Results of the 11th Tour de France: Is there mutiny in Sky?

Geraint Thomas attacked five kilometers from stage 11 and won, getting the yellow jersey with nearly a minute and a half in advance. For almost any other pilot, we would speculate when he put a stranglehold on the Tour de France. A problem: Chris Froome, Team Sky's teammate and a four-time winner of the Tour de France.

Here's where we are right after the mid-point of the Tour

Wednesday showed that, for now, the pitch is not up to beat Sky.

A quick overview of the day for the [Tom Dumoulin]: Eliminate the group of yellow jerseys and try to associate briefly with Alejandro Valverde for the last climb to no avail. He was overtaken by Thomas, but he snatched Froome to the line to finish second, and he currently displays 1 "44" of yellow. Valiant effort, and the only plausible non-Jersey Yellow Jersey winner now, but it's hard to imagine doing it without better teammates or better cooperation on the ground.

Alejandro Valverde: The only other GC candidate to attempt a concerted attack before the last climb. held a gap on Thomas, Froome and company up to about nine kilometers to go, and then shook his head when a Dumoulin in charge tried to help him climb the final slope, and fell back. [19659006] Dan Martin: Finished sixth on the stage with an aggressive move in pursuit of Thomas, but also Froome stuck on his wheel, allowing Sky to dominate the final result – he could finish in the top five overall , otherwise on the e podium, but he is probably too far to win the yellow in 10th place and 3 "16" to Thomas.

Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana Vincenzo Nibali, Primož Roglic: They were the next strongest GC runners on arrival at La Rosiere. They were also helpless against Sky's attacks. They stayed with Froome when Thomas left them at the five kilometer mark, and despite Bardet's spines, they could not bridge the gap at Froome after he hung on Martin's wheel. They embarked for almost a minute on the stage

All others: They are no longer really worth talking about in terms of overall standings, although we can take a second to take out one for Adam Yates. The 2016 winner of the Young Rider Ranking entered the 2018 Tour as one of the favorites, but he came out of the competition on Wednesday, finishing close to six minutes behind Thomas.

Thomas will really remove the yellow jersey Froome?

Nobody knows, but the Thomas vs Froome side plot is now the most compelling thing driving this year's Tour. Destroy Arguments:

Argument 1: Yes, Thomas commits a mutiny. The Tour de France is to win the fastest man in three weeks. What a team planned has importance only when it becomes apparent that the guy who has the best legs is not the one who is aiming a fifth yellow jersey. Thomas seemed spry on every leg of the Tour until now, fighting for bonus points and pebbles, hills and mountains. The facet in which Froome is clearly better than Thomas is the individual time trial, but if Thomas can get two minutes on his teammate at step 20, Froome could do nothing.

Argument 2: No, this is every part of Sky's plan. And Sky's plan is very detailed, it can very well include "make everyone believe that Chris and Geraint are no longer friends." And at the 11th stage, Thomas had the opportunity to shoot Froome when he caught Dumoulin in the last few kilometers, but he refused to give the pace to the Dutchman even though the two could have taken leave of Froome. he had done it.

Sky has also explicitly tried to reduce speculation on theft, knowing that this is what the world is happier to see. Froome and Thomas are also long-time friends, unlike Froome and Bradley Wiggins, for example, that Froome surpassed as Sky's team leader in 2013 to win his first yellow jersey.

Sky is so buttoned up that it's hard to imagine ranks. Again, in the absence of a general classification competition, what can we do other than the hope of betrayal?

Stage Results

Stage 11, 108.5 Kilometers from Albertville to La Rosière Space from St. Bernard Space

19659019] 1. Geraint Thomas (Sky) – 3h 29 & # 39; 36 "

2. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) – + 20"

3. Chris Froome (Sky) – + 20 "

4. Damiano Caruso (BMC Racing) – + 22"

5. Mike Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) – +22 "

6. Dan Martin (United Arab Emirates) – + 27"

7. Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) – + 57 "

8. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) – + 59"

9. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) – + 59 "

10. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) – + 59"

Overall rankings

1. Geraint Thomas (Sky) – + 44h 06 "16"

2. Chris Froome (Sky) – + 1 "25"

3. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) – + 1 & # 39; 44 "

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) – + 2 & # 39; 14"

5. Primož Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) – + 2 & # 39; 23 "

6. Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) – + 2" 40 "

7. Mikel Landa (Movistar) – + 2 & # 39; 56 "

8. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) – + 2 & # 39; 58"

9. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) – + 3 & # 39; 16 "

10. Dan Martin (United Arab Emirates Emirates) – + 3" 16 "