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And then there was one. At the top of the Portet pass, a mountain whose beauty has only equaled its malevolence, Chris Froome said five words in his radio: "I do not feel great." Moments later the Team Sky Leader Debate Part of this year's Tour de France, a secondary plot often interspersed with intrigue and deep uncertainty, has abruptly stopped.
Froome, the quadruple winner, started drifting backwards. And Geraint Thomas, relieved of any obligation to his friend, knew what he had to do. First he passed Froome. Then he swept the Dutch Tom Dumoulin. And, all of a sudden, he was at the top with an even bigger time gap on his rivals – and recognizing that the first yellow jersey was within his reach.
"I think we are in an excellent position," Thomas said. "Unfortunately, Froomey has wasted time but he is still on the podium.We must continue to do what we do."
The history books will note that it is the Colombian Nairo Quintana who has overcame the tire and mechanics problems to win the shortest and spikest stage of this year's Tour. Bagneres-de-Luchon in Saint-Lary-Soulon. Yet that was the day when many expected Thomas's chances to be felt as well. That's Froome who dropped, losing 48sec to his teammate in a dramatic final, with Irishman Dan Martin second and Thomas third – thus earning a time bonus of 4sec.
This means that 32-year-old Welshman is now leading the race by 1mn 59sec from Dumoulin, with Froome 2min 31sec back. As Froome admitted afterwards: "He has a pretty comfortable tampon, we just have to take care of him for the next few days."
To make matters worse for Froome, he was caught by an aggressive spectator during the scene and accidentally overthrown by a police officer who confused him with a spectator while he returned to Team Sky Bus. Chris Froome crosses the finish line ahead of Mikel Landa but behind his teammate Egan Bernal. "src =" https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e7d6ff48127f05a023453d60b8ee2b60faa7de2e/0_0_3500_2412/master/3500.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=4c6ecb2a77892fe2e964718b836a7e98 "/>
The stage, the shortest of the Tour for 30 years, begins with an F1 style start with Thomas at the tip of an arrowhead, slightly ahead of Froome and Dumoulin. But he never seemed to give up pole position.
Previously, everyone was waiting for Team Sky to come on stage as a team time trial. Instead, the first hour was more like a bogus war, as the contenders for the grand tour watched each other cautiously. But as the peloton climbed the Val Louron-Azet pass, the second of three climbs of the day, Pierre Latour of AG2R, in best young driver's jersey, was moving forward and was starting to pushing his teammate Romain Bardet
It was a heroic act of altruism, the thirteenth rider threatening overall his own chances in the hope of putting Bardet in yellow. He barely ruffled Team Sky, who still had six riders together. Froome and Thomas even had enough energy to chat happily.
There was yet another climb to come – and what an ascent: the Col du Portet, 2215 m long and 2215 m long. At 10 o'clock in the morning, more than five hours before the start of the race, there were already jubilant spectators, Union jacks mingling with the tricolors and Spanish and Colombian flags. Now, they wanted blood.
They had it too: 1.5km in the climb Martin was attacking with Quintana chasing his tail. Then Primoz Rogliz, who was fourth overall, had a pop. This time, Froome reacted immediately, while Thomas waited his time and used Dumoulin and Bardet to fill the gap.
However, Quintana and the Polish Rafal Majka had long gone and they had soon overtaken Tanel Kangert of Astana, who had led from the start. It was now a two-bike race but the Colombian has always looked the strongest and when he made his move, 6km, it turned out to be decisive.
Thomas, however, ended up as a bullet train – although he had not regretted asking if he should have attacked earlier. "I did not want to risk anything, that's why I left it as late as possible," he said. "Especially at altitude, as soon as you hit and you stick for five seconds, it can bite your ass."
It was certainly hard to disagree with the evaluation of Team Sky's director, Dave Brailsford. "People were wondering if he could handle these steeper climbs than the Alps and he passed the test brilliantly," he said. "He ran another perfect race."
More controversial, Brailsford then insisted that it would be imprudent to write Froome, despite his struggles, saying, "His recovery powers are fantastic." This is certainly true. After all, he was able to recover from an even more serious stance to win the Giro D & # 39; Italia in May. This time all the efforts of Team Sky will be directed to Thomas.
At least the stage Thursday from Trie-sur-Baise to Pau will offer a respite after two difficult days in the Pyrenees before the riders head for Lourdes to attack the Tourmalet.
This year the 70th miracle in the French city was officially recognized by the Catholic Church. After what happened at the Col du Portet, those looking to catch Thomas better start praying for a 71st.
