bikecrate

It is all over now. It would take exploding wheel to derail him. The worst thing he has had to face is booing fans on stage 15.

Mo06

I disagree about it being over, anything can happen & the time differences are the slimmest they have been for years.

Marcus_Ti

Froome can make up 1+ minute in the TT alone.

Mo06

"Froome can make up 1+ minute in the TT alone."

Of course he can.

He can also crash, or he can be hit by a 'fan' throwing a bottle of pee at him...

We shall see.

Marcus_Ti

Froome could also get transmogrified into an adorable housecat named "fluffy".

Anything could happen.


Whether it does happen...and any of his rivals actually leverage the situation...and whether his rivals can actually put a dent in his time even presuming they do decide to actually race...well that is a "no", at least today. His previous two mechanicals/off-course detours amounted to precisely squat for his rivals.

Mo06

Great finish to taday's stage and a worthy winner.

MinnMan

Some readable journalism on Uran and time trialing. I doubt he can beat Froome tomorrow, but it's at least plausible. Uran's performance in the first time trial may or may not have shown us what he can do.

https://cyclingtips.com/2017/07/tour...km-time-trial/

seypat

The live feed today on the official site mentioned that Aru has been in survival mode all week because of bronchitis. Sometimes it all comes together for a person. This was destined to be another victory for Froome.

2cam16

Would love to see Uran make something of it tomorrow. Is Uran a good TT'ist?

MinnMan

See link above. In 13 head to head matchups, Froome has posted the better time 8 times, Uran 5 times.

2cam16

Cool. Thanks.

kydeadhead

Sky has had time trial wheels explode this year. Froome is definately in the best position, but Fignon was once too and finished second.

Steve C

I just hope that either Froome wins, or Uran wins overall by more than the repealed penalty of 20 seconds.

If Uran wins by less than 20 seconds social media will be arguing for years.

Mo06

It's a tough circuit today... sharp little climb, at least it's dry.

Steve B.

No

HardyWeinberg

Dramatic! I bet Froome chose not to pass Bardet.

Kevindale

If people on social media want to argue, they'll argue. Froome wore a skinsuit in stage 1 that many think was illegal. The UCI said it was legal, but at the same time would not allow him to wear it in stage 20, which to me is an admission that it was an unfair advantage. Estimates are that that skinsuit may have given him 18-25 seconds in stage 1.

Also on stage 1, Uran had his regular TT bike disallowed literally 5 minutes before his start, after another inspector had passed it hours earlier. He literally had to jump on a backup bike and start riding. He finished well back of Barguil in stage 1, and 55 seconds (I believe) behind Froome. Look at how Uran did compared to Barguil in stage 20 to see what effect that bike change probably had. I'm guessing it cost him 30-40 seconds.

The water bottle penalty is one of those rules that is enforced extremely haphazardly, and they reversed that decision when it was pointed out to them how unfairly they were trying to apply it. It's basically a stupid rule that advantages strong teams with great domestiques.

MinnMan

I was rooting against Froome, but you gotta hand it to him. He can prevail in the mountains and he's a great time trialist. That's what it takes, and he has it in spades.

70sSanO

What makes it tough with Froome is that Team Sky has so much money and such a strong team that it seems natural to root against him. But as for Froome himself, he is so solid a rider but is also so unassuming and doesn't appear to have any arrogance that it is tough to root against Froome the person.

John

DLBroox

I agree. He seems like a really nice guy.

I was thinking about the whole Sky dominance thing last night. The positive spin for Sky is that they are a great training ground for riders. First you had Froome leading Wiggins up the mountains, than you had Porte leading Froome, and now Landa is probably going to be Movistar's GC guy next year. They're like bike college for these guys. They're the ones turning out top riders when you think about it.

colombo357

Possible, and would have been a wise move. The tour has evolved where GC winners not winning any stages is becoming more and more common place. A 4-time GC winner has little to gain from a single stage win, so in this case why piss off the French fans.

That said, can't dismiss the possibility that Bardet simply dug deep in the last 1-2km. He held onto 3rd place by 1 second.

Would be great if the teams posted the riders' power profiles.

HardyWeinberg

Absolutely, I agree it was sportsmanly(?) of him. Panache on both ends, Bardet going all out and managing to stay ahead of Landa and Froome not rubbing it in.

Campag4life

Cool postscript: Froome's baby boy wearing matching yellow jersey. Priceless.

Marcus_Ti

Almost makes up to Sky having yellow-kitted SAG vehicles today. Talk about ego.

Flip Flop Rider

Froome wins..team sky wins…it seems Landa and Kwiatkowski could win the tour too. Love it when Liggett talks about the powerful Landa and Kwiatkowski the work horses of team sky.

Phil Liggett by far my favorite announcer in any sport. When he calls the finishes it's just wow