On Stage 10 of the 2015 Tour de France, and the race’s first foray into the mountains, Chris Froome dominated with Team Sky, taking the race by the scruff of the neck and gaining at least a minute on all the other general classification contenders.
So the question now has to be asked. Is the 2015 Tour de France as good as finished just after the first rest day if Chris Froome can stay upright?
His attack on Stage 10 was a coordinated one, lead out by Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte. No one had a chance of staying with the 2013 Tour de France champion.
As long as Froome and his team can keep that sort of form over the next two weeks the Tour’s final result is a mere formality. No one even looked close to being able to challenge Froome as he rode away with the stage to the top of La Pierre Saint Martin.
Another big point to think about here is the fact that he and his main mountain goat Richie Porte in particular look incredibly fresh. For 99 per cent of the first week of the Tour, Porte has been off the back of the peloton every day saving as much energy as possible to be able to unleash in the mountains which he did yesterday, overtaking Nairo Quintana after setting Froome up for victory and riding away to make it a 1-2 on the stage for Sky.
Yet another point to take into account here is that, Froome’s biggest rivals, forming part of the ‘big 4’ in Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali were both distanced with a fair chunk of the climb still to go. In fact Nibali cracked with around 10km remaining. Contador fell back when Porte came to the front and put the hammer down.
Froome, after his incredible attacking rampage to the finish of Stage 10, sits in an impeccable position on the general classification. In second place is the American Tejay Van Garderen who finished in 10th place on the stage and now sits at almost three minutes down on Froome in the overall standings. Quintana is in third, over three minutes back, and his teammate Alejandro Valverde comes next at 4:01 down on the Maillot Jaune.
The other members of the ‘big 4’, Contador and Nibali sit 4:04 and 6:57 down on Froome respectively in sixth and 10th position.
With these sort of gaps opening up on the Tour’s first foray into the Mountains, and Sky keeping Froome out of trouble and riding a very solid race during the first week all the way, never really looking challenged they sit in a very confident position.
Of course it can never be assured that the Tour is over with over 10 days, and six mountain stages to go but that is the volatile nature of the Tour. You can never be sure of anything.
Another thing you can be sure of is that there will be a lot of General Classification contenders who are going to go on the attack every time this race goes uphill and that Sky will have to get their tactics 100 per cent correct in working out who to chase and who to let go in what is going to be a very demanding second half of the race for them as they attempt to hold onto the yellow jersey.
In saying that after Stage 10 I am almost prepared to award the final yellow jersey to Chris Froome right now such was the dominance of both he and his team.
So what do you reckon Roarers? Is the 2015 Tour de France already in a semi-finished state or will the other general classification contenders be able to his back against the might of Froome and Team Sky?
Brian
Guest
Yes. Unfortunately over. Again. As it has been for the years since cadel won (and that was an exception) For the last few years, at least, the giro has been a far more exciting race with competition between the contenders going deep into the third week.
Scott
Roar Rookie
Does Orica-Greenedge have enough riders to support Porte in the mountains ?? not with their current roster. But if Porte moves to BMC, would he be a clear leader ahead of Tejay van Garderen ?? Positives and negatives for both choices. Or he could move to a team other than those 2 options.
pat malone
Guest
ahh, cycling ,the team event where the individual gets the glory, go team Kenya
Colin N
Guest
What an odd stage. Everyone, apart from Sky, performed well below what I was expecting. Froome was at the level from the 2013 Tour and the end of the 2014 Vuelta, but the rest underperformed. Quintana produced a decent performance but hasn't had a lot of racing this season so I reckon he will get better. Nibali was awful, Contador looked tired from his Giro exploits, van Garderen was well below his performances in the Dauphine and Pinot was hugely disappointing (especially considering his form leading into the Tour). It was reminiscent of Ax3 Domaines, not just for Froome's dominance but also how his competitors underperformed. IMO, a top performing Quintana and Contador are better climbers than Froome but they aren't at that level at the moment.
James
Guest
i think froome just out thought quintana, he went with 6km to go and quintana didnt panic and just uped his pace a little but obviously thought that froome had gone too early and with 6km to go thought he could pull him back by just riding well. then with 3km to go quintana realised he had to push but froome knew he had built that gap up so both pushed equally.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Don't think we will get to see Froome crack tonight. Major climb of the Tormualet is a fair way from the finish. However, Porte and Thomas might. 2013 after the first major climb to Ax3 Domaines, Sky fell away the next day leaving Froome isolated for a couple of hours of racing in the mountains.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
I will be happy to have the conversation after stage 12, as we will start to see a trend in the performance of Sky, and judgements can be made with a better understanding of what is really happening. Hard to judge the day after the rest day (where some riders can react badly to the rest), the first mountain stage, and the fact that there was only one climb.
Bill
Guest
I guess not. Carry on.
steveng
Roar Rookie
What about 'Armstrong tweet' that "Doping clouds rain questions on Froome as Lance chimes in" could it be that Froome is on some sort of stuff that Lance got away with for years? I watched Froome last night and Froome's acceleration with about 2.5kms to go was unbelievable and really questionable that one man can be so superior to his opposition and then his team mate Porte could also have such stamina and power as well (they might be drinking some different juices to what the others are) lol. But seriously, for Froome and Porte to leave Quintana (the best climber in the world) for dead and then for Froome to put so much time (2':40") onto second place getter Van Garderen and leave Nibali and the rest of the field 'as no contest'. I'm just wondering if Froome is such a superior climber and rider to have all these attributes to give him a 2':52" lead, and are the rest of the Pyrenees stages a 'Fait accompli' for Froome?
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
If I were Sky management I would tell my boys "guys, take it easy today, and please no 1 and 2 like we did yesterday". Clean or not, its the price cyclists have to pay these days. When you win easy you're under suspicion.
Greg
Guest
That was...umm...unbelievable! x 3. And all from the same team. Lance must be so jealous.
Rob Marshall
Roar Rookie
Three in a row this week is a tough ask for Froome. At about 3 minutes gap to both Van Garderen and Quintana he can't afford to have even a bad few moments. Valverde in support of Quintana could be very interesting to watch as well. It ain't over yet folks.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
Hard to disagree Scott, Froome was awesome last night. I couldn't believe how quickly and meekly Nibali went out the back door.
Campbell Watts
Guest
I'll be interested to see how much that took out of Froome come tonight's stage... Nairo to me still has plenty of climbing power left in the tank and there are plenty more mountain top finishes to come.
Campbell Watts
Guest
Go away Bill...
Rob Marshall
Roar Rookie
I doubt GreenEdge can afford him (Porte).
Bill
Guest
Can we not talk about how out of the ordinary Team Sky's performance is?
Aaron
Guest
I think Nairo's best now is probably 2nd; even at best he'd be lucky to make up 2 mins on Froome the way he's riding. Only hope for the others now is Froome having a bad day. On a side note, I really hope Porte moves to Greenedge, not BMC as is rumoured.
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
Still a long way to go but Froome is certainly in the box seat, it is bow up to everyone else to attack and make the time back, he can sit back, defend and save his energy for the really key moments. Was an incredible stage finish, Movistar really set it up for the carnage that followed though, they set a cracking pace for the second half of the flat portion and drilled it up the climb. They are actually the ones who did most of the initial damage, at one point during the live commentary last night I wrote out a list of notable riders with GC ambitions falling off the pace and it was at least 10 long and that was only about a quarter of the way up. Kudos to Valverde too, he looks to be in great climbing form but played the perfect teammate for Quintana, it was actually one of his accelerations that sent Contador yoyoing off the back. I had Valverde pegged for potential self interest and though he may not be willing to sacrifice himself but was dead wrong. Froome and Sky though, what a ride, he just ripped into everyone and that team looks so strong, Porte came in second but Geraint Thomas also matched it with Valverde and beat the likes of Van Garderen and Contador in.
Rob Marshall
Roar Rookie
The experts say that hitting your opposition hard on the first real climbing stage is a good path to a Tour victory. Wiggins, Contador, Armstrong, Niblai are all riders that have used this tactic with success. However, I wouldn't be writing Quintana off just yet. If he's saved enough energy (note that he didn't try and out sprint Porte) and can have a really good outing in the next couple of stages then he has to be a chance. Barring a crash, illness, mechanical, bad weather, dog on the road, spectator's camera or a collision with a team car you'd think that Froome has the Tour to lose rather than win. But those are a lot of factors beyond his control.