The yellow jersey had touched her in the two previous stages. In the dreaded hamlet of Cambrai, Toni Martin finally conquered it together with the stage victory with a breathtaking finale that few others can do, breaking away from the group of the best who had emerged unscathed from the cloud of dust in the last cobbled sector. The German champion. The German champion on the podium was the portrait of happiness. But equally radiant was Chris Froome. It didn't matter much to him that he already had to take off the yellow jersey he had just won on Monday: the extraterrestrial from the 2013 Tour, who well remembered last year's crash and withdrawal, didn't think it was true that he had overcome the nightmare of the cobblestones without damage .
It was more or less the state of mind of Contador and Quintana but also of Valverde, Rodriguez and Uran. All people who feared losing minutes to Nibali who put the first decisive piece of his Tour triumph on the Arenberg pavé last year. Yesterday too the Astana leader made a fuss, attacking as soon as he had the chance occasion, but has never been able to create the gap between himself and others. That the Shark gave everything he had inside of him proves the award for combativeness that was awarded to him.
So today in the completely flat stage that will bring the Tour to Amiens Vincenzo will have on his back, as well as the tricolor of the Italian champion, also the color red. Not much considering that a year ago these days Nibali was already in yellow. For now, his budget is like this, leaner than rich, but the great Tour match has just begun. No one has won it yet, certainly Nibali hasn't lost it yet. On the other hand, among the great names in the Grande Boucle, Thibaut Pinot has now slipped downwards who also yesterday, due to a mechanical accident, lost over 3 minutes which add to the delay accused in Huy: he is now 30th in the standings over six minutes from Froome.
His goals abruptly changed: the podium is now a chimera, to save his Tour he will have to look for a stage win in the Alps or the Pyrenees. Among the French, Warren Barguil is doing much better than Thibaut Pinot, 11th in the general classification just a minute behind Froome, also among the leaders yesterday, an excellent grimpeur, a twenty-three year old who deserves attention.
