Today the Tour presents the stage of the legendary hills, names of passes that evoke memorable exploits and challenges: Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque have often decided the course of many editions of the Grande Boucle but this year in the caravan that arrived yesterday in Pau - where won by Arnaud Démare in front of Laporte and Kristoff – few believe that the big stage from Lourdes to Laruns can change the hierarchies established by the 65 km "small stage" of the Col de Portet.
Even bookmakers leave no room for sensational upheavals after Geraint Thomas' showdown and Froome's failure on the Desgrange summit of the Tour. The Welshman is given in the yellow jersey in Paris at 1,10, Froome even slipped to 16 , overtaken in the standings and in the bets by Tom Dumoulin with 9: it is true that in cycling everything is possible and nothing is taken for granted, it is true that in the recent Giro d'Italia Simon Yates lost the pink jersey in the penultimate stage when it was already racing master. But it took a giant Froome to invent that masterpiece that will go down in the history of the Giro by fleeing to the Colle delle Finestre. The Froome of the Tour, in particular the one who gave up on the Col de Portet, appeared short of power but also psychologically resigned stage after stage, in the face of the strength exhibited by Thomas, to grant his companion the glory of success. It is obvious that losing is a verb that does not belong to the DNA of the white Kenyan but it could be a defeat that is good for the character Froome who is increasingly targeted by the hostility of the French public who never loved him.
Today there will be the last mountains with the Aubisque 20km from the finish, tomorrow the 31km time trial of Espelette, the center of New Aquitaine famous for its chilli pepper: it's hard to imagine that Geraint Thomas would end up like Yates in the Giro, because at the age of 32, after eight Tours run as a trusted squire and finished at the rear of the standings, he has the opportunity of a lifetime that will hardly come back to him in the future. So far he has proved to be the strongest in the Tour, even than Froome, the ex-captain who, unthinkable, wants to race against him on the Tourmalet, breaking the agreements and friendship: it would be war in the Sky house with the risk that in the end can take advantage of Dumoulin or even Roglic, who is growing from run to run. Dumoulin and Roglic, here they are who, if they still have fuel in their legs, should light the last fires of this Tour for the yellow jersey. Tour that Peter Sagan wants to close wearing his sixth green jersey, a little battered from the flight into the cliff in the descent of the Col de Val Louron-Azet. A scare that led him to stay on the edge of yesterday's sprint in Pau leaving Demare, Laporte and Kristoff the thrill of a sprint in the last metre.
For Démare, winner of the Milan-Sanremo in 2016, it is the second victory on the Tour after the one in Vittel in last year's edition when even then Thomas was in the yellow jersey – however ready to pass it to Froome – a success that the French sprinter dedicated controversy to André Greipel, who had launched heavy suspicions about his better than usual performance in the final ascent of the Col de Portet.
