Originally Posted by
Leinster
From a race perspective, the fact that Thomas rolled in with the Gesink/Gallopin group a minute back, and the next best Sky rider was Roche, fully 3 minutes behind Froome, was definitely encouraging in that, like I said, Sky might not be quite such an all-dominating entity. Of course, Porte's flat might have played into that. But it would be nice if the Alps became a duel between the top 5 (Froome, Quintana, Van Garderen, Valverde and Contador, in that order) without getting domestiques mixed up in everything. The Vuelta last year was some amazing racing, especially the last week, so a repeat of that would be great.
I didn't think it too crucial at the time, but the 2 minutes Quintana and Valverde lost on stage 2 now makes their deficits look very tough to manage. Valverde's been utterly brilliant this season, probably the best rider at Catalunya, winning the Ardennes Double, and now pulling out some great sprint finishes at the Tour. He has a stage win in him if he can get to Gap or Pra-Loup with the leaders.
Oh, and well done Cummings. Pulled an Argentin while Bardet and Pinot pulled a Roche/Criquelion.
Barring a massive race ending crash or 10 minute delaying mechanical the GC winner was decided a few days ago. Contador/Valverde can't even keep up the pace with Froome on a Cat 2 mountain...forget about attacking and doing any kind of damage. Quintana can't even attack hard enough to open and hold a single second gap on a Cat 2 mountain, although he can at least keep his wheel. GC is done, aside from the lower podium steps. The Lanterne Rouge contest is more exciting at this point.
Amazing work by Cummings. Great to see wildcard teams do well, especially when there aren't gifts being handed out.