Splendid solo at Le Grand-Bornand by Rui Costa, who repeats the success of Gap always by detachment, at the end of the second Alpine stage, as long-awaited as it was disappointing for those who expected new ambushes for the yellow jersey Froome. A success, that of Rui Costa, winner of two Tours of Switzerland, elected sportsman of the year 2012 in Portugal, which confirms the uncommon qualities of this rider, sacrificed too much at Movistar in the service of Valverde and Quintana.
The patriotic enthusiasm of the French for their first stage victory vented on the Alpe d'Huez – only one title "Héroique Riblon" loomed over the Equipe this morning, the Tour was back on track for its second of three final rides in the high mountains with Froome's raised hand in his eyes, four km from the arrival on the legendary Alpe, the signal of the first warning light that had come on in a perfect engine so as to deserve the appellation of extraterrestrial. A sharp and sudden hunger crisis, which made the news but did not undermine the overwhelming power of the British on the Tour: indeed in the end, despite losing about a minute and a half yesterday from Quintana and Rodriguez, between delay and the 20” penalty inflicted by jury for the non-standard "refuelling", Froome was back again this morning with an advantage that had risen to over 5 minutes over a Contador, now more temperament than legs.
On paper, one of the toughest stages of the Tour, over 200 km, with the Glandon and the Madeleine, two hors categories, in the first part of the race, the Bourg d'Oisan – Le Grand-Bornand, if he had to first give an answer on the Froome's conditions, confirmed that a good dinner last night was enough to regenerate the yellow jersey which today has never struggled, helped by the team, to control the race. A race enlivened immediately by the courageous gesture of Ryder Hesjedal, the winner of the 2012 Giro d'Italia, but who had since disappeared from the sports news. Also in this Tour he was never in the game as he slipped to 62nd place in the standings with more than an hour and 40 minutes behind Froome. The Canadian took off with Izaguirre on the hairpin bends of the Glandon. First to the summit, the Garmin rider was left alone on the descent to then be joined on the long ramps of the Madeleine by Pierre Rolland. At exactly 2.000 meters of the pass it was the Frenchman, who did not lose hope of taking back the polka dot jersey, who earned the 25 points of the gpm. The two fugitives stayed together up to the third pass, that of Tamié (8 km at 6,2% gradient).
Here Rolland detached Hesjedal who paid for an attack as generous as it was naïve. The Canadian was sucked in by a group of 24 riders including the Italians De Marchi and Cunego. It was thought that the games for the first places in the standings - the candidates for the podium from second place by Contador to fifth place by Rodriguez, are enclosed in less than 60 seconds - were postponed to the last roughness of the day, in particular the Col de la Croix Fry , located 13 km from the finish, 1.477 meters above sea level, with 12% climbs and a subsequent dive ideal for a final attack. But that won't be the case. Along the descent of the Glandon, the attempts made by Contador and his companions on the Saxo Tinkoff had had no effect with Froome and the Sky men still masters of the race, at the head of the group of the best who still had 50 minutes to go with 11 km to go late on Rolland. The battle between the big names actually disappeared.
With the obvious great pleasure of the yellow jersey who, thin as a nail, could feed himself on the run with complete peace of mind. Still first on the Tamié, Rolland was then retaken by his immediate pursuers. The French hopes of a possible encore ended which instead exalted Rui Costa, the best at flying off the Croix Fry while the group of Froome and Contador gave up fighting, reaching the finish line more than 8 minutes behind the Portuguese. Behind him was less than a minute old Andreas Kloden. Hesjedal, collapsed until he fell to the rear where the sweeper was marching, crossed the finish line more than half an hour late. Another day to forget for Cunego too, even if the Veronese will have to remember it for another unpleasant reason: the Mantova public prosecutor's office today indicted him for doping along with 27 others in the Lampre dossier.
