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.