The prologue time trial of the Tour under the gray rain of Dusseldorf gave more important answers than could have been expected in just 14 km of the race, already putting out the race a big name like Alejandro Valverde, forced to retire due to a fractured tibia and patella after crashing violently against the barriers. A start under the sign of Team Sky with Geraint Thomas magnificent winner and first yellow jersey and with Christopher Froome, who just needs to finish sixth to already over half a minute ahead of his direct rivals for the final victory.
The big loser is the home idol, Toni Martin, world champion of the specialty who has to settle for fourth place, 8” behind the winner, also preceded by the Swiss Stefan Kung and the Belarusian Vasily Kiryienka, another Team Sky athlete. For Thomas it is not only the first yellow jersey but also the first triumph in a stage of the Tour. A day that repays him for the bad luck that dogged him in the Giro causing him to crash with Landa in the Blockhaus stage. Although battered, before retiring, the Briton managed to finish second in the Montefalco time trial, only surpassed by the formidable Dumoulin of that day. Given the certainly not exceptional performances of Quintana and Nibali, Thomas, who was the captain of Team Sky in the Giro, could also have had his say for the final pink jersey.
Here at the Tour he is at the service of Froome, the absolute captain of the British team who already at his first taste of the Tour, putting aside the prudence of the eve, has already launched precise signals of his desire to play poker. Taking advantage of the fact that the start and finish were always in Dusseldorf, Froome wanted to follow his teammate Kwiatkowski's race by car – who started about an hour earlier setting the seventh fastest time – to understand the secrets of a route, trivial on paper , which the heavy rain was making more and more insidious by making various victims (including the Dutch Dylan Greoenewegen and the German Ric Zabel) before the drama of Valverde. Froome, even risking it, began to wave his legs, immediately creating a void between him and the pretenders to the final victory.
He took 12” more than Thomas but distanced Richie Porte by 35” who was very disappointing with an anonymous 47th place, he who is a time trial specialist. Quintana paid Froome 36”, Aru 40”, Fuglsang and Contador 42”. The Tour ended only for the hapless Valverde, but for the rivals of the "white Kenyan" it has already started uphill. Today, the second stage entirely for sprinters, with the arrival in Liège, a city that has seen Valverde triumph four times in the Ardennes spring monument classic. It will be a battle between the greats of the sprint. For the Spanish champion, at the age of 37, the season (and perhaps career) is over.
