Friday was a last shout for a few days for any type of sprinter and with a bit of a hill involved it was looking like a stage for Sagan. Some exceptional team riding from Cannondale put him exactly where he needed to be and he delivered a win that seems to make the green jersey more and more of a certainty to remain on his back. The pure sprinters, including Cavendish, were dropped during the race and settled into their position at the back of the pack as the race headed into the Pyrenees.
Stage eight looked to have been the defining battle of the whole race. The most significant break went uphill in the shape of tipped Colombian Quintana. He stuck out to take the price at the highest point of this year’s edition, but a hugely strong Sky hovered in the background menacingly. When it was time the power was unleashed in the shape of a phenomenal ride from Peter Kennaugh to pull the break back, followed by a turn from Richie Porte, before Froome jumped clear. Demonstrating precisely why he’s the favourite for the race, the Brit stormed away from the field and from all of his rivals. Porte waited until he was sure that noone was going with him and then headed off as well. Froome’s defiant win, with Porte’s second place, looked to establish Sky as the team head and shoulders above everyone else as Froome took the yellow jersey and watched any one with a hope of challenging him struggle in over a minute behind at best. It was a climb that broke Evans, Contador, and Valverde. Cue the inevitable questions about doping and the standard (and justified in my opinion) answers form Sky.
Stage nine made them look more human again but still underlined Froome’s power.
Losing his two lieutenants early, with Kennaugh crashing off the road, but coming back to ride on badly cut and Porte dropped on a climb, Froome was isolated in a group dominated by Movistar and having to work alone to cover attacks by Quintana. Irishman Dan Martin was the stage’s winner as he got clear with Fuglsang and finished an exciting stage of to the delight of his team, including Dave Millar.
All the suffering is worth it when I get to take this photo with the winner, @DanMartin86. pic.twitter.com/VvpeNsBjlc
— David Millar (@millarmind) July 7, 2013
But then it seems he knew that it would happen:
I send postcards to my sons from races. Scribbled this one on the bus before the start yesterday. pic.twitter.com/3ScT9Zti3F
— David Millar (@millarmind) July 8, 2013
Froome rode impressively to cover his rivals, despite being alone, and stayed in yellow finishing 20 seconds behind Martin.
This Tour is far more exciting already than the relentless train of Sky last year, and shows them as a team that have the capability to fall apart as much as any other. In light of this Froome looks incredible, and I imagine everyone is relishing today’s rest day.
Orica celebrated a fantastic first week like this:
The weekend included other cycling stories, but more on that tomorrow, but this video from the recent BDS round caught my eye and shows why you should be careful looking for that perfect action shot:
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