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Stage 11 of the Tour de France from Albertville to La Rosière sees the first major reshuffle of the overall standings. Geraint Thomas entered the yellow jersey after almost a week of testing, with teammate Chris Froome just behind him, while some could only watch their global ambitions go up in smoke.
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With the Alpe d'Or Huez must still change things Thursday, Cyclingnews takes a look at how the GC is emerging.
Team Sky dominates
There is no doubt that Team Sky was the big winner the day with Thomas taking the stage win by more than 20 seconds over Tom Dumoulin and assuming a relatively comfortable in the general classification. His team leader, Froome, finished with Dumoulin, after catching the Dutch on the last climb. That was enough to take the defending champion from sixth to second place and only 1:25 behind Thomas.
Team Sky is in full control of the overall standings as the race passes halfway. However, they now have something enigmatic to settle with regards to the yellow jersey.
Will we see the yellow jersey having to work for Froome or will it be protected for the moment? Last season, Thomas headed to the first mountain stage with yellow on his back, but the gaps were closer and Thomas only had to take a small gap to put the yellow jersey back to Froome. This year is very different, Thomas has a considerable lead and he is in the strongest form that he has ever been to the Tour de France
Will we see Froome attacking his own teammate? Froome assured that he kept his own losses to Thomas at least on the road to La Rosière, and is within striking distance of his teammate. If Froome attacks, will Thomas be allowed to continue – if he can – or will Team Sky tell him to hold the position?
chasers
Behind Thomas and Froome, there is only a minute and a half separating the rest of the top 10, Dumoulin leading the charge. The Sunweb team driver lost just 20 seconds against Thomas and he now ranks third in the Welsh 1:44 overall standings. Dumoulin looked strong with his long-range attack, which was enough to keep most of the main opponents away, but the course played to his advantage. Although there were some steep ramps during the last ascent, it was generally stable until it peaked, allowing it to use its power to stay out of the way.
Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) was another driver to come out of the special with a boost of confidence. It was Martin who initiated the move that saw Froome move away from most other GC contenders. Although he was finally outdistanced, it was not much and he crossed the line seven seconds on Froome and Dumoulin. Thanks to earlier losses in the race, due to the team time trial and an accident on the 8th stage, Martin is placed just inside the top 10 to 3: 16 behind Thomas
Vincenzo Nibali 30 seconds behind Dumoulin. ranking, and handy of a podium. He had been a relatively calm presence in the peloton until now, with the poor performance of his team in the time trial during the third stage. However, he put Franco Pellizotti to work on the Roselend Cormet following the Valverde attack. His hope, he said, was to see if anyone was struggling but he lost a man without result.
Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk sit together just behind Nibali with just 17 seconds separating the pair. On paper, Kruijswijk is the leader but this status is not as hard and fast as that of Team Sky. Roglic has gained time on Kruijswijk during the ascent of La Rosière, but it remains to be seen if he can continue to do so in the third week.
Movistar were the animators of the 11th stage, but they left relatively little. Quintana managed to finish with Nibali, Roglic and Romain Bardet, but he still lost nearly a minute to Thomas and is now more than three minutes away from the yellow jersey. Mikel Landa is ahead of Mikron Landa, who was dispatched 1:47 on Thomas during the last ascent. The Roubaix crash still affects him and he could lose even more time if he does not recover quickly. Alejandro Valverde almost gave up his chances of getting on the podium with his long range attack, and he is now just outside the top 10.
Bardet arrived on the scene with plenty of time to catch up and he added 59 seconds to that back home in the Quintana group. It is almost three minutes on the yellow. It was not for lack of trying and we will surely see Bardet at the attack again. The podium is still at hand, but he will have to catch up on the penultimate day of the time trial
In addition to being the mark of some drivers, the 11th stage put a pin in the ambitions of some pilots. Jakob Fuglsang, Ilnur Zakarin, Bob Jungels and Adam Yates, whose team-mate Mikel Nieve dubbed him thanks to his breakaway, are distant for a minute. All is not lost for them, a top 10 or even a top five could still be on the cards if they can change things.
Look a little further down the list and you'll see Rafal Majka and Bauke Mollema in the 22nd and 23rd respectively. Both drivers collapsed at the Roubaix stage and have fought since the race, losing more than 13 minutes on the yellow jersey at the end of stage 11.
Perhaps the Biggest loser of the day was Rigoberto Uran. the battle of general classification. The Colombian offer was already on the rocks, but it is completely submerged to more than half an hour. Uran has had problems with his knee and his back since he crashed on Sunday. Uran will have to see if there are improvements in his condition, but a step win is his only hope now.
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