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After a short two-day jaunt through the French Pyrenees, the 100th edition of the Tour de France sadly leaves the region following a well-deserved rest day.
While Stage 8 saw Team Sky obliterate the rest of the peloton en route to the Ax 3 Domaines Ski Resort, it was Stage 9 which really caught the imaginations of the viewers.
Whilst few had Stage 9 pencilled in to be such an action-packed stage, it affirmed the belief of many that it is the cyclists who make the race and not just the route.
A perfect storm of events colluded to transform a suspected day for the breakaway in to a punishing stage for all involved.
All assisted, no doubt, by the safety net the well-earned rest day on Monday provided for riders to leave it all on the road.
So Stage 9 instead became a massive showdown between the favourites in the General Classification to see who might crack over the five categorised climbs of the day.
One of the worst effected were Sky Pro Cycling, who lost Vasil Kiryienka to the stage’s time limit, and saw Richie Porte lose second in the General Classification.
Porte unfortunately cracked under the relentless pressure exerted by Movistar.
Fortunately for Team Sky, Chris Froome survived the stressful day to retain his maillot jaune and, importantly, keep his rivals at an arm’s length, with two individual time trials still to come.
Arguably, the biggest winners of the day were Garmin-Sharp, who saw Dan Martin secure the stage victory and improve his standing in the General Classification.
After helping Movistar and Team Saxo-Tinkoff deprive Froome of his trusted Australian lieutenant and Team Sky domestiques, the American based team got their just rewards at the stage’s conclusion.
Current Liège–Bastogne–Liège champion Dan Martin outwitted Team Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang in the sprint for the finishing line.
One can only imagine how Team Belkin, who took over as sponsors just before the Tour de France, must be feeling at the moment.
While homegrown Dutch cyclist Bauke Mollema has consistently performed at this level in several previous stage races, it is the current form of Laurens ten Dam which has caught many by surprise.
Both shuffled up the General Classification standings by one position with the demise of Richie Porte on Stage 9.
Mollema now occupies third, 1’44”behind Froome, while Ten Dam lies in fourth place, a further 6” back.
A day of mixed fortunes for Movistar however, despite Alejandro Valverde moving up to second overall, 1’25” behind Froome.
With Froome isolated and looking vulnerable it was expected that the Spanish Armarda, of Movistar and Team Saxo-Tinkoff, would land a substantial counter-blow to Team Sky’s Stage 8 domination.
Unfortunately, it would not eventuate as Froome first followed an attack by Valverde, then resisted the high tempo set by Movistar on the front of the group, and lastly showed no signs of cracking from the repeated attacks of Nairo Quintana.
After faltering on Stage 8, Alberto Contador once again had a rather quiet day, by his lofty standards. It was once again his team mate Roman Kreuziger who looked the strongest of the two.
Kreuziger’s career as a General Classification contender is looking renewed with no pressure upon his shoulders.
However, with several arduous days in the French Alps still to come there is plenty of time for Contador to reach his peak in the third week of the race.
With the French Pyrenees behind us, the gruelling war to be crowned the overall winner of the Tour de France should be decided by two individual time trials and several stages traversing the French Alps.
Whether the Tour de France has any more surprises left in store for us is hard to tell, as said earlier few anticipated the carnage seen in Stage 9.
What we can be sure of is that Chris Froome has more of a fight on his hands than previously thought.
After Team Sky’s domination in Stage 8, and that, so far, he has had the means to handle the challenges thrust at him.
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