Chris Froome, in the yellow jersey on the podium at Bagnères de Bigorre, laughed like a kid who had pulled off the most successful mischief. He had just won the first Pyrenean ride not by stretching, with his typical shakes, on the slopes of the Tourmalet or Peyresourde but by implementing an action that did not belong to his repertoire as a champion until today: the downhill attack as it happened yesterday just passed the banner of the last Gpm of the day, that of Peyresourde. A sudden move, a sort of bolt that in a few moments, even taking advantage of a moment of distraction from Quintana grappling with a water bottle, created a vacuum. Seated on the tube of the frame, with his body in parallel all projected forward to take advantage of all the aerodynamics, Froome gave a show that enters rightfully among the cult images of the history of the Tour. Taking advantage of the long straights of the Pyrenean hills, the champion Briton reached dizzying speeds, with peaks of over 90 km/h and with an average speed of 15 km/h in the final 62,5 km – the last three of which were flat. And in that position immortalized by the television cameras, at that thrilling pace, the strongest rider in the Tour became intoxicated, exhilarated and having fun, the unexpected protagonist of an exciting videogame never known before, a sort of Superman vainly chased by the others.
An action with a high rate of risk and spectacularity that launches Froome to the top of the standings but which does not kill the Tour as happened last year when the "white Kenyan" attacked the climb towards La Pierre Saint-Martin crumbling his opponents. Yesterday between him and his direct rivals – Quintana, Rodriguez (a good third behind Daniel Martin), Valverde and Aru – the gap was a handful of seconds: 13 to be exact (plus another 10" bonus) so much so that the new ranking sees 13 runners collected in just 34 seconds. But the whip given by Froome in the Tour is one of those that leave their mark on the eve of another stage that promises sparks arriving at the 2240 meters of Andorra Arcalis, a goal coveted by Purito Rodriguez who lives in the Principality between Spain and France. an opportunity also for Quintana to give a call after the lesson suffered yesterday by Froome.
The Pyrenean stage of the four hills, from the Tourmalet to the Peyresourde, if it didn't cause havoc while revolutionizing the classification, it still made illustrious victims, also putting an end to Greg Van Avermaet's yellow tale who arrived at the finish line with a delay of almost 26 minutes from Froome. But if the Belgian's collapse doesn't come as a surprise in a high mountain stage, it causes quite a bit of amazement to see that Vincenzo Nibali is also in the group of the former yellow jersey, adrift on the Pyrenean hills. It is true that the winner of the Giro came to the Tour to better prepare for the Olympic race in Rio, but after the ray of light glimpsed in the previous Aspin stage, no one expected a similar flop, perhaps not even him who starts again today towards Andorra Arcalis 54th in the standings over 33 minutes from Froome. Even for the French colors it was not a good day: Thibaut Pinot, after the crisis on the Aspin, tried to straighten the Tour by extending with Majka on the Tourmalet, but after being first on the mythical col and on the following one, the Hourquette d'Ancizan, slipped back into his bad days finishing more than 16 minutes behind Froome. All he has to do is fight for the grimpeur's polka dot jersey (since yesterday on Majka's shoulders) and for a stage win. The latter is an objective that Julian Alaphilippe, the much pampered child prodigy of transalpine cycling, must also aim for, who yesterday took a blow that dropped him in the standings just ahead of Nibali. Another loser of Bagnères-de-Luchon deserves a separate discussion: Alberto Contador is once again detached from Froome but also from Quintana and the other best: but the Pistolero, unlike Nibali, does not want to give up and tries every day to limit the damage hoping to regain perfect health before the Ventoux and the Alps. Meanwhile, after yesterday's 17th place at 1'41” from Froome, his delay in the standings has risen to 3'12”. It is not an abyss but day after day at Tinkoff they seem more and more skeptical about the possibility that the Pistolero will be back in the race to win the Tour, so much so that they have freed Roman Kreuziger – well placed in the general classification, 12th at 34” from the yellow jersey – from every obligation of support towards Contador. A sort of diarchy decided on the road by the Russian team while in Astana it's now an absolute monarchy with Fabio Aru, so far always with the first, sole captain after Nibali's new heavy debacle.
