First let me apologize for not posting anything since Thursday. We were on vacation and had inconsistent internet service and then arrived home to find internet and TV are both out (Comcast/Xfinity you suck!)
Stage 13
Stage 13 turned out to be one of the most exciting and action packed stages so far this year. The short distance (101 km/63 miles) meant the peloton was full gas from kilometer zero with Astana unable to control the race. Attacks from Warren Barguil, Alberto Contador, and Nairo Quintana animated the stage along with Mikel Landa of Sky. Contador looked to have optimum position going into the finish but was pipped at the line by Barguil.
It was good to see El Pistolero off the front and riding offensively, dictating the race instead of following others. Quintana looked to be going better after looking very weak on Stage 12.
Stage 14
Once again there is no such thing as a routine day in the Tour de France and if you don’t pay attention, especially as the race leader, then you won’t be the leader much longer. This is exactly what happened to Fabio Aru as Astana completely dropped the ball in looking after their leader and allowed him to fall back and lose 26 seconds on the final 500 meter climb into the finish which put Froome back in Yellow.
Micheal Matthews finally got his stage victory and Team Sunweb made it two in a row. Olympic champion and my pick for the stage Greg Van Avermaet was second. This may have been the best chance for BMC to win a stage and salvage something out of this year’s Tour.
Stage 15
To quote Paul Sherwen Stage15 was a “tale of two halves”. The stage started with a Category I climb and saw a large group of 25 riders get off the front including KOM leader Warren Barguil. It was obvious from the beginning that it would be a day for the breakaway as the leading group built up a lead of over 9 minutes at one point. In the latter part of the stage Tony Martin went off the front of the breakaway group and built up a lead of over 1 minute. Martin was caught on the ascent of the Category I Col de Peyra Taillade by Warren Barguil who once again collected maximum points at the summit. The GC race began in earnest on the same climb when team Ag2r attacked Froome en mass and attempted to team time trial away. They were joined by the other GC contenders in the top 10. The situation was exacerbated by Froome experiencing a mechanical and having to switch wheels with Kwiatkowski since the team cars were so far behind. Froome was then paced back to the group ahead but burned up two teammates in the process. At the steepest part of the climb Froome had difficulty staying with the other GC contenders. Mikel Landa dropped back and paced Froome into the GC group but it was obvious the race leader was at his maximum to keep up. Louis Mentjes and Simon Yates were dueling it out for the lead in the Best Young Rider classification and were off the front of the main GC group when they were joined by Dan Martin. This small group was able to get away and finish 20 seconds ahead of the main GC group. Nairo Quintana was the big loser on the day as he became unhitched on the final climb of the day and lost 4 minutes dropping from the Top 10 completely.
Rest Day Thoughts
Going into the Alps and the final week of the Tour de France the top 5 are separated by 1:12. If the organizers were hoping for a close race then they certainly accomplished their mission.
The other classifications are not as close with Kittel leading the race for the Maillot Vert 373 points to 294 for Micheal Matthews. Warren Barguil has a virtually unassailable lead in the KOM classification with 116 points, the next closest competitors have 38. The Best Young Rider classification is a two rider race between Simon Yates and Louis Meintjes (+3:07). It will take a big effort from Meintjes and a hiccup on the part of Yates for him to lose the Maillot Blanc.
I have really enjoyed the aggressive racing by everyone over the last week. The race is always more compelling when there are riders who are racing to win and not riding to protect their placing (i.e. “racing not to lose”). Aru and Bardet have not been bashful about attacking Froome and Sky. This resulted in Aru wearing the Maillot Jaune for two days and Bardet winning the stage into Peyragudes. The short stage into Foix was brilliant and produced the type of racing that the organizers were hoping for. I hope that we see more of these type stages in the future.
Froome is vulnerable and may not even be the strongest rider on his own team. With Mikel Landa moving over to Movistar next season it will be interesting to see if he rides for himself next week should Froome falter in the Alps. Bardet is riding to win the Tour and his team seems to be the only one of the top 5 GC riders able to support him in that goal. Astana is a mess and with the loss of Jakob Fuglsang have no one who can hang with the top riders to support Aru. Dan Martin is a threat for the final podium if he can steal a few more seconds here and there over the next few days.
Week three begins with a stage for the sprinters on Stage 16. Stage 17 is a monster stage in the Alps containing both the Col de la Croix de Fer and Col de Galibier. The finish is downhill so there probably won’t be huge time gaps if any. Stage 18 is the last chance for the GC men to gain any time before the time trial in Marseilles with a summit finish at the Col de Izoard. Stage 19 should be a stage for the sprinters. The 24 kilometer Individual Time Trial in Marseilles on Stage 20 will decide who rides into Paris wearing the Golden Fleece. Froome is the best against the clock out of the remaining GC contenders and should be able to recoup a minute to a minute and a half on the other riders.
What are you looking forward to in Week 3?
Three Weeks in July 