What I seen for the most part was a week for sprinters that was a throwback to that of the 1990s intersected with solo stage wins and a passing around of the yellow jersey to several worthy first timers as British riders took five wins in eight days ending up with Chris Froome in yellow, Mark Cavendish in green, Adam Yates in white and elsewhere Andy Murray winning Wimbledon and Lewis Hamilton the British Grand Prix. Not a bad way to get over the hurt of the European Championships!
With regards to the Tour, the week began with the return to glory of Mark Cavendish in which he took his first yellow jersey by winning the first of three stages over the opening six days to move into second all-time ahead of Bernard Hinault and behind Eddy Merckx. A first yellow jersey for Peter Sagan followed as he too took a stage win before Marcel Kittel got in on the act. The Four solo wins played in and around the sprinters fun and came first through Greg Van Avermaet (who also took his first yellow jersey and did so by a margain of more than five minutes), then through Steve Cummings (with a brilliant attack over the Col d'Aspin to stick a middle finger up to the British Olympic selectors), next via Tom Dumoulin (on the first summit finish of this years tour at Andorra Arcalis with his arms aloft as the rain and hail belted down upon the mountain), and finally by Chris Froome (who caught his rivals napping with an attack over the Peyresourde and a blitzing descent down to the finish to win the stage and take yellow).
For all the glory that various riders soaked up across a fascinating first week either by sprint or attack, it was that move by Froome that could prove decisive in the bigger picture. It only netted him 13 seconds, but this Tour looks as though every second could count and it was a superb move by Froome, an opportunists move more in the mold of a Steve Cummings or a Peter Sagan than a Chris Froome. On the previous climb, Froome had made a point of sprinting for the King of the Mountains points, a seemingly odd act by a GC contender, but it obviously left his rivals thinking he was doing the same on the Peyresourde only this time he didn't sit up as Nairo Quintana drank from his bottle. Froome in the most unusual of descending styles, ripped clear and put pay to the uninformed theory that he can't handle a bicycle nor ride one downhill. He put 13sec plus time-bonuses into his rivals as he moved into yellow. And Froome is now without rivals Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali to worry about. The former crashed in the early stages and retired yesterday with prolonged injury; the later, over half an hour down overall, is clearly not on form and here to win a stage and prepare for the Olympics.
Yesterday in what some suggested might have been the toughest stage of them all was all about consolidation for Froome. Dumoulin took his big win out of the early break from which all eyes were on the likes of Rafal Majka and Thibaut Pinot who had each coughed up large chunks of time earlier in the week and are now out to rescue their tours either with stage wins or a bid at the polka-dot jersey. It was Pinot who went into the rest day with a two point lead over the Polish climber, but it was Dumoulin who got the stage glory. Quintana meanwhile kept his cards close to his chest and his nose close to the backside of Froome, shadowing the Sky rider throughout the day and so close to being on his back that you had to wonder whether he was staying out of the sun early or keeping Froome dry late on.
It's safe to assume that with only a 23sec deficit Quintana is content to wait until the later mountains. Froome is much closer to him on this rest day than the first rest day in 2015 when the Movistar rider was looking at a 1min 59sec deficit to make up come the Alps. And this year we won't have to wait as far as the Alps for the next climbing battle as Thursday ends with a summit of the mighty Mont Ventoux. Expect fireworks and expect it to be the place were Chris Froome next makes his bid to extend his lead and were Quintana will hope to react and perhaps counter the reigning champion.
From here on in, updates should come daily. The Tour is up and running and the action is only heading up. Can the British riders continue their successful start? Can Cavendish keep winning and challenge Sagan for green? Will Thibaut Pinot morph into the next Richard Virenque (but without the baggage) in a big run at the polka-dot jersey? Is Adam Yates for real? Can Dan Martin really contend for a top five or even a podium finish? I cannot wait to find out.
General classement after 8 stages:
| 1. Chris Froome (Sky) 2. Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExhange) 3. Daniel Martin (Etixx - Quick Step) 4. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 5. Joaqium Rodriguez (Katusha) 6. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) Others: 10. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 11. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 13. Fabio Aru (Astana) 14. Richie Porte (BMC) 27. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) 37. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) |
in 44h 36' 03"
@ 16" @ 19" @ 23" @ 37" @ 44" @ 1' 01" s.t. @ 1' 23" @ 2' 10" @ 15' 39" @ 34' 14" |
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Rider(s) of the week:
Last week Mark Cavendish was the obvious choice. The Dimension Data sprinter won the opening stage and took the first yellow jersey of his career, and while Sagan did the same a day later there was something good to see about Cavendish returning to sprinting form. This past week was a tougher pick...Cavendish won two more stages, Cummings had a superb win, Froome descended like a Sagan to win a stage and take yellow and Dumoulin took a superb summit victory in Andorra. But for me it was Greg Van Avermaet: He became the first man since Richard Virenque in 1992 to lead the Tour by more than five minutes in the first week and he did so with a gutsy win on the kind of terrain that shouldn't have suited him. And to further that, he went on the attack the next day in the mountains in a bid to retain his jersey for one more day and only served to build on his lead, a lead he knew would eventually collapse within days, and did.
