The Marseille time trial, which definitively assigned the fourth Tour to Chris Froome, held no surprises, all according to script, but among the side effects it must have finally relieved a weight from Franco Balmamion, winner of two Tours of Italy, to top it off in a row in 1962 and 1963, but an almost forgotten and mistreated rider because he earned them without ever winning a stage, racing economically, never attacking.
From today even the old Franco, Piedmontese from Nole, will be able to say that even the great Froome took home his fourth Grande Boucle without ever winning a stage – one is still missing but only Hinault in the yellow jersey managed to prevail over all even upon arrival on the Champs Elysées, a more unique than rare exploit. Froome won this edition right at Balmamion, playing defense more than attack – he doesn't remember anyone who deserves to be called such. Two time trials of just over 33 km in total were enough for the British to scrape together a handful of seconds without overdoing it enough to deliver this Tour into his hands where big names such as Quintana and Contador soon dropped out of the standings.
The winner yesterday was the Polish Maciej Bodnar with a second ahead of his better-known compatriot, Mikael Kwiatkwoski. For Bodnar it is a deserved reward after the insult suffered in Pau, when he was caught up by the group just 200 meters from the finish line. Froome finished third at 6″ at the end of a race calibrated on the times that Rigoberto Uran was setting up, the only one who, being a good chronoman, could have worried him. But the Colombian lost 25″ from Froome to finish eighth. A proof of him which, if he moves away 54 ″ from the yellow jersey, allows him to oust Romain Bardet from the second step of the podium. His collection of second places in the major stage races thus rises to three after the two placings of honor obtained in the 2013 Tours behind Nibali and in 2014 behind Quintana.
It was Bardet himself who risked leaving the podium area in extremis, the favorite of the house, acclaimed by the fans at the Vélodrome in Marseille, to whom time trials are evidently still very indigestible. So much so that he too risks being overtaken by Mikal Landa, now fourth in the general standings just one second behind the Frenchman. Aru, already thinking about the next Tour, effortlessly defended his fifth place. Worth mentioning in the final top ten is the umpteenth proof of Contador's pride, who by placing himself sixth in the time trial at 21″ from Bodnar, overtook Barguil, regaining ninth place in the standings. Final catwalk today in Paris, the last prestigious opportunity for the sprinters left in the race.
