Dumoulin destroys field; Froome destroys rivals

Tom Dumoulin had clearly targeted this one, though with a stage win already in the bag you had to wonder if someone else might step up. It wasn't to be though and the Dutchman proved himself the nailed on favourite for the Olympic time-trial next month by putting over a minute into his nearest rival and as much as 2min 5sec into Olympic rival Tony Martin and a huge 3min 15sec into Fabian Cancellara.

The nearest rival in question was Chris Froome, who with a lot on the line went all in, ending speculation that he might be tired or his legs sore after a daring attack with Peter Sagan two days ago before the mayhem on Ventoux yesterday in which he had to run part of the mountain.

After yesterday's stage the race jury sat down for the better part of an hour to decide how best to sort it out and in the end they gave Froome the same time as Bauke Mollema, who had been with him at the time of the crash but who had been least affected. Had they not, Froome would have lost 1min 40sec on the day to Mollema and 1min 21sec to the likes of Adam Yates, Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana and he would have started this morning 53sec in arears of Yates, 46sec behind Quintana and 44sec down on Mollema.

By the time he had negotiated the 37.5km rolling individual time-trial course from Bourg-Saint-Andeol to Le Caverne de Pont d'Arc, Froome had put 51sec into Mollema, 1min 45sec into Valverde, 1min 58sec into Yates and a full 2min 5sec into Quintana. The upshot to the overall standings today had they been as they were on the line yesterday would have still seen Froome emerge from the days time-trial with the yellow jersey back on his shoulders, albeit just 7sec better off than Mollema rather than the 1min 47sec he now finds himself ahead by. But Quintana, who is now 2min 59sec down overall and with his Tour in tatters, would still have found himself 1min 19sec back.

Suffice to say, that even without the race jury's decision of common sense, Froome would still be leading this race heading towards the Alps. Leading perhaps rather than dominating. And the overall standings after 13 stages are now as follows:

1. Chris Froome (Sky) in 58h02'51"

2. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) @ 1'47"

3. Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) @ 2'45"

4. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) @ 2'59"

5. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) @ 3'17"

6. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) @ 3'19"

So is Froome still beatable? You'd like to think the rest would still fancy their chances but looking at the time gaps I am not so sure. Will Mollema and Yates want to risk podium placings? Has Quintana got the form? I would think the Movistar pair will try to take the fight to Sky and perhaps even form an alliance with the likes of Richie Porte (7th @ 4'04") and Van Garderen of BMC as well as the Astana boys with Fabio Aru (10th @ 5'16") to try and break them down. If they don't we could be in for a bit of a cake walk for Team Sky who have worked hard to keep their team as a whole fresh for this third week in the Alps.

If it comes to everyone else content to fight for a podium position, unwilling or unable to break down Froome, I would like to think Froome himself would liven up the race as he has thus far by continuing to attack to ram home the advantage; to put in a lead so great that what happened on Ventoux, and the time he physically lost by having to run, would be rendered meaningless to the overall outcome anyway.

We shall wait and see...