Has Froome really changed tactics? Everyone in the Tour is asking this after what we saw yesterday at the arrival in Montpellier with the yellow jersey attacking on the flat, taking advantage of the impetuous wind that creates fans. The result is that in a stage where everything could have been expected except for Froome to arrive in the bonus area, instead here is the Briton like a hawk hooking up the all-Tinkoff train of the Sagan-Bodnar duo, stretching over the group of Quintana and the other men in the standings.
Always accustomed to his terrible uphill rushes that annihilate his opponents, this year the Tour offers us a completely new version of Froome, an elusive downhill skier in the Peyresourde dive in Bagnères-de-Luchon, a powerful finisseur on the flat and in the whirlwind of wind up to invent sprinters to contend for victory with Sagan in Montpellier.
The Slovak wins the world champion increasingly green jersey, an extraordinary protagonist of this Tour that sees him fight every day alone against everyone, but Froome arriving second pockets six seconds of bonus which must be added to the 6'' with which the trio precedes the first group of chasers set up by Alexander Kristoff.
In this group there were all the best except Joaquin Rodriguez and the South African Louis Meintjes who lost a good minute in the "bordures" created by the wind, which split the peloton into several sections, leaving the top ten. Now Froome has a 28'' advantage over the second who is always Adam Yates. Third Daniel Martin at 31''.
"No need to change racing tactics - explained Froome after the finish - just the desire to take advantage of every opportunity the day offers". His main rival, Nairo Quintana - fourth overall at 34'' - was an angry sphinx who cursed the organizers accused of not sufficiently protecting the health of the riders on treacherous days like yesterday with the Mistral blowing like hell .
Wind aside, one wonders when Movistar's Condor will ever decide to attack Froome, putting him to the test if his offensive downhill and on the flat doesn't mask the fear of no longer being that terrible "blender" of the climbs.
In Quintana today the hot ramps of Mont Ventoux offer him the opportunity, even if due to the raging wind that until yesterday blew in those parts at over 100 km per hour, the finish of the stage is no longer on the summit – where Pantani, beating Armstrong in 2000, took the penultimate triumph in the Tour before losing himself in the depression – but has been moved further down to the height of Chalet Reynard, with a climb reduced to just 10 km but with an always demanding gradient of 9%. Even if the riders will avoid the fiery scree of Ventoux, scene of the Tommy Simpson tragedy in 1967, today's stage should deliver the first important verdicts.
"If we see a great Quintana on the Ventoux, it will be really hard for us," prophesied, perhaps for superstition, Nicolas Portal, the sporting director of Team Sky and Froome.
