Even at the top of Saint-Lary Pla d'Adet the Tour does not change register, on the contrary it strengthens the primacy of Vincenzo Nibali, its only and undisputed leader. The second Pyrenean stage is won by Rafal Majka who, repeating the success of Risoul, as well as a double gift for the Russian tycoon Oleg Tinkoff, accumulates points that are perhaps decisive for the polka dot jersey of the best climber, he who is not a pure grimpeur , breaking the only goal of a Joaquim Rodriguez still in the dry dock who after the shooting on the Col du Portillon and the sprint in front of Majka himself disappeared on the Col du Val Luron and on the final ascent, a category hors finish doubles the points.
Behind Majka, 29” behind came Giovanni Visconti who, 9 km from the finish, had attempted a draw by breaking away from the leading group which included, among others, Roche and Rolland. It would have been the en plein of Sicily if Majka hadn't been there, because just behind Visconti here is Nibali, the Shark of the Strait, who arrives with his increasingly yellow jersey after leaving the company of ranking men, unable to reply to the master of the Tour. A showdown that costs Valverde another 49" delay (now he is still second in the standings but 5'26" behind Nibali) and which extinguishes the boldness of Bardet and Thibaut Pinot who on the Col du Val Louron he had tried to make the yellow jersey nervous.
Now they too are further and further away in the standings, Pinot still third but at 6 flat minutes while Bardet is fifth at 7'34”. Old Jean-Christophe Peraud, born in 1977, went better than the two young transalpine hopefuls, who was the only one to hold Nibali's wheel on the final climb, finishing fourth: now Peraud is fourth in the standings, just 8 seconds from the podium of Pinot and 42” from the second place of Valverde. Today the Tour bids farewell to the Pyrenees with a legendary stage: there is the Tourmalet and the final ascent to the Hautacam which in 2000 saw one of Lance Armstrong's great feats – all of which were subsequently cancelled, which sent Pantani into crisis. Some are betting on another Nibali show to put the definitive seal on a perfect Tour.
But already yesterday evening, at the finish line in Saint-Lary which in the history of the Tour recalls the last victory of Raymond Poulidor in 1974, the beloved Popou of the Frenchman, who in that edition dominated by Merckx managed at least one day to beat the Cannibal , Nibali also put one more tile to enter the hall of fame of the Grande Boucle: with the one worn in the 18th stage it is his 15th yellow jersey, a number that places him ahead of past champions such as Gastone Nencini, the winner of the Tour of 1960. And in Paris, for the triumph of his first Tour, the yellow jersey n.19 awaits him in four days: like those of Coppi, in his two Tours won, between 5 worn in 1949 and 14 in 1952 .
