-trial could sort out the general classification before the mountains. But not this year.

No doubt, the Pyrenean stages were decent, and in the case of the first one to La Pierre-Saint-Martin, decisive as Froome took 1min 14sec (including the time-bonus) out of Nairo Quintana, a mere 2sec more than which he won the Tour by. Likewise the Alps, as two young Frenchman, as well as the reigning champion, took victories to salvage their respective Tours, before Quintana made a last ditch bid for glory and almost pulled it off as Froome began to struggle and we found ourselves on the edges of our seats for the first time in over a week.

All great moments, but lets not kid ourselves, the first week stole the show.

The short individual time-trial in Utrecht in the Netherlands did little to affect the contenders but it seen the fastest time-trial in Tour history, by Rohan Dennis, breaking the record set by Chris Boardman at the 1994 prologue. From there we had three distinctly different classic type stages -- in cross-winds, on the Mur de Huy and on the cobbles -- in which more time was won and lost in a way that twenty years ago would only have been seen on a long time-trial or on the side of an Alpine mountain.

We seen Cancellara take Yellow, then abandon. Then Froome lay down a psychological marker and take the race lead, only for the ever popular Tony Martin to win on the cobbles and overcame three days in which he had missed out on Yellow to three different men by five, then three, then a single second, to finally pull on his career first Maillot Jaune. It didn't last long though, on stage six he too crashed out when he came down and brought three fifths of the 'boy band' of Quintana, Van Garderen and Froome with him. It caused a brief fallout between Nibali and Froome with the former blaming the later and the later storming the team-bus of the former. Their fued would ignite again on stage 19 when Nibali would attack to win the stage while Froome was suffering a mechanical.

There was also the traditional first week crashes, and none so serious as on stage 3 when several riders came down hard, consuming all medical personnel behind the race. The result was the sight of the race being stopped briefly. Several riders abandoned that day including Cancellara who rode the final 50km to the finish with a broken back, while others soldiered on. Adam Hansen separated his shoulder and Michael Matthews broke ribs and while both suffered greatly, both made it to Paris.

The sprinters got their bunch gallops, but only twice in those first nine days as Greipel won his second stage (having survived the cross-winds of stage 2 to win) and Cavendish took what would be his lone win of the Tour.

By the time they had rode up the tough Mûr-de-Bretagne and suffered through a team-time-trial that came so late into the Tour that many teams were already without riders and many riders were already suffering from tired legs, the GC had been blown to bits.

We had witnessed a magical first nine stages in which all the contenders looking to win the Tour in the mountains that still lay ahead had been active almost every day trying not to lose it. It had exhausted them before what they might have perceived as the 'real racing' had even begun. And, as we found out, it took its toll on many legs throughout those mountains.

Chris Froome, expected to spend the first week limiting his losses came out in Yellow, while Vincenzo Nibali, expected to make a lot of gains that first week, had been shedding time. And that only continued into the mountains as for a brief time his team management stripped him of team leadership. All before he finally found his legs in the final days in the Alps, though too late to win the Tour, but enough to vault himself back into the top 5.

Beyond that first rest day the race was split into three parts for me: Froome winning the Tour in the Pyranees, Sagan winning the points competition on the transition stages, and the young Frenchmen rescuing their Tours with wins in the Alps.

Sadly though there was a fourth part to this Tour that, along with the first week, done its best to steel who spotlight, and that was the treatment of Chris Froome in the (French) media, on back corners of social media and, worst of all, at the side of the road. The later was clearly influenced by what was said in the media as the likes of Laurent Jalabert began to doubt Froome and pseudo scientists on social media took up the baton with innuendos that led others to outright condemnation. We see this stuff every year now, things took a more sinister twist in 2015 when so-called fans at the side of the road spat at Froome and one so-called human threw a cup of urine in his face.

And all this for a man who has done little more than win. Win in the face of little hard or even circumstantial evidence of any wrong doing. It was fascinating to watch the likes of Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador get a free ride (and rightly so in the sense that no fan interference is warranted on any rider, whatever the situation), while Froome bore the brunt. Of course, this is the price to pay when you wear the Yellow jersey, it's nothing new. Merckx seen it because he would dominate the event year-in year-out; Froome is seeing it because the generation before him that won, cheated. And only in the Tour. During his rider to Giro victory Contador got a virtual free ride by comparison to Froome and the later is without history here.

But unlike the generation before in Yellow, say Lance Armstrong seven times, there has been no covered up tests, no back-dated TUE and certainly no disgruntled ex-team-mate looking to sell his story, and we all know there's some disgruntled ex-Sky employees out there.

And yet, Froome handled it with a class that not many could. He'd have been forgiven for losing it in a press conference, certainly with a fan at the side of the road, yet he kept his composure, he maintained his focus, he responded calmly and articulately when questioned and then he got on with racing his bicycle.

In the end, nobody knows 100% that Froome is clean except himself, but at some point in sport, just as in life, we need to give some people the benefit of the doubt. This is a bike race and there is going to be a winner; someone has to win. If the point comes at which I can no longer give anyone the benefit of the doubt by weighing up what I see and how I perceive them, then I wouldn't watch anymore. Why be a hypocrite? Why waste your time watching, or tweeting, or waiting at the side of the road to throw urine when there's so much else to do?

As things stand, Froome is deserving of that benefit of the doubt. I'd prefer to give him the chance and be let down than to condemn and abuse and later find out there was nothing in it. But maybe that's the human being in me. The way in which Froome carries himself as a person on (riding style aside!) and in particular, off the bike is only to be admired. The way he faced the kind of adversity he did, the way he reacted to it, and the way he overcame it to remain on the moral high ground leaves him as the kind of athlete - the kind of person - I'd want my kid to look up to. Dangerous ground you might say, not just with athletes but cyclists too, but sometimes you have to be courageous enough to believe in someone.

Anyway, let not the final words on this years Tour be overshadowed by a subject and incidents that in the end failed to overshadow the race itself. Froome won it in the end and that's what mattered.

And so there goes the 2015 Tour. That first week of winds, Murs, cobbles, grit and exhaustion; that second week of Froome on the first Pyrenean stage and Sagan attacking day after day but without reward of a win; and that third week of French wins, Nibali winning and Quintana making a go of it only to fall short as Froome stood victorious a-top the podium in Paris. Many came in hoping to make their mark on this years Tour, and some did. Some came in hoping to win it but one by one they fell by the wayside, and only one did. It wasn't the greatest Tour ever, perhaps highlighted by the first week being so damn good, but no Tour is bad, none resigned to failure nor worth forgetting.

Le Tour review: Alternative standings - the boy band, the French and the Lanterne Rouge

Back on each rest day I had looked at three alternative, unofficial standings to see how they were playing out. Here then at the end of the Tour is those three categories and who came out on top. Sadly no jerseys awarded!

'The boy band':

1. Chris Froome in 84h 46' 14"

2. Nairo Quintana @ 1' 12"

4. Vincenzo Nibali @ 8' 36"

5. Alberto Contador @ 9' 48"

Well the man who felt they should be known as the five-piece boy-band and not the 'big four' or 'fab-four' as they had been known coming into the Tour, Tejay Van Garderen, was the only one who failed to make it to Paris, falling ill on the first day in the Alps when placed strongly. Vincenzo Nibali muscled his way back in over the same mountain range and ended up ahead of Contador in the pecking order. But as close as they came to fulfilling their prophecy as the 'big four', Alejandro Valverde finished in third overall and replaced the departed Van Garderen in the band of five.

The Frenchmen:

Not just a list of the top Frenchmen, but the Frenchmen many believed might have a crack at a top 10 placing overall before the Tour, in particular those young bucks from last year and Warren Barguil riding his first Tour. At the last time of writing, Barguil was the best of them with Tony Gallopin as the surprise package. On the other hand Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot were struggling to live up to the expectations put on them from last years strong rides. So how did they finish?

1. Romain Bardet (9th overall @ 16' 00")

2. Pierre Rolland @ 1' 30" (10th @ 17' 30")

3. Warren Barguil @ 15' 15" (14th @ 31' 15")

4. Thibaut Pinot @ 22' 52" (16th @ 38' 52")

5. Alexis Vuillermoz @ 1h 19' 6" (25th @ 1h 35' 6")

6. Tony Gallopin @ 1h 24' 44" (31st @ 1h 40' 44")

7. Jean-Christophe Peraud @ 2h 19' 10" (58th @ 2h 35' 10")

Well the final week of the Tour was a good one for the young Frenchmen with Bardet riding superbly to win himself a stage and only lose a collective 2min 50sec on Froome over the Alps. He leapt to the top of my 'selective French standings' ahead of Pierre Rolland who himself got in several breaks. Indeed, Rolland was the best of the lot across all the mountains. Beyond the first rest day when the race entered the first high mountains of the Tour, only Nairo Quintana (-47sec) and Alejandro Valverde (3min 35sec) lost (or gained) less time to Chris Froome than Pierre Rolland who over 7 mountain stages and 12 in total conceded just 5min 47sec to the eventual champion. Thibaut Pinot also won himself a stage on Alpe d'Huez though he couldn't quite overhaul Barguil who finished third on this list. Tony Gallopin fell away in the end while Alexis Vuillermoz had a solid Tour to go with his stage win on the first week. As for Jean-Christophe Peraud, after coming second last year, it was a race to forget. He had a bad crash and it left him limping around at the back of the field into Paris.

Lanterne Rouge:

The Lanterne Rouge; the last man in the race. That went to another Frenchman, Sebastian Chavenel, who came home 4hrs 56min 59sec behind Froome. It may seem to an outsider as an (unofficial) award that no man would want, but in cycling there's a honour to it. Sure you were last, but you made it. You suffered on the edge of time elimination through the mountains and survived. 38 others climbed off their bikes between Utrecht and Paris, but you finished it. Indeed, there can even be financial rewards via invites to the post-Tour criterium circuit.

160. Sébastien Chavanel (FDJ) @ 4h 56' 59" to Froome

159. Svein Tuft (OGE) @ 8' 51"

158. Kenneth Van Bilsen (COF) @ 15' 32"

157. Bryan Nauleau (EUC) @ 16' 47"

156. Matthias Brandle (IAM) @ 19' 23"

155. Davide Cimolai (LAM) @ 23' 38"

Sam Bennett who looked on to win this contest, abandoned the Tour on stage 17 passing the Lanterne Rouge to the bike of Sébastien Chavanel. Svein Tuft, previous winner of this contest finished in 2nd, while Bryan Nauleau leapt up into the top 3 come Paris.

Le Tour review: Other official standings

While a lot of my attention tended to be on writing about the battle for the Yellow jersey as well as the stories out on the road of individual stages, there was as ever other jersey prizes up for grabs. Some were won by predictable contestants and another was won by someone who achieved something last done by Eddy Merckx.

Green jersey points classification:

Peter Sagan once again triumphed for a fourth straight year in the Green jersey competition despite the best efforts of a brave Greipel. The German won four stages and for a long time made it a closer contest than it has been for years. Sagan was often beaten in intermediate sprints and on the line, but he kept his nose in and when they hit the mountains he was able to infiltrate breaks that Greipel never could and thus pick up points on the road, and even on the line, without reply.

1. Sagan (TCS) 432pts

2. Greipel (TLS) 366pts

3. Degenklob (TGA) 298pts

4. Cavendish (EQS) 206pts

5. Coquard (EUC) 152pts

6. Froome (SKY) 139pts

Polka-Dot jersey King of the Mountains classification:

Changes to this contest to take it out of the hands of those who snatch up points on the lower classification hills and into the hands of those who feature in the highest of mountains paid off, though it resulted in two men, who were targeting the Yellow jersey, finishing up in first and second of the KOM as a by-product. And in first was Chris Froome who became the first man since Eddy Merckx to win the Yellow jersey and the King of the Mountains title in the same year. It would be fascinating to go through the history of this contest and re-calculate the points awarded to this years standards to see whether outcomes may have changed, though Richard Virenque would prefer that you didn't. It was a shame in a way that someone like Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot or Joaquim Rodriguez, who by the second week had turned to targeting the prize, but then again there is no sentiment in the Tour and the jersey is designed to go to the most consistent climber in the highest mountains.

1. Froome (SKY) 119pts

2. Quintana (MOV) 109pts

3. Bardet (ALM) 90pts

4. Pinot (FDJ) 82pts

5. Rodriguez (KAT) 78pts

6. Rolland (EUC) 74pts

White jersey Young Rider classification:

In the young riders contest it was Quintana who triumphed, though the Tour organisors really need to consider making it one for riders 23 years old and younger as Quintana certainly isn't seen by many as one of the young up and coming riders anymore. Given the depth of young talent in the field, a 23 and under contest may have been more appropriate. Had that been the case, Warren Barguil (riding his first Tour) would have come out on top. Expect him, Bardet and the Yates brothers to feature heavily next year.

1. Quintana (MOV) in 84h 47' 26" (age 25)

2. Bardet (ALM) + 14' 48" (age 24)

3. Barguil (TGA) + 30' 3" (age 23)

4. Pinot (FDJ) + 37' 40" (age 25)

5. Jungels (TFR) + 1h 32' 9" (age 22)

6. Sagan (TCS) + 2h 13' 43" (age 25)

Team classification:

The team prize went to Movistar. No surprises given they completed the podium after Froome but they won it though by a staggering 57min 23sec over Sky. It's a bit of a sideshow contest, highlighted by the time-gaps, and I'm not sure how seriously the riders even take it -- especially a team like Sky who were more than happy to sacrifice all their men at the expense of one Chirs Froome winning the Tour -- though I suppose to some teams it is a bargaining chip for sponsorship.

1. Movistar in 255h 24' 24"

2. Sky + 57' 23"

3. Tinkoff-Saxo + 1h 00' 12"

4. Astana + 1h 12' 9"

5. MTN-Qhubeka + 1h 14' 32"

6. AG2R La Mondiale + 1h 24' 22"

Most aggressive rider classification:

The most aggressive rider went to Romain Bardet. Aggressive for sure in this final week as he attempted multiple times to win a stage and finally came good but surprising nonetheless, but perhaps one for the home fans because other riders had spent more time in the break. Peter Sagan was active almost every day in his conquest to win the Green jersey and finished in the top five in 11 of the 21 stages. Or indeed how about Thomas De Gendt who spent the most amount of kilometres off the front in breaks at 679km (or 20% of the race). He highlighted this distance on his own Twitter account after the Tour, reminding us that it came on top of "several days working hard for @AndreGreipel all this with a broken rib. What do i have to do more for the combativite"? What more indeed?

1. Bardet (ALM)

Le Tour review: The Top 10 against my predictions

So the Tour is over and it has been won and lost. What now follow is a collection of articles on a review of the Tour. The winners, the losers and a little bit of analysis. Firstly, a look at the official top 10 (and a few others) followed by a look at my predictions pre-Tour and how wrong I was!

The Final General Classification:

1. Froome (SKY) in 84h 46' 14"
Struggled with illness in the final days and it was the only time he looked beatable, but a superb first week, a dominant display in the Pyrenees, and the strongest team in the race ensured a bad day did not prove costly.

2. Quintana (MOV) @ 1' 12"
A huge talent and without a doubt a future winner. He got stronger as the race went on but on a course in which the Tour was won in each of the three weeks, he was unable to overcome Froome.

3. Valverde (MOV) @ 5' 25"
So much for him fading due to sacrifices in aid of his team-mate. Valverde did help Quintana but he was strong himself and just when you expected it least, he got his first Tour podium.

4. Nibali (AST) @ 8' 36"
A disasterous first week for the reigning champ left him playing catchup throughout. He struggled too in the Pyrenees but came good in the Alps to jump up into the top five, but it was too late, though he did win a stage.

5. Contador (TCS) @ 9' 48"
The Giro-Tour double always seemed like it would be too much for him no matter how sucked into the possibility anyone got. He looked solid through the first week was soon exposed in the mountains and never climbed like his usual self.

6. Gesink (TLJ) @ 10' 47"
A brilliant ride by one of the forgotten young stars of yesteryear. He has faced so much adversity in recent years and so it was great to see him back at the sharp end. Rode extremely well throughout.

7. Mollema (TFR) @ 15 '14"
A consistent top ten. Never featured too much at the front but clearly hung in when others couldn't and achieved his third top 10 finish in-a-row at the Tour.

8. Frank (IAM) @ 15' 39"
Will have been a surprise to many to have finished this high up and for a while it was looking unlikely until on stage 17 to Pra Loup when he got into a break and finished 5min 36sec ahead of the Yellow jersey vaulting himself up from 13th overall to 8th. He rode very well to maintain that placing showing himself as someone who only gets stronger as a three week race goes on.

9. Bardet (ALM) @ 16' 00"
He finished a few places back on last year but this will still be seen a Tour in which the young Frenchman progressed. He had it tough in the first week but came back strong in the mountains, putting on a clinic in descending and winning a mountain stage solo. He was in contention to win the mountains jersey right until the end.

10. Rolland (EUC) @ 17' 30"
Given how well he rode in last years Vuelta perhaps it was unfair to overlook what is still a young rider in favour of the likes of Bardet, Thibaut Pinot and Warren Barguil. Once he knew any hope of a top five was gone he got himself into breaks and tried for stage wins. It didn't work out but he was consistent and deserved the top 10 to remind everyone of his talent.

---
Select other Brits, Canadians, Irish, and Sagan!:
15. Thomas (SKY) @ 31' 39"
16. Pinot (FDJ) @ 38' 52"
35. Roche (SKY) @ 1h 54' 8"
39. D. Martin (TCG) @ 2h 3' 37"
40. Hesjedal (TCG) @ 2h 4' 37"
46. Sagan (TCS) @ 2h 14' 55" wins)
142. Cavendish (EQS) @ 4h 12' 5"
159. Tuft (OGE) @ 4h 48' 8"

And how about my predictions:

1. Chris Froome (Finished: 1st)
2. Vincenzo Nibali (4th)
3. Thinaut Pinot (16th)
4. Nairo Quintana (2nd)
5. Tejay Van Garderen (DNF)
6. Alberto Contador (5th)
7. Romain Bardet (9th)
8. Ryder Hesjedal (40th)
9. Pierre Rolland (10th)
10. Rui Costa (DNF)

Other jerseys:
Green: Peter Sagan (1st)
KOM: Pierre Rolland (6th)
White: Nairo Quintana (1st)

So I was actually correct, for once, on who would win the Tour, though I was hardly sticking my neck out in picking Froome. By stage 10, with that tricky first week behind him, it looked a safe bet.

I also done pretty well with my predictions for Contador, Bardet and Rolland. I felt the Giro-Tour double attempt by Contador would be too much, and it was.

Nibali fell a bit short on my guess, doing worse in the first week than I ever imagined. Quintana on the other hand navigated it better than I thought he might and thus was always on the podium come the mountains.

Tejay Van Garderen and Rui Costa failed to finish though it's unlikely Costa would have achieved a top 10 had he remained in the race. Van Garderen on the other hand...

As for Ryder Hesjedal. Well, given his big effort in the Giro, I should have known better. He spent the first week 'chilling' at the back of the peloton. It cost him time and he lost more in the Pyrenees. He was clearly he was setting himself up for a stage win and he came very close with a second place on Alpe d'Huez.

As for the other jersey's: Sagan was as safe a bet as there was in the race, Rolland never really put his nose out for this contest and while I listed Bardet as the white jersey winner (due to me picking him to finish 7th overall) I did so because I failed to realise Quintana was still eligible for it. Had I known, I'd have obviously picked him given I had him at 4th overall, so I'll take that one!

Greipel makes it four while Froome makes his win official

Stage 21: Sèvres > Paris Champs-Elysees, 109.5km

The final stage into Paris is always a procession, at least until they get to the Champs-Elysees, though this year they took that procession to a new level, rolling along at speeds that your granny could muster as the driving rain combined with tired legs from the 20 devastating stages that had come before left nobody with the desire to move quickly until they had to. And then, when push came to shove, André Greipel moved quickest of them all, again.

That driving rain was so bad that race officials decided the times towards the general classification would be taken on the first trip over the finishing line, leaving the circuit racing up and down the Champs-Elysees to those wanting to risk their necks and fight for the stage win in what is the unofficial sprinters world championship. As it turns out they all raced those laps anyway, despite the fear for the absurd sight of everyone, baring a handful of sprinters teams, sliding off the back and touring their way around Paris until they had concluded their quota of laps.

And everyone made it to the first passage over that finishing line before the pace began to hot up, though Chris Froome of all people was the one who almost ran into disaster. During the usual rigmarole of pictures of Froome holding champagne, pictures of the jersey winners riding at the front together, and pictures of the winners team riding arm in arm, Froome was almost brought down when team-mate Richie Porte, who had proven so valuable to him the day before, almost lost his balance when attempting to ride with no hands in order to pose for that team picture.

Disaster averted and onto the Champs-Elysees, Froome was safe and only a couple of mechanical issues -- one of which seen a bag trapped in his real wheel forcing a bike change -- got in his way, though the official time had already been accounted for. Another moment of madness came on the final lap when a protester took to the route and stood with his arms out stretched as the on rushing peloton swept around him. Miraculously nobody hit him and everyone got home safely.

So it was over to the sprinters to decide the stage, once a couple of forlorn hopes had made their attempt to spoil the fun only to be reeled in, and who else should take the win but Greipel? Far and away the best sprinter in this years Tour, taking his fourth stage win. He beat Brian Coquard into second and the strong Alexander Kristoff into third. Peter Sagan never got close enough and an ill Mark Cavendish was way back in sixth on what used to be his stage.

A minute or so behind, though unofficially, came the Sky team, once again arm in arm but this time with a more secure looking Richie Porte. And in the middle...Chris Froome. In his Yellow jersey and as champion for the second time; the first British man to win the Tour on two occasions after Sir Bradley Wiggins had become the first Brit to win it just three years ago.

So after a savage 3,360.3km raced at brutal 39.64km/h in which just 16 men finished within an hour of the race winner Froome, all that was left was the pomp and ceremony on the podiums and then the after party. As he stood on the top step with the Champs-Elysees sweeping up to the Arc de Triomphe behind him, Froome gave a short but poignant speech. "This is a beautiful country and it hosts the biggest annual sporting event on the planet. To win the 100th edition is an honour", he said after thanking numerous people from his team-mates to his family. "This is one yellow jersey that will stand the test of time." It was all he needed to say and it highlighted once more the class of the man to show such grace given what he had gone through on the road to winning this 2015 Tour de France.

This is a beautiful country and it hosts the biggest annual sporting event on the planet. To win the 100th edition is an honour... this is one yellow jersey that will stand the test of time,” he said from the podium.

Result:	Final classement:
1. Greipel (TLS) in 2h 49' 41" 2. Coquard (EUC) 3. Kristoff (KAT) 4. Boasson Hagen (MTN) 5. Demare (FDJ) 6. Cavendish (EQS) all s.t.	1. Froome (SKY) in 84h 46' 14" 2. Quintana (MOV) + 1' 12" 3. Valverde (MOV) + 5' 25" 4. Nibali (AST) + 8' 36" 5. Contador (TCS) + 9' 48" 6. Gesink (TLJ) + 10' 47"

Froome goes to the limit to win the Tour...Pinot rescues his Tour on the most iconic of mountains

Stage 20: Modane > Alpe d'Huez, 110.5km

It was a stage of two parts. Not a split stage like those from the 1980s, but rather a stage in which two stories were written. The first was the very sudden realisation that perhaps this Tour was not over and that at last the Yellow jersey appeared to be in trouble, with a seemingly won and lost Tour up for grabs on the most iconic climb in the race and the final climb at that. The second was the race to actually win on that iconic climb as a young Frenchman timed his moment of redemption on this years Tour to perfection, much to the joy of his adoring home nation.

When Thibaut Pinot was seen standing on the cobbles of northern France almost three weeks ago, throwing his arms in the air in frustration that a mechanical was sending his Tour dreams up with the dust that surrounded him, it looked as though he might just quit there and then. It might have been the easy thing to do. Likewise on stage 17 when, having long since turned to hunting for stage wins, he crashed on the descent of the Col d'Allos. A younger version of himself might well have folded and rode anonymously into Paris but last years high finish has clearly given him a deep belief in his ability and the 25 year old Frenchman gutted it out and continued to hunt, until today, when on the grandest stage of all at Alpe d'Huez, he got his win.

It was a superb ride by Pinot. He shook off the rest of his breakaway companions, the last of which was the always gritty, always strong Ryder Hesjedal, and soloed to a win by 18sec over a fast charging man on a mission, Nairo Quintana.

From the top of the first mountain of the Tour to the foot of the last, Chris Froome winning this years Tour de France has seemed a foregone conclusion with everyone else either fighting to maintain a podium place or a position in the top ten. Either they seemed incapable of distancing the Sky rider or, dare I say, unwilling to attempt it at the risk of blowing their own position.

Nairo Quintana, who had entered the mountain stages nearly two minutes behind Froome and then lost more time on that first mountain stage, had spent the better part of the past week making small attempts to shake Froome only to find himself consolidating his podium position by dropping most others but with Froome always close by.

That isn't to say there were signs that Froome was beginning to look tired; no longer was he initiating the major moves, but even yesterday Quintana only managed to pull back a mere 30sec when he finally shed himself of Froome, leaving Froome still 2min 38sec to the good with just this final stage to go. But nobody wins the Tour without some kind of adversity, and while Froome has faced a lot of his from the actions of some idiot fans, on the bike he was, at last, about to get a taste of adversity courtesy of the little Colombian.

There was only two climbs here and the first on the Col de la Croix de Fer was too far out as Quintana found out when he briefly attacked only to sit up on the descent. With a long ride along the valley to the Alpe, it would have been madness for Quintana to push on. It appeared too late for Quintana, just as it had been each time a day ticked by with Froome still in a commanding lead, and so with only the Alpe remaining, focus was already fully upon who from the early break off the front might win the stage itself.

In the end it was too late, but for a short while, Froome appeared to be in real trouble. Quintana attacked early on the Alpe and nobody reacted. Froome watched him go, but this time there was no holding his power threshold and slowly bridging back across. This time the gap continued to open until which times Quintana was no longer on the same stretch of road between hairpin bends.

The gap grew to 30 seconds and it held around there for a while as Froome sat on the wheels of his super domestique, turned bodyguards, Wout Poels and Richie Porte. The last act of Porte in service to his captain before moving away from Sky at the end of the season would be to try and save the Yellow jersey for the Sky leader.

As the crowds swarmed and the threat of attack loomed, the Sky duo in front of Froome powered their way through, the crowds moving back just in time as the clock on the top of our TV screens continued to tick upwards and up over a minute. Froome was in trouble, with several kilomtres still remaining, the Tour appeared to be slipping away.

Everyone was scrambling to do the maths in their heads. How much could Froome afford to lose now and how many kilometres were left? Was he keeping something in the bag...riding to a level he knew he could maintain without losing enough time? Or was he on his limit...starting to panic as the time gap continued to rise and the legs refused to react? He wasn't looking any stronger as the hairpin bends were counted off, and what if he suddenly cracked?

Behind the Team Sky bus paced Sir Dave Brailsford, going through all these emotions with the sane side of his brain telling him that the allowable gap versus the distance remaining left a power requirement of Froome that he could surely manage. The other side of his brain was remining him (and all of us) of the human element of the Tour in which sometimes power numbers, data, stats and everything else could become irrelevant when troubles come and all that stood between you and the glory was the desire to suffer that little bit more, to find the strength to hang on.

Into the final kilometre and Brislford could begin to relax. Quintana hadn't gained enough. That moment in which it looked like we were witnessing one of the greatest comebacks/collapses in Tour history was fading. Quintana finished and 1min 20sec later, so to did Froome. He looked to the clock, a look of a man that didn't have it all under control after all, but took note that he had won the Tour by a mere 1min 12sec; a figure nobody could have imagined his lead dropping to when the day began.

Quintana will surely question his bad timing today. A little too late to overhaul Froome for the Tour win and a little too late to overhaul Pinot for the stage win and he will head home as the winner of the young rider competition, but empty handed without a stage victory unlike those two men who got in his way overall and for the stage. That said, he will win stages and should win himself a Tour one day, and what he did perhaps do was prove himself as the finest climber in the world, one who stays strong over the course of a three week race. It will have left him and his fans wondering what if regarding that treacherous first week where on stage two in the cross-winds he lost 1min 28sec to Froome, more than which he has now lost the Tour by.

Of course, for Froome he has proven to have timed this Tour to perfection. You can say 'what if' there had been another mountain today, or another mountain stage tomorrow, but there wasn't and there isn't and Froome stands in Yellow. And while Quintana can say he lost the Tour in the winds of Holland, Froome could also point to that first mountain stage to La Pierre-Saint-Martin where, with the stage win, he put 1min 14sec (including the 10sec time bonus) into Quintana, 2sec more than that he won the Tour by.

In the end though, the best man always wears Yellow in Paris and Froome has proven himself to be the best across the entire three weeks of the route that was put in front of them and not just the four days in the Alps. He'll ride into Paris tomorrow and baring some kind of unforeseen disaster will win his second Tour in three years and Sky's third in four.

Result:	Classement:
1. Pinot (FDJ) in 3h 17' 21" 2. Quintana (MOV) +18" 3. Hesjedal (TCG) +41" 4. Valverde (MOV) +1' 38" 5. Froome (SKY) s.t. 6. Rolland (EUC) +1' 41" --- 15. Nibali (AST) +3' 30" 16. Contador (TCS) s.t.	1. Froome (SKY) in 81h 56' 33" 2. Quintana (MOV) +1' 12" 3. Valverde (MOV) +5' 25" 4. Nibali (AST) +8' 36" 5. Contador (TCS) +9' 48" 6. Gesink (TLJ) +10' 47"

Nibali rolls back the year!

Stage 19: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > La Toussuire-Les Sybelles, 138km

This morning twelve months ago it was all very different for Vincenzo Nibali. They were heading into stage 18 of the 2014 Tour de France and he had the Yellow jersey on his back and three stage wins to his name. He had an unassailable 5'26" lead and was set to win his first Tour de France. That morning he would climb on his bike for the stage to Hautacam and once again go on the attack winning his fourth road stage of the race, the first since Eddy Merckx to achieve such a feat.

Today, here in 2015, the defending champ rolled out towards La Toussuire without a stage win to his name and in 7th overall, 8'04" behind the Yellow jersey, now on the shoulders of Chris Froome.

It had been a tough Tour for the Italian. Caught behind a crash on stage 2, he lost time. On stage 3 to the Mur de Huy he was distanced by Froome. He tried for all it was worth on the cobbles on stage 4 but conditions didn't suit and he failed to gain back that lost time. By stage 8 at the Mûr-de-Bretagne in which he once more lost valuable seconds, Nibali sat 13th overall, 1'48" behind Froome, his Tour in trouble after a first week that was meant to suit him best.

Things didn't get any better down in the Pyrenees either. On that first mountain stage to la Pierre Saint-Martin, Nibali lost a massive 4'25" to Froome and people began to wonder whether he would even make it to Paris. It would have been easy to quit, to find an excuse beyond a lack of form and leave the race. Indeed, even his own team management appeared to be quitting on him as Alexander Vinokorov installed Jakob Fuglsang as team leader for the rest of the race.

The next day he lost more time but a brief attack distanced Fuglsang and ended the leadership debate. Whatever you might think of that moment, Nibali has slowly begun to come around; quitting or laying down is not in his nature and slowly but surely the proud champion has begun to find some form; gradually climbing the general classification albeit out of overall contention but with a stage win still a realistic goal.

He finished with Froome at Plateau de Beille and the next day was on the attack, albeit a futile effort. He lost 30 seconds into Mende, but took back 28 seconds on the stage to Gap before the second rest day - the first time he has taken time from his rivals so far. The day after the rest he once again lost a little time to the Yellow jersey but took some back on others and as a result found himself in that 7th place at 8'04".

Twelve months to the day since his magnificent effort to Hautacam, the writing ought to have been on the wall and when he attacked on the ascent to the col de la Croix-de-Fer, it would be the last any of his rivals would see him. The attack was controversial...Chris Froome had picked up a mechanical issue at that moment and was therefore able to respond. After the stage Froome confronted Nibali and while the Italian denied knowing about Froome's issue, video replays suggested otherwise.

Still, an opportunity had to be siezed. Nobody waited on stage two when he was caught behind a crash and on this very stage to La Toussuire in 2012, Chris Froome made a move against his Yellow jersey wearing team mate, Bradley Wiggins. That isn't to justify Nibali's attack, but sitting as far back as he did on Froome, it wasn't as though this was a direct assault on the jersey anyway.

And still, with 59km to the finish, Nibali had a lot of work ahead of him. the previous 18 stages suggested he wouldn't last, but form is temporary, class is permanent.

As the day wore on Nibali swept up all those in the leading break and eventually caught the leader on the road, Pierre Rolland. The Frenchman didn't last long and soon, with 16km remaining, the defending champion was on his own, on a redemption mission to show his class, to salvage his pride and to go out as a champion fighting.

Behind, Nairo Quintana wasn't going down without a fight either, he attacked with 6km left and while he may have been hoping to do to Froome on this climb what id done to Floyd Landis in 2006, it wasn't to be and the Colombian had to make do with a mere 30 seconds regained overall. It leaves him 2'38" behind Froome with just one mountain stage remaining...worth throwing caution to the wind for, but looking like more than a mountain to climb.

The day belonged to Nibali though. He came in 44 seconds ahead of the charging Quintana and 1'14" ahead of Froome. Still 6'44" down overall but his effort and with the subsequent attacks on Froome isolating many of those around him on GC, it leapfrogged Nibali right up into 4th place, just 1'19" behind Valverde for the final podium placing.

Just a few days it looked like Nibali might go home, or even ride into Paris outside the top 10. Of the big four, that became a big-five when Van Garderen made his intentions known, he was the one struggling most, but now he's back in contention for a podium placing, and the way his confidence is building, you wouldn't rule it out. Today's ride by 'The Shark' has left us looking back at the last two weeks and wondering, 'what if'?

Result:	Classement:
1. Nibali (AST) in 4h 22' 53" 2. Quintana (MOV) @ 44" 3. Froome (SKY) @ 1' 14" 4. Pinot (FDJ) 5. Bardet (ALM) 6. Valverde (MOV) all s.t. --- 9. Contador (TCS) s.t. 53. Thomas (SKY) @ 22' 00"	1. Froome (SKY) in 78h 37' 34" 2. Quintana (MOV) @ 2' 38" 3. Valverde (MOV) @ 5' 25" 4. Nibali (AST) @ 6' 44" 5. Contador (TCS) @ 7' 56" 6. Gesink (TLJ) @ 8' 55" --- 15. Thomas (SKY) @ 27' 24"

Bardet wins first Tour stage as the race crests the beautiful Lacets de Montvernier

Stage 18: Gap > Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, 186.5km

Romain Bardet finished last years Tour in 6th place and as a result the pressure was heaped on him to go one better and crack the top five in 2015. It's been a mixed Tour for the Frenchman, but it must be remembered that he is only 24 years old and still learning his trade. Today however we seen the best of his potential, not just as a fine climber, but as a fearsome descender. For all the praise heaped on Peter Sagan's ability to go downhill, Bardet is mightily impressive too and it was both his climbing and descending skills that came to the fore today as he rode 40km alone to take the first stage win of his career. Safe to say it won't be his last.

The springboard for Bardet's victory came from a large breakaway group and on the col du Glandon. He attacked near the top, perhaps aware of the time he could then put into the pack on the descent, and never looked back. Jakob Fuglsang had attempted to go with the move but was struck by a motorbike and knocked off, ending his bid for glory.

Bardet led the race over the incredibly scenic Lacets de Montvernier, making its first appearance on the Tour with its 18 hairpin bends in just 3.4km of climbing. A climb that was missed for so many years because race officials thought it to be nothing more than a scenic goat track until now and a climb that was only witnessed by those watching on TV however as no fans were allowed onto it due to its narrow roads and tight turns. To see the crowds we often see on mountain passes on this climb was to understand why it was left barren today. Only small barriers protected the edge of the road from the cliff face and with the road only a little wider than the following team cars, it would have been chaos to stick several thousand fans up there to crowd the riders and then get brushed back by the cars. But it was still magnificent and you can bet that like stage wins for Bardet, we haven't seen the last of the Montvernier either.

Only 10km and the short descent stood between Bardet and victory in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and he wasn't going to be denied. Pierre Rolland launched a late bid to try and close the gap but it was too little too late and Rolland had to settle for second, 33 seconds behind, and a French one-two.

The Yellow jersey group came over the Lacets de Montvernier together, the climb almost too short and too tight with not enough road between hairpins to really shake things up, and Chris Froome retained Yellow. He did look to be struggling a little, and only briefly, as they crested the summit but it was the final climb of the day and there was no way to find out if there was anything to it. At least not until tomorrow when they continue into the high Alps though with only two big mountain stages remaining, time is running out for anyone to catch Froome now.

Result:	Classement:
1. Bardet (ALM) in 5h 3' 40" 2. Rolland (EUC) +33" 3. Anacona (MOV) +59" 4. Jungels (TFR) 5. Fuglsang (AST) a.s.t. 6. Pauwels (MTN) +1' 1"	1. Froome (SKY) in 74h 13' 31" 2. Quintana (MOV) +3' 10" 3. Valverde (MOV) +4' 9" 4. Thomas (SKY) +6' 34" 5. Contador (TCS) +6' 40" 6. Gesink (TLJ) +7' 39" 7. Nibali (AST) +8' 4"

Geschke wins on historic Pra Loup as Froome loses a rival and Contador loses time

Stage 17: Digne-les-Bains > Pra Loup, 161km

It was on the final climb to Pra Loup -- made famous in 1975 when Bernard Thévenet ended the domination of Eddy Merckx -- in which Simon Geschke -- most famous before today for winning the second stage of the 2011 Critérium International -- took the biggest win of his career in a solo exploit that the likes of Merckx would have been proud of.

He attacked away from a large group of 28 (that once again included Peter Sagan) on the ascent to col d'Allos with 50km still to ride, and was never seen again. Thibaut Pinot briefly gave chase but a crash on the descent ripped his confidence and once again exposed a frailty that no doubt cost the young Frenchman the stage win. He was passed by Andrew Talansky and Rigoberto Uran, neither of whom would make enough in-road on Geschke, who struggled up the road to Pra Loup to take the first Tour stage win of his career and the 5th for Germany this year alone.

They often say that you never know how the body is going to react after a rest day in the Tour de France and we've seen it many times before when someone looking strong just two days before suddenly falls apart the day after a day off. No such issues for Geschke, but sadly the same couldn't be said of general classification contender, Tejay Van Garderen, who having picked up what seems to be a bug of some sort, was dropped early on the days stage and while he briefly regained contact with the peloton, he was soon dropped again and with less than 100km covered for the day, the man sitting second to Chris Froome, seen by Froome now as his biggest rival, and seen by himself as the fifth member of the now 'big five boy band', had abandoned the Tour.

It was a big shakeup and one which Alberto Contador must have felt willing to exploit as he began to throw caution to the wind, as only he can, in a bid to somehow overhaul his deficit to Froome or cement a podium place. He attacked on the col de la Colle-Saint-Michel and briefly established a gap but it was a long shot in more ways than one, and so it proved to be when he was later reeled in.

Indeed that was as good as it got from Contador. As Geschke was preparing himself for one last effort up to Pra Loup, Contador made a mistake and crashed on the downward slopes of the col d'Allos, proving that it isn't just the likes of Pinot who can be exposed on such a descent. His team-mates Michael Rogers and Peter Sagan waited on him and soon Contador was off on Sagan's bike as the Slovak unselfishly urged the Tinkoff-Saxo team car past him and on to Contador who needed to make a final bike change onto his spare bike.

The whole incident cost Contador 2mins 17sec to Froome, who finished with his new nearest challenger Nairo Quintana, despite the Colombians attempts to try and distance the Yellow jersey.

In 1975 Pra Loup had major implications on the race as Merckx cracked for good and would never wear the Yellow jersey again. 40 years on, there wasn't quite the same impact despite the earlier departure of Van Garderen and time loss for Contador, for Froome will once again ride in Yellow tomorrow.

Result:	Classement:
1. Geschke (TGA) in 4h 12' 17" 2. Talansky (TCG) +32" 3. Uran (EQS) +1' 1" 4. Pinot (FDJ) +1' 36" 5. Frank (IAM) +1' 40" 6. Kruijswijk (TLJ) +2' 27" --- 18. Quintana (MOV) +7' 16" 20. Froome (SKY) s.t. 21. Valverde (MOV) +7' 23" 22. Nibali (AST) +7' 31" 31. Contador (TCS) +9' 33"	1. Froome (SKY) in 69h 6' 49" 2. Quintana (MOV) +3' 10" 3. Valverde (MOV) +4' 9" 4. Thomas (SKY) +6' 34" 5. Contador (TCS) +6' 40" 6. Gesink (TLJ) +7' 39" 7. Nibali (AST) +8' 4"

Rest day 2 musings: Standings of the boy band, the French and the Lanterne Rouge

I want to quickly highlight the status of three competitions. None official, though to win one of them may be to win the Tour. We'll start with that one.

Coming into this Tour we talked of the 'big-four' of Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana, but last week the American, Tejay Van Garderen was quick to claim that he deserved to be mentioned along with them and that it was less of a 'fab-four' and more a 'five-piece boyband'. I think Van Garderen, to his shame, mentioned the Backstreet Boys.

So how does this 'big five' stack up 16 stages in and on this second rest day with four big mountain stages left?

1. Chris Froome in 64h 47' 16"

2. Nairo Quintana @ 3' 10"

3. Tejay Van Garderen @ 3' 32"

5. Alberto Contador @ 4' 23"

7. Vincenzo Nibali @ 7' 49"

Froome is looking solid though four of the five make the top five overall with Alejandro Valverde continuing to infiltrate in fourth place. Given that he is working in service of Quintana and Geraint Thomas (in 6th) is working in service of Froome, it's not inconceivable that come Paris the 'fabulious five' make up the top five places on GC.

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Next up is the Frenchmen. Last year the French had their best Tour in years with JC Peraud coming second, Thibaut Pinot third and Romain Bardet sixth. This year they have a single stage win via Alexis Vuillermoz at the Mûr-de-Bretagne and they also have the talented young Warren Barguil racing for a high finish on GC. So how's it looking?

1. Warren Barguil (10th overall @ 11' 3")

2. Tony Gallopin @ 59" (11th @ 12' 2")

3. Romain Bardet @ 2' 7" (12th @ 13' 10")

4. Pierre Rolland @ 4' 52" (15th @ 15' 55")

5. Thibaut Pinot @ 20' 51" (19th @ 31' 54")

6. Alexis Vuillermoz @ 25' 26" (20th @ 36' 29")

7. Jean-Christophe Peraud @ 1h 13' 23" (50th @ 1h 24' 26")

Peraud certainly won't be contending for a podium this year, and Vuillermoz is likely to lose time in the Alps. Gallopin is a big surprise to still be this high up after the Alps and with Bardet, Rolland and Pinot all going stage hunting over the next few days, if not in search of the polka-dot jersey at the same time, expect them to move up in the GC and thus in this list. Barguil has been superb so far and expect him to continue riding strong. It would be a surprise if one or two of those on this list didn't crack the top 10 overall come Paris. (For what it's worth, the seven mentioned here aren't necessarily the best seven Frenchmen on GC but those we might have expected to finish well before the Tour began).

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And finally (fittingly!) the race for the Lanterne Rouge. I know there's a kind of perverse prestige to finishing last on the Tour as it shows you still finished and battled through the mountains and against the time-limit, but I'm not so sure anyone actually tries to finish last. Or perhaps they do, but I might be exaggerating it a little to call it a 'race'.

Here's how it's shaping up, in reverse order naturally and with their time ahead of last place.

169. Sam Bennett

168. Sébastien Chavanel @ 16' 2"

167. Svein Tuft @ 24' 53"

166. Bryan Nauleau @ 25' 10"

165. Michael Matthews @ 29' 21"

164. Kenneth Van Bilsen @ 31' 34"

Froome would love a lead like this and if Sam Bennett can suffer over four more days of mountains and fight off time elimination he stands a good chance of becoming the 2015 Lanterne Rouge.

Following the Tour I'll come back to these three lists and see how it all shook out.

Rest day 2 musings: Chris Froome and ugly bias he fights against

It's a day of rest at the Tour, but as we know all too well, there's no such thing really. The riders won't even get a day away from the saddle...a couple of hours spin is required to keep the legs turning over, to ensure they're ready to go once the racing begins again in earnest tomorrow. And begin again in earnest it will surely do as they head into the high Alps.

They need only look back to the day after the last rest day when on the first climb of the Tour, into the Pyrenees, Chris Froome came out swinging and many were caught stiff. As a result many contenders seen their Tour hopes die that day and it's left Froome in complete control. Indeed, many believe his victory in this years Tour is now a formality.

Still, while Froome's fight on the road may be under control with just five days to go, off the bike, against accusations in the media, condemnation on corners of Twitter, and abuse at the sides of the road, the fight has never been more intense.

Sagan's mega descent isn't enough to catch Plaza as he settles for 16th career second

Stage 16: Bourg-de-Peage > Gap, 201km

Is there a case to be made that in certain kind of stages Peter Sagan is just too good to win? It sounds absurd, but in days like today, of which we have seen a handful this year (and last), Sagan has been too good a sprinter, too good a short-sharp climber and too good a descender to win. They attack him on the hill and then watch for him to do the chasing, refusing to tow him to the top only for him to ride away on the descent, or indeed into the final straight only for him to win the sprint.

Last year Sagan was at fault for doing all the casing until which point he had burnt himself out come the sprint. This year he has allowed some moves to go away and refused to be the one to do the chasing, willing to lose a stage here or there, in an attempt to send a message to the others that he won't always be that man.

That was the case again today.  Sagan covered move after move except the one that ended up winning when Ruben Plaza burst clear. He let him go and looked to the others to take a turn, but none were willing to do so, risking their own chance of glory at the same time. Sagan eventually led the chase with a magnificent descent off the Col de Manse into Gap as he left each of his rivals behind, but it was too late to catch Plaza and he had to settle for his fifth 2nd place finish of this years Tour.

The issue therefore is that it continues to cost him wins, he's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. The only real answer is for him to attack first, though given he's a good climber on these short hills, he isn't necessarily the best and that long attack isn't always possible.

As a result he's watching one of the most talented young riders in the sport, perhaps the finest all round talent in this years Tour, without a stage win but with five 2nd place finishes and 11 top 5 finishes to his name. It's a staggering level of consistency and it only makes you wonder whether, with a little luck here or there or a differently timed attack by a rival, he might be looking at five or six stage wins already.

He isn't however and he has to make do with forever being the most impressive bridesmaid in the peloton.

Peter Sagan's results in each of the first 16 stages (bold for top 5):
TT: 19th
2: 2nd
3: 27th
4: 3rd
5: 2nd
6: 2nd
7: 3rd
8: 4th
9: 4th (TTT)
10: 158th
11: 100th
12: 122nd
13: 2nd
14: 5th
15: 4th
16: 2nd

Some have asked whether Sagan is indeed the Tours finest rider despite being so far down in the overall. It's debatable given that the Yellow jersey usually speaks for itself, though there is a case to be made that Sagan is the best in almost every other discipline bar time-trailing and mountain climbing and it is the later in which so much time is won and lost. If Sagan could climb the high mountains, he'd be the next Eddy Merckx!

Of course, Chris Froome might argue that even before they had reached the high mountains this year, he was still the man in Yellow, one place ahead of Sagan, and that if they were to go off the board and miss out the high mountains some year, Sagan wouldn't be allowed the freedom he has had the past three straight days to get into these breaks.

It's all speculative however, as the Tour is never going to ditch the mountains just to find out, and so Sagan will have to continue to make do with winning Green jersey after Green jersey to display his overall consistency while hoping his stage winning prowess improves. It's either that or he sacrifices some of the power that makes him so competitive in the bunch sprints and loses the weight that perhaps make him more a factor in the mountains. That is easier said than done but you wouldn't put it past someone with his kind of talent.

The only person I can compare him to is Sean Kelly the Irish all-rounder from the 1980s. Kelly was a sprinter who won four Green jersey titles, but who could also ride the classic races and handle himself on the hills. Of course, Kelly went on to win a Vuelta (in 1988) and finished as high as 4th in the 1985 Tour de France, but cycling was different in those days in that the contenders were not quite so stick thin as they are now and we're not purely specialised towards a Grand Tour per year only. Where there is a similarity is in their early career paths. Sean Kelly never won a stage in the Tour beyond his early years once his rivals figured out the level of his talent. By 25, the age of Peter Sagan now, Kelly had yet to win a monument -- something Sagan has starting to feel pressure for this year for not doing either -- though Kelly went on to win 9 between the age of 27 and 36.

Anyway, for what he is in the moment, he's spectacular to watch and nevermore so than on the that descent today. He looked more like a motorbike racers coming off the mountain at the Isle of Man TT as he breaked late, threw himself through the apex of each corner and accelerated out of it before getting back into the most aerodynamic of tuck position. It was, as Paul Sherwen said on the TV, 'poetry in motion'.

Where Sagan did win on the day was in the Green jersey contest. He picked up the intermediate sprint points by getting into the break for the third consecutive day and of course the points for finishing second in Gap. It increases his lead over his only true rival, André Greipel to 89 points. With a rest day tomorrow and four days in the high Alps, it leaves only Paris for Greipel to make a likely inroad and the gap is now too much. Baring him not finishing the Tour, Sagan will win his fourth consecutive points contest in four attempts.

Another winner on the day was Colombian Jarlison Pantano who finished third on the stage but some 18 minutes up on the peloton containing the Yellow jersey group. It moved Pantano up into the top 15 overall. That shrunken Yellow jersey group on the Col de Manse once again took turns attacking one another, but only Vincenzo Nibali got away and he came home 28 seconds ahead of the other contenders led by Alberto Contador.

One man who can consider himself a very lucky rider was Geraint Thomas who was bumped by Romain Bardet on a hairpin of the descent and was sent crashing over the barrier, head first into a lamppost and down a ditch. Miraculously he remounted and finished without shouting distance of the rest, maintaining his sixth place overall. And lucky too for Froome as earlier in the day he lost Peter Kennaugh to abandonment, and the idea of losing Thomas ahead of four hard days in the Alps may not have been worth thinking about. As it stands, Sky head into what is sure to be a challenging rest day for all the wrong reasons with eight men still intact and their leader still in command of the race.

Result:	Classement:
1. Plaza (LAM) in 4h 30' 10" 2. Sagan (TSC) +30" 3. Pantano (IAM) +36" 4. Reschke (TGA) +40" 5. Jungels (TFR) +40" 6. Riblon (ALM) +40"	1. Froome (SKY) in 64h 47' 16" 2. Quintana (MOV) +3' 10" 3. Van Garderen (BMC) +3' 32" 4. Valverde (MOV) +4' 02" 5. Contador (TSC) +4' 23" 6. Thomas (SKY) +5' 32"

Greipel wins his third stage...Sagan gets another top 5

Stage 15: Mende > Valence, 183km

It was a somewhat uneventful day in the grand scheme of stages on this years Tour. A massive break of 27 riders eventually emerged after the côte de Badaroux -- on which Mark Cavendish lost contact with the leading peloton for good, later put down as due to stomach issues -- and while it contained several big names, including yet again Peter Sagan, and was later whittled down to just 9 men, it was reeled in a long way before the finish setting up a rare day for the sprinters.

A rare day for the sprinters is more and more becoming a day for André Greipel and so it proved to be. Despite a late effort with 3.5km to go by Zdenek Stybar that seen him caught under the flame rouge, the German was too fast for the rest and won his third stage of this years Tour, reducing the deficit in the Green jersey contest from 61 points to 44. In getting into the days break Sagan had actually won yet another intermediate sprint, but that work was cancelled out when Greipel took maximum points on the line despite Sagan finishing fourth. A mighty effort by Sagan given he was in that break.

Sagan has been in staggering form in this Tour finishing in the top five on 10 of 15 stages including the team-time-trial. If you take away the individual time-trial and three Pyrenean stages, he's finished in the top five in all but one stage - the climb up the Mur de Huy. That's why he's in the Green jersey of course, though Greipel won't give it up without a fight. Given the kind of terrain coming up tomorrow and in the closing week, it's going to be extremely hard however for Greipel to overhaul Sagan and the Slovak will be looking to seal it all up before they reach the streets of Paris this time next week.

Result:	Classement:
1. Greipel (TLS) in 3h 56' 35" 2. Degenklob (TGA) 3. Kristoff (KAT) 4. Sagan (TCS) 5. Boasson Hagen (MTN) 6. Navardauskas (TCG) all s.t.	1. Froome (SKY) in 59h 58' 54" 2. Quintana (MOV) +3' 10" 3. Van Garderen (BMC) +3' 32" 4. Valverde (MOV) +4' 02" 5. Contador (TSC) +4' 23" 6. Thomas (SKY) +4' 54"

British spoil French chance at victory as Cummings wins for MTN on Mandela Day

Stage 14: Rodez > Mende, 178.5km

On a day when a French fan decided the best way to take the moral high ground at what he suspected was doping by Chris Froome, by throwing a cup of urine in his face, good karma bit back when a fellow British competitor, Steve Cummings burst past the young French duo of Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet to spoil the French fun and steal a glorious stage win for his African team, MTN Qhubeka on what was Mandela Day. It was a beautiful script and it played out brilliantly.

Not that I personally have anything again the French, quite the opposite. I would love to see one of Pinot, Bardet or Warren Barguil win the Tour and I think it could well happen in time, but when you you considered Mandela day for the MTN team, you couldn't help but leap out of your seat as he blitzed past the duo to go clear for his first Tour stage victory. That delight was only cemented when we later heard what happened to Froome out on the road.

Naturally that one idiot does not represent the feelings of a country and we know that 99.9% of fans at the side of the road, French or otherwise, are well behaved fans of the sport, but there's a growing sinister element to the treatment and scrutiny of Team Sky and Froome in particular and you cannot help but think that a handful of mindless idiots are only going to be influenced by it.

As things stand Froome has done nothing wrong except win, and that's only wrong if you're not a fan of his. But he's failed no test, he's don't nothing of suspicion -- that is factual, rather than opinions as fact -- and yet he's coming in for the worst kind of treatment on the road to go with innuendos on the media that have lead to outright condemnation on social media by those who don't have to answer to anyone.

Given what had happened you'd have been understanding had Froome gone off on a wild tirade after he crossed the line, but the man handled it with class and took the moral high road, no doubt to the disappointment of those sadly hoping he falls. It's this handling of the pressure in the face of such adversity that is going to make it very tough for Froome's rivals to crack him out on the road, not that they condone the treatment he's starting to face. Mind you, each one of them would love to be in his position wearing the Yellow jersey.

As for the stage itself, it was much as expected for the majority of it. A large break of men with no serious threat to the Yellow jersey got clear and stayed clear and it was the final climb up to the plateau at the aerodrome at Mende that settled the score.

Peter Sagan was in on the break, as much to get the maximum points at the intermediate sprint, though once that goal was achieved he set about trying to get as much as he could on the line. The pace was relentless when they hit the climb and the attacks began immediately. But the climb was a good 1.5km long and at 10% average gradient so anyone attacking early had better been sure they could hold it.

They couldn't.

Cummings on the other hand put his head down, ignored the rest and set about doing his own time-trial to the top to see where he came out once the dust settled. As it turned out he came out quite near the front, though still ways behind Pinot and Bardet who by this stage looked as though it would be they who would do battle to see who would win the stage for France. There was flashbacks to the 1995 Tour when Laurent Jalabert won on this very runway, in the green jersey for France on what was Bastille Day then. Not quite so glorious now, but certainly the chance for someone to become a national icon.

So over to the Brit to spoil the show.

For anyone watching, it was hard to remember that Cummings was even in the break never mind in the mix on the climb, the cameras simply never cut to him and they certainly weren't looking for him when it was two French heroes on the front. Suddenly though he appeared and, like a bat out of hell, he blew by Pinot and Bardet who were already beginning their game of cat and mouse some 1.5km out from the finish. Neither could react and immediately he had a 10 metre gap on them. He took the final couple of corners like a man possessed, and with Pinot leading the charge and far from the greatest at going through the corners, Cummings lead only opened. He powered his way up the gradual rise towards the line and neither spent Frenchman could close the gap.

Further back the big contenders were going their stuff with Chris Froome markings moves, so much so that eventually it was just himself and Quintana left on the front. The duo came to the line together, but perhaps sending a message that there would be no gifts over the final week of the Tour, Froome nipped past the Colombian to take a second out of him on the line though Quintana had done enough to leapfrog Tejay Van Garderen (who lost 40 seconds to Froome) into second overall. Valverde was next in at 4 seconds to Froome while Contador lost 19 seconds.

But what a win for Cummings and MTN-Quhebka, the first African team on the Tour, as a wild-card entry, winning their first stage. And they have been turning heads throughout the first two weeks. They had Daniel Teklehaimanot lead the King of the Mountains contest during the first week of the race, and have had men in many of the breaks throughout. This time they got their reward and what a day to do it on: Mandela. Day.

Result:	Classement:
1. Cummings (MTN) 4h 23' 43" 2. Pinot (FDJ) +2" 3. Bardet (ALM) +3" 4. Uran (EQS) +20" 5. Sagan (TCS) +29" --- 20. Froome (SKY) +4' 15" 21. Quintana (MOV) +4' 16" 22. Valverde (MOV) +4' 19" 23. Contador (TCS) +4' 34" 24. Nibali (AST) +4' 45" 25. Van Garderen (BMC) +4' 55"	1. Froome (SKY) in 56h 2' 19" 2. Quintana (MOV) +3' 10" 3. Van Garderen (BMC) +3' 32" 4. Valverde (MOV) +4' 02" 5. Contador (TSC) +4' 23" 6. Thomas (SKY) +4' 54" --- 8. Nibali (AST) +8' 17"

The eternal seconds battle for the win

Stage 13: Muret > Rodez, 198.5km

Greg Van Avermaet and Peter Sagan have become known lately in cycling circles as men who often finish second, so when both moved clear of the pack on the final hill of the avenue de Saint-Pierre in Rodez this afternoon, to contest the victory, it was the creation of a paradox. Two perennial second place men going for the win. I suppose you could say that with Van Avermaet crossing the line first, it was Sagan who pipped him for the second place win! Of course, Sagan won't see the humour in that.

The second place finish for Sagan did allow him to retain his Green jersey lead having lost it unofficially on the road when André Greipel pipped him in the intermediate sprint. The only other real moment of note in the stage was the heavy crash of last years runner up, Jean-Christophe Péraud, who managed to get back up again with his skin ripped to pieces and chase his way back into the peloton.

The hill at the finish was noteworthy enough that the top contenders all got near the front with Chris Froome leading home the top nine overall in positions 6 through 14, though not all in GC order.

Result:	Classement:
1. Van Avermaet (BMC) in 4h 43' 42" 2. Sagan (TSC) s.t. 3. Bakelants (ALM) +3" 4. Degenklob (TGA) +7" 5. Martens (TLJ) 6. Froome (SKY) all s.t.	1. Froome (SKY) in 51h 34' 21" 2. Van Garderen (BMC) +2' 52" 3. Quintana (MOV) +3' 09" 4. Valverde (MOV) +3' 58" 5. Thomas (SKY) +4' 03" 6. Contador (TSC) +4' 04"

Rodriguez wins his first mountain stage...Froome contains rivals...Geraint Thomas continues to impress

Stage 12: Lannemezan > Plateau de Beille, 195km

I cannot imagine going to bed last night with the knowledge of the profile that was facing me the next day. It resembled the lower jaw of a Sharks mouth but in reality was the vicious mountains of the Pyrenees: The Col de Portet d'Aspet (2nd cat.), the Col de la Core (1st cat.), the Port de Lers (1st cat.) and the Plateau de Beille (HC). So a series of climbs over 195km, steadily getting worse...just like the weather.

It started out blazing hot but by the top of the final climb which seen rain, hail, a thunder storm and temperatures plumet, it was anything but a hot summers day in the South of France. It was the ideal stage for the risk takers to try and put pressure on Chris Froome and some of his rivals needed to do just that; to attack him several climbs from the finish and on the descents, to weaken the Sky team around him and perhaps force him into a mistake or into the red zone a panic.

As things turned out he couldn't have had it much smoother. Not a move in anger was made against Froome until the slopes of the vicious Plateau de Beille, though by then Froome still had team-mates Richie Porte and the extremely impressive Geraint Thomas alongside him.

Long before that however the stage winning moves had been made. A large group had gone clear and began to fracture and with 76km to go in the valley just after the col de la Core, Michal Kwiatkowski along with Sep Vanmarcke and Preidler went clear. On the Port de Lers, Preidler was dropped while behind a chasing group of Romain Bardet, Joaquim Rodriguez, Jakob Fuglsang along with a handful of others formed. The peloton itself was a long way behind and no longer a factor in the stage.

The weather conditions continued to get worse while Kwiatkowski and Vanmarcke pushed on. They crossed Port de Lers with a mere five second lead but carried a 1'50" led onto the final climb. With 13.5km to go the tenacious and gritty but heavier built Vanmarcke lost contact and Kwiatkowski was off along and after the stage win. It looked as though he might hang on but gradually he began to slow, his effort to get clear starting to take its toll and as the men behind began to close in, it began to look clear as to why they had let them go before.

Behind it was Rodriguez who looked the strongest and one by one he got rid of his chasing companions and set out in search of the World Champion. With 7.5km to go the catch was made and the balance of the stage swung in the direction of the Spaniard. Fuglsang and Bardet continued to chase but Rordiguez never looked like giving up his lead and took what was, surprisingly, his first ever mountain stage win at the Tour.

Further down the road on the same climb, the attacks of Froome were beginning. First Contador went, and Froome stuck to his steady rhythm and brought him back, then Nibali kicked only for Valverde to follow. Each were reeled in and finally Quintana made a move. Once more Froome measured the chase to within his limits, and soon they were altogether again. Even Froome himself kicked with 4.5km to go but once he realised the others were matching him, he eased off and accepted them all finishing on the same time at the top.

So no major shakeup to the general classification, at least not those hoping to still beat Froome in this Tour, though with each passing stage it's hard to see that happening.

Result:	Classement:
1. Rodriguez (KAT) in 5h 40' 14" 2. Fuglsang (AST) +1' 12" 3. Bardet (ALM) +1' 49" --- 9. Valverde (MOV) +6' 46" 10. Froome (SKY) +6' 47" 11. Quintana (MOV) 13. Van Garderen (BMC) 14. Contador (TSC) 16. Nibali (AST) all s.t.	1. Froome (SKY) in 46h 50' 32" 2. Van Garderen (BMC) +2' 52" 3. Quintana (MOV) +3' 09" 4. Valverde (MOV) +3' 58" 5. Thomas (SKY) +4' 03" 6. Contador (TSC) +4' 04" --- 9. Nibali (AST) +7' 47"

Majka to the Tinkoff-Saxo rescue once again

Stage 11: Pau > Cauterets, 188km

I wonder what was going through the head of Dan Martin as he realised that the most recent move to go off the front of the peloton was looking like the winning one. He had clearly targed this stage when he coasted in 11'34" behind the Yellow jersey of Chris Froome the day before, but now it looked like he'd missed the move.

Many a rider would have accepted such defeat and waited for another day, but not Martin. He ju,ped out of the peloton and charged up the Col d'Aspin after them. He had more than two minutes to make up but 3 kilometres from the summit, he had caught them. A fantastic chase and he was back in with a shout for the stage he wanted along with six other protagonists.

They stayed together on the descent but it was always the out of category rated Col du Tourmalet that would break the group apart and leaving a smaller selection to decide the race the final climb to Cauterets, a third category climb.

Martin was celarly tired from his chase however, and hadn't fully recovered on the descent of the Aspin and the most noted climber in the group, Rafal Majka - two time stage winner in 2014 and winner of the King of the Mountains competition - senced his opportunity to help with his second annual rescue bid of the Tinkoff-Saxo Tour now that it seemed Contador's bid to win it was fading. With 7km to go to the top he forced the issue and nobody could react. They could only hope he had gone too soon.

It was Majka then who crossed the highest peak of the Pyrenees to win the Jacques Goddet prize and €5000 thank you very much. And it was clearly starting to look like the winning move for he had put 1'45" into the chasing Serge Pauwels with Dan Martin struggling at 2'05".

Behind things were gradually heating up in the peloton with Astana forcing the issue and the bunch quickly reduced to just 15 men. It was clear however that anyone willing to put Froome into any kind of trouble would need to go on the Tourmalet rather than the Cote de Cauterets, but none seemed willing or able and they went over together 5'40" behind Majka and led by the Yellow jersey of Froome.

With the peloton looking like a non-factor on the stage, Majka charged down the Tourmalet and though he lost some time to the men behind he still carried a minutes lead over Pauwels onto the final run up to the finish.

By now though, Martin was starting to come around. Recoving from his earlier effort to get across to the now fractured group, he looked the freshest of the lot. He caught and passed Pauwels with 5km to go and went after Majka, but the Pole was far from slowing and distance to the line was running out. Majka stayed away and took his third career Tour de France win. This time last year he lost a lot of time in the early part of the Tour allowing him to make such moves and was given the freedom to do so once Contador crashed out. Contador is still in the race, but clearly his team realise that stage wins are now more likely than GC glory and so Majka is once again off the leash. Once more he's lost enough time in the early stages to allow him such freedom from the contenders and once more the rest don't seem able to beat him.

Whether this now triggers his bid for the King of the Mountains competition remains to be seen, but you have to think that like last year, he now fancies his chances and you also wouldn't put it past him to win another stage.

Dan Martin had to settle for second in the end coming in a minute behind Majka. The Yellow jersey sprinted in 9th with his main rivals behind him bar Alejandro Valverde who had snatched two seconds on the line.

Result:	Classement:
1. Majka (TCS) in 5h 2' 01" 2. D. Martin (TCG) +1' 00" 3. Buchmann (BOA) + 1'23" --- 8. Valverde (MOV) +5' 19" 9. Froome (SKY) +5' 21" 10. Contador (TCS) 11. Quintana (MOV) 13, Van Garderen (BMC) all s.t. 23. Nibali (AST) +6' 11"	1. Froome (SKY) in 41h 3' 31" 2. Van Garderen (BMC) +2' 52" 3. Quintana (MOV) +3' 09" 4. Valverde (MOV) +3'59" 5. Thomas (SKY) +4' 03" 6. Contador (TSC) +4' 04"

Accessing my questionable pre-Tour predictions

So with nine tumultuous days across Holland, Beligum and Northern France that included an individual time trial, team time trial, two steep hill finishes, cross-winds and cobbles now behind us, as well as our first mountain stage, here's a look at my now suspect predictions for the top 10 and other jersey competitions made pre-Tour and where they now sit on GC:

1. Chris Froome, currently 1st

This one looks good to stand to Paris so while some others below are well off, the one that counts appears on!

2. Vincenzo Nibali, 10th @ 6' 57"

Absolutely not the man we seen 12 months ago. He lost time where we thought he'd gain it in the first week and was badly exposed on today's first mountain stage.

3. Thibaut Pinot, 27th @ 18' 18"

An awful first week that began to unravel right after a solid stage 1 time-trial only got worse today when he was dropped early. Stage wins is the goal now but top 10 never mind 3rd is unlikely.

4. Nairo Quintana, 3rd @ 3' 09"

Looking at the shape of the opposition, even this early in the mountains, it's hard to see him failing to hit the podium as I felt he might before this Tour began. What was I thinking?

5. Tejay Van Garderen, 2nd @ 2' 52"

He had a flawless first week and while he had a hard go today he still beat out many of his biggest rivals. He should settle in and finishing higher than 5th is a very real possibility.

6. Alberto Contador, 6th @ 4' 04"

I appears accurate in my belief that doing the Giro-Tour double would be a ridge too far for Aberto.

7. Romain Bardet, 22nd @ 13' 38"

Tough first week for yet another young French star and a rough first day in the mountains. He should improve and even win a stage but a top 10 will even be a big ask now.

8. Ryder Hesjedal, 80th @ 45' 28"

In his own words, Ryder has spent the first week 'chilling at the back of the bunch'. The Giro was his big effort and this Tour has been about recover/energy preservation ahead of a stage win in the Alps. He will soar up the standings now they're in the mountains, but not likely higher than 20th.

9. Pierre Rolland, 23rd @ 13' 57"

The best of the French on the first mountain day he spent the first week shedding time. Perhaps to line up his bid for the polka-dot and a stage win, but climbing to 9th is definitely doable.

10. Rui Costa, 33rd @ 22' 10"

Rui struggled today losing over 16 minutes to Froome and dropping him well down the standings and out of top 10 contention. A stage win in the Massif Central should be his aim now.

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Green: Peter Sagan, 2nd @ -3pts

Heading into terrain were Sagan can pick up points in places Andre Greipel cannot all but ensures he'll move into Green and move clear. Greipel won't give up without a fight but it's hard to see Sagan losing out.

KOM: Pierre Rolland, 8th @ -39pts

Today's loan mountain in which the first serious points in this competition were dished out means it's far too early to form an opinion on how this competition is going but I still fancy Rolland to have a crack at it, perhaps with Rafal Majka (defending champ) and some fellow Frenchmen for competition.

White: Nairo Quintana, 1st

Seems absurd that he's still eligible for this contest. The UCI/ASO need to consider reducing the age from 25 to 23 for this, but as it is it's hard to see anyone else beating him.

Chris Froome wins the Tour on its first mountain stage!

Stage 10: Tarbes > La Pierre-Saint-Martin, 167km

Yesterday Tejay Van Garderen talked about the 'fab-four' of Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali being a 'fab-five boyband' that included him, and in a way today he showed that to be a fair belief, though the reality tonight is that the fab-five have disbanded and Froome is off on a successful solo career.

There is always a raft of questions heading into the first mountain stage of the Tour. It's been more than three weeks since those expected to perform in the high moutains have last seen a mountain and so there is that unknown as to how the legs will react. Couple that with it coming the day after a rest day and you have even more reason to wonder just how it might shake up?

Going into the stage I backed Frenchman Thibaut Pinot to do something big for the French on Bastille Day and given he had lost quite a bit on time I felt any move he made on the final climb might be ignored. I also felt that with five or six men looking to claw back time lost to Chris Froome over the first nine stages that he would be attacked left, right and centre and that to defend all those moves may leave his best form of defense in attack. I felt that by the end of the day only three men would remain in contention to win this Tour.

I was wrong on all accounts except that of Froomes best form of defense being in attack, for Pinot was nowhere to be seen on his national holiday, the five or six expected to attack Froome didn't, or couldn't, and tonight only one man remains in contention to win this Tour.

It was a staggering performance by Froome.

The whole day was merely a lead up to this final long hard climb to the finish at La Pierre-Saint-Martin and once they hit the lower slopes the pressure went on and immediately some big names began to crack. Last years champion Vincenzo Nibali, a shadow of his former self, lost contact early, so too did the French contenders, and then even Contador. A couple of short digs by Valverde to potentially soften Froome up for Quintana failed to shake the Sky rider and while he put on a face that looked as though he might be having a bad day, the idea of it being reality was soon killed off when he put the hammer down 6 kilometres from the summit.

Nobody could go with him and the time gaps built quicky all the way to the line for the stage win. Nairo Quintana was the only one to react at all when Froome attacked but even he was distanced and the Colombian could only grind his way to the top hoping to limit his loses before eventually being reeled in and passed by Froome's team-mate, and soon to be former team-mate, Richie Porte, himself out to prove to his future team, BMC, that he is worthy of the leadership roll ahead of Tejay Van Garderen by finishing 59 seconds behind Froome and 5 seconds in front of Quintana.

All things considered though and by comparison to some, Van Garderen didn't fair too badly. He lost 2'30" to Froome whereas Contador trailed home at 2'51", while Nibali lost a massive 4'25". Still, Van Garderen's position at the finish was only 10th. There was a host of fine efforts in front of him by the likes of Robert Gesink in 4th, Geraint Thomas in 6th (and third Sky man), Adam Yates in 7th and from nowhere, Frenchman Tony Gallopin in 9th. That made for three British riders in the top seven. Not so long ago the idea of that on a mountain stage would have been unthinkable. I remember a time when a successful Tour for the British was Chris Boardman winning the time-trial and Sean Yates getting into a break on the first week of racing.

So is the Tour really over?

It really does look that way. In the blink of an eye what looked like a five or six way fight to win this race has gone. Sure this was just one climb and we still have six mountain stages to come (two in the next two days in the Pyrenees and four in the third week in the Alps) and Froome could yet have a bad day -- he suffered late in the third week in 2013 and his team-mates may pay for their efforts today (remember the second mountain stage in 2013?) -- but the fact is at almost three minutes ahead of his nearest challenger, Froome is in complete command and shy of an accident that eliminates him, its hard to see him coughing it up.

Result:	Classement:
1. Froome (SKY) in 4h 22' 07" 2. Porte (SKY) +59" 3. Quintana (MOV) +1' 04" 4. Gesink (TLJ) +1' 33" 5. Valverde (MOV) +2' 01" 6. Thomas (SKY) s.t. --- 10. Van Garderen (BMC) +2' 30" 11. Contador (TSC) +2' 51" 15. Barguil (TGA) +3' 19" 21. Nibali (AST) +4' 25" 49. Pinot (FDJ) +10' 03"	1. Froome (SKY) in 35h 56' 09" 2. Van Garderen (BMC) +2' 52" 3. Quintana (MOV) +3' 09" 4. Valverde (MOV) +4' 01" 5. Thomas (SKY) +4' 03" 6. Contador (TSC) +4' 04" --- 10. Nibali (AST) +6' 57"

Rest day 1 musings: The alternative unofficial competitions

There are three competitions going on in this Tour that I am watching for a little side interest. One of them, the battle between the 'big four' as we've been calling it in the lead up to this Tour, will likely define the winner of the Tour itself; another will give us the best Frenchman on the race; and the last will, definitively, show is the slowest man on the road.

We're at the first rest day so that seems about a good time to take stock and see how each of these competitions are coming along.

'The big 4':

1. Chris Froome in 31h 34' 12"

5. Alberto Contador @ 1' 3"

9. Nairo Quintana @ 1' 59"

13. Vincenzo Nibali @ 2' 22"

It's been a first week that they could have done without though, perhaps surprisingly, it's Chris Froome who has come out of it best placed with Contador little more than a minute back. Nairo Quintana lost most of his time on stage 2 in the winds while Nibali, the man we thought might profit most from this first week has consistently lost bits of time. It's still all to play for but there are others better placed looking to show that this 'big 4' was in name only.

The Frenchmen:

1. Warren Barguil (14th overall @ 2' 43")

2. Jean-Christophe Peraud @ 47" (17th @ 3' 30")

3. Romain Bardet @ 1' 55" (21st @ 4' 38")

4. Alexis Vuillermoz @ 4' 6" (28th @ 6' 49")

5. Thibaut Pinot @ 5' 22" (29th @ 8' 5")

6. Pierre Rolland @ 9' 00" (36th @ 11' 43")

I've thrown Alexis Vuillermoz into this list as he has actually won a stage and is riding well. It's unlikely he'll do too much damage in the mountains when the other five will be expected to shine. The likes of Pinot and Rolland are already looking at stage wins, or perhaps a run at the King of the Mountains prize, while Barguil, Peraud and Bardet will still have designs on a top 10. Perhaps with the pressure now off however, Pinot can find his climbing legs and maintain a steady time-loss to Froome and slowly move up.

Lanterne Rouge:

185. Michael Matthews (OGE) @ 1h 16' 10" to Froome

184. Alex Dowsett (MOV) @ 3' 9"

183. Nicolas Edet (COF) @ 6' 16"

182. Adam Hansen (LTS) @ 9' 58"

181. Frédéric Brun (BSE) @ 10' 10"

180. Svein Tuft (OGE) @ 11' 53"

It's still a bit early to look too closely at this competition with all the high mountains to come when the majority of time is lost. Michael Matthews is last on the road as things stand at 1hr 16min 10sec -- thanks mostly to the serious injuries he's been riding with for most of the first week, and likewise Adam Hansen -- but the eventual Lanterne Rouge will lose upward of 4 hour to the eventual winner of the Tour so check back later.

Rest day 1 musings: Bad news for Basso...Hacking scandal for Froome and Sky...Looking ahead to Bastille day in the mountains

A rest day in Pau used to be arrest day in Pau as positive test reports would break, police raids would ensue and there would be enough scandal to keep everyone busy for a month as the Tour tried to claw its way out from under the shadow and into the high mountains of the Pyrenees.

Not so anymore, at least not manufactured from within the peloton, though we'll get to that.

Sadly though the main story of the day was something more serious again. News that Ivan Basso of Tinkoff-Saxo was leaving the Tour after learning he had been diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. He had hurt himself during a crash on stage five and on today's rest day had gone to get himself checked out when the tests revealed the bad news. His doctor has said that it's early and he stands a 98% chance of recovery, which is great to hear but I still wish him well and if he battles this like he battles on the bike, he'll be just fine.

Alberto Contador has said he wishes to bring the Yellow jersey into Paris for Basso and so we might just seen an extra motivated Contador in the days ahead.

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Aside from that, the teams spent the day out on short rides to keep their legs turning over and dealing with media obligations. It seemed as though the day was coming to a close without scandal, when a story started to trickle out of social media that one had been generated via a video of Chris Froome from the 2013 Tour with data alleging numbers that 'showed he was cheating'.

Not enough in itself to generate a lot of interest, it was then announced by Team Sky themselves that they believed they had been the victim of hackers and that their lawyers had been alerted. The video in question was then removed from You Tube and the Twitter account of someone linked to it was closed; truly igniting the 'scandal'. It all sounds rather pathetic if not geeky, and it would be if it were not for the implications of someone allegedly hacking, stealing, or acquiring leaked private data belonging to Sky and Froome.

I admit I haven't seen the video or the data but I've read snippets about what it contains, but still, the data itself is almost beside the point. Hacking data goes beyond the pale. It's gone from skepticism, even selective bias against an individual rider or team, and into full blown obsession to a level Froome might soon require restraining orders!

Sure other riders get it too, and the sport certainly gets it worse than any other, and yes history is maybe a reason for that, but you don't have to look under too many bridges in a back corner of somewhere like Twitter to find a element who's daily relentlessness shows they really have it in for Froome and/or Sky. It's as though to a select few the fall of Lance was a bad thing and he needed replaced and Froome isn't playing ball. A rest day without a scandal has proven to be the last straw here and so revealing some hacked information was the next step.

I do wonder however, why not hack the medical files? Or was there nothing that fit the agenda there? Which leads to the next question: How is trying to prove Froome is a cheat who steals wins, justified by stealing files? Who's worse - and there's no evidence the one guy has cheated/stolen?

I've no guarantee Froome is clean and certainly wouldn't stake my house on it, but there's nothing concrete on him to say that he isn't either (and I'm not just talking about a positive test). Not even this file shows anything more than the man winning might be very good - and so I prefer to give him the benefit of doubt while keeping a sensible open mind and if I'm ever shown otherwise, beyond some data and other mixing and matching and twisting of partial information, but also beyond reasonable doubt, then sure I'll support a ban against him.

If this data is enough to show he is up to something then I expect it to be presented to WADA, the UCI, UK anti-doping to allow them to bring about proceedings against Froome. I doubt however that will happen, for good reason.

Until then though I'll enjoy the show (there's a mountain stage already underway today for crying out loud, and to read, though not follow, certain Twitter accounts circling around this story, you wouldn't even know the Tour itself was on) because if I already had them all condemned, like a select few have (and desperately want Froome to be their vocal point) then unlike them I wouldn't be a hypocrite and continue to watch flawed racing.

But I am going to be watching the racing (or following live text updates) so enough with this and on with the stage.

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My pick to win today is Thibaut Pinot if only because it is Bastille Day and the Frenchman has to make his mark. I expect Froome to be attacked left right and centre by up to five or six men, in particular Quintana and Nibali who need to start chipping back on lost time immediately. Froome may only need to defend, but defending every move isn't easy and so his best form of defense may be to attack.

It should make for fascinating viewing.