More to this stage than the lack of fight for yellow

Many criticised today's stage because back in the general classification group there was little in the way of action and the sharp end of the overall standings tonight remains much as it was this morning, with the exception of Tejay Van Garderen, but those critical only looked at the GC angle because up front it was full of action and a damn good watch.

A large group went clear early and various pretenders to the stage win took their turn going up the road before falling away in a yo-yo of action. At one stage Tom Dumoulin had set off on a bid for his third stage win and was being chased down by Vincenzo Niabli but when I came back from making myself a cup of tea, the pair were out the back and it was someone else -- Serge Pauwels or Ilnur Zakarin or Julian Alaphilippe -- bidding for glory.

But all of them fell away. Legs for Pauwels, descending for Zakarin, and a crash or mechanical not caught on camera for Alaphilippe. And then it looked like Rafal Majka had timed it right. Sweeping up points throughout the day the Polish climber had led over the mighty Grand Colombier (which I was shocked to learn had only been used in the Tour for the first time in 2012. Anyone know why it took so long? There's four roads up and one of them, the hardest they say, is still yet to be used) and the Lacets du Grand Colombier to take a commanding lead in the King of the Mountains classification.

Like the rest before him, however, Majka hadn't quite done enough and a mighty descent into the finishing town of Culoz by Jarlinson Pantano, in which he made up 23 seconds, brought the Colombian rider across to Majka and set up a two man sprint for the stage. The Colombian with the bit between his teeth was too strong and took the win for IAM cycling who will disband as a team at the end of the season.

So plenty to enjoy as the general classification took a day off.

It was a stage that offered the potential for surprise moves and counter attacks to try and wear down Team Sky, though as it was, the British team with such strength in depth set a searing pace that few had the legs to attack from and those that tried never got more than ten meters on them.

"I really am in such a privileged position to have such a strong team around me, possibly the strongest team that Team Sky has ever put in the Tour de France, with guys who would be leaders in other teams in their own right," Froome said. And ain't that the truth? Several men on Froome's side would indeed be leaders in their own right though it's a testament to Sky's management, or Froome himself, that the group remain in harmony, sacrificing themselves and their own ambitions for the success of Froome.

Fans can complain about Team Sky's tactics but what else do we expect of them? Their job is to see Chris Froome win the Tour and it's up to the others to try and break them down, and if they cannot ride away from Sky on the obvious climbs, to try and do so earlier; to join forces and try overwork Sky and isolate Froome; to put him under pressure enough that a mistake is made; to risk their own comfortable standing in a bid to unshackle the yellow jersey. The unwilling or inability to do this should not justify a disrespect to Sky.

And it is worth remembering that it's Froome who has ignited this Tour more so than any of his rivals and built the advantage he now enjoys. None of his time gains came on the way up mountains, but rather by taking the initiative and being creative while others preferred to wait for mountains that, thus far, they've clearly been unable to break Sky down on. Credit to Aru, Valverde and Bardet for small attempts today, but elsewhere Quintana didn't (or couldn't) move, while I fear that Mollema and Yates may now prefer to preserve career first podium placings over those behind them than worry about Froome in front.

The fear of a boring Tour from here on in is thus understandable: Froome is in control and is there a desire among the rest to try and break him? Don't panic yet though, we need only look back one Tour de France to see that it can all change in a heartbeat; that Froome can be prone to a bad day. Tour history is littered with nailed on winners who suddenly sprung a leak in their engine and who either coughed up their inevitable glory or were pushed to their very limits to retain it. The Tour is a brutal race...not just on the road physically, but also mentally with the stress to stay near the front and to stay out of trouble, and that's without considering all the pressures and demands that come away from the bike.

We haven't even reached the Alps yet. Froome may be looking good and I wouldn't bet against him staying good, but it's far from over. And even if Froome proves to be unbeatable and Sky un-attackable, Froome himself may yet look to ram home the advantage in the mountains to come by attacking often in a show of strength. And that in itself would be fascinating to watch, much as it was when Nibali did the same in 2014.