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Chris Froome and Team Sky have taken the Tour by the throat on the race’s first mountains stage, with Froome distancing all his rivals and Sky teammate Richie Porte coming in second.
You would have been forgiven for thinking it was 2013 all over again with Chris Froome’s all out assault on the Tour’s first mountain stage, completely destroying the peloton on the way to a dominant stage win.
The 167km stage saw an early solo breakaway from French veteran Pierrick Fedrigo (Bretagne) who was joined by Dutchman Kenneth VanBilsen (Confidis) 45km in.
Despite leading by up to 15 minutes at one point, a hard pace set by Movistar in the peloton saw the break reeled in just as the peloton hit the early slopes of La Pierre-Saint-Martin.
In an attempt to set things up for Colombian climber Nairo Quintana, Movistar continued to set a fast pace on the lower slopes of Saint Martin and saw a number of Tour hopefuls fall off the pace early.
Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali was dropped with over 10km remaining and when Richie Porte moved to the front of the peloton, his acceleration saw Alberto Contador bite the dust.
With 6km to go Froome madly whirled his pedals around for a trademark acceleration and was never seen again.
Quintana tried in vain to catch the race leader and the rest of the contenders went into damage control but no one could catch Froome who kept on accelerating until he crossed the finish line.
In a final show of ultimate strength for Sky, Richie Porte caught up to pre-stage favourite Nairo Quintana and passed him with 500m to go, taking second on the stage. Sky teammate Geraint Thomas even managed to come in 6th and sits now 5th in GC.
The list of riders whose general classification hopes were dashed against the rocks tonight is as long as it is notable: Alberto Contador lost 3 minutes, Vincenzo Nibali 4; they are now 4 and 7 minutes behind Frome, placed 6th and 10th.
Even Nairo Quintana and Teejay Van Garderen, who did all they could to control the gap to Froome, face a 3 minute deficit to the race lead.
The question now is, can Froome maintain this form? There are still six more mountain stages left where the likes of Quintana could claw back time, so the race is not won yet.
However such a dominant win takes all the pressure off Froome and Sky, it forces all the other riders to take risks and make moves to try and catch up, Froome can sit back and defend his lead if he wants.
For his win on the first summit finish Froome also takes the lead in the King of the Mountains standings and Porte, who will wear the polka-dot jersey, is second.
Earlier in the day in the sprinters points classification, Andre Gripel beat Peter Sagan at the intermediate sprint checkpoint so will regain the green jersey from the Slovakian.
However with 2 more mountain stages left in the Pyrenees all eyes will now be on Quintana, Contador and any of the other favourites to see if there is anything they can do to peg back time on a rampaging Chris Froome.
STAGE RESULTS
1. Chris Froome (Sky)
2. Richie Porte (Sky) +0.59
3. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +1.04
4. Robert Gesink (LottoNL Jumbo) +1.33
5. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +2.01
6. Geraint Thomas (Sky) +2.01
7. Adam Yates (Orica GreenEDGE) +2.04
8. Pierre Rolland (Team Europecar) +2.04
9. Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) +2.22
10. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) +2.30
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Chris Froome (Sky)
2. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) +2.52
3. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +3.09
4. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +4.01
5. Geraint Thomas (Sky) +4.03
6. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) +4.04
7. Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) +4.33
8. Robert Gesink (LottoNL Jumbo) +4.35
9. Warren Barguil (Giant Alpecin) +6.12
10. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) +6.57
The week of classics is over and the race to win the Tour De France begins for real on Stage 10 tonight as the peloton has it’s first day in the mountains. Join us on The Roar from 10:00pm (AEST) for live updates and commentary.
There is an oft repeated saying, ‘you can’t win the Tour in the first week but you sure can lose it’ and it is a cliche that bears repeating as the Tour begins a three day stint in the mountains of the Pyrenees.
Over the first nine stages, while the favourites have been spending most of their energy staying out of trouble, we have seen small glimpses of form (or lack of it) but now has come the time for someone to win the race.
The stage tonight runs 167km from Tarbes to the summit finish at La Pierre Saint-Martin.
It is mostly rolling terrain with three category 4 climbs before the peloton reaches the hors category, 1466m climb up Saint Martin.
The climb isn’t overly steep, averaging 5.7 per cent with a maximum gradient of 10 per cent, but it does stretch over 15km, far longer than anything the peloton has had to tackle so far.
The mountain will see the first true sorting of the GC deck and will answer a number of questions that have been raised during the first nine stages:
Are the outsiders, Teejay Van Garderen and Rigerberto Uran, really able to match it with the ‘Big 4’ or just lucky to be where they are?
Were the moments of weakness from defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and other favourites Andrew Talansky and Thiabault Pinot just fleeting moments or signs of bigger problems ahead?
It is the perfect time for any of the contenders to put their mark on the race and a change in the race lead is not out of the question so expect to see a number of big names jostling for position on the lead up to the final climb.
To top off this first day in the mountains it is Bastille Day, France’s independence day, so the crowds will be thick and raucous and a number of French riders will be out, on the attack, trying to become the national hero for the day.
In the other classifications, with 50 points on offer at the finish line, the first to the top of Saint Martin will take the King of the Mountains jersey as well as the stage win.
The sprint classification is on a knife’s edge, just 3 points seperate Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel so both will be giving it their all at the intermediate sprint checkpoint 124km into the race.
Prediction:
It’s Bastille Day so you can bet your house on a Tommy Voeckler attack at some point, along with a number of Frenchmen, he will be on the prowl from the start.
If I had to pick one of them to win it would be AG2R’s young GC hopeful Romain Bardet.
However don’t pop the champagne just yet, because I predict it will turn out to be a day for one of the big name favourites, namely Nairo Quintana.
He is two minutes behind current leader Chris Froome and if he wants to win the Tour he will have to own the mountains and I think that will start tonight.
But who do you think will make their mark in the first mountain stage of the 2015 Tour? Let us know in the comments and join us from 10:00pm for live updates, commentary and chat.
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