Even on the ramps that lead to the almost two thousand meters of Finhaut-Emosson the Tour does not change register: Froome continues to hypnotize his rivals for which the stage was alive only thanks to the breakaway of the day by 14 braves, a patrol enhanced by the presence of Sagan who knows he can't win but wants to help Majka do it.
The 14 travel compact and in harmony up to the Forclaz and the final ascent where the fight seems to be reduced to a head-to-head between Majka and Pantano, already protagonists of a duel in the Culoz stage won by the Colombian. But the Russian Illnur Zakarin swoops down on the two like a hawk who insists and pulls them off going to win by detachment.
Second at 55” is Pantano, third is a disappointed Majka even if he is increasingly wearing a polka dot jersey as leader of the climbers. For Zakarin a victory that is a bit of a return to life after the frightening flight into a torrent on the descent from Agnello in the last Giro d'Italia.
But where are Quintana and the other big names who were supposed to isolate and attack Froome? We are at the "vulnus" of this Tour. How spectacular is the scenario of the panoramas that the Swiss Alps offer, how boring is the plot, as far as the high classification is concerned, even of the first great Alpine stage with the master of the race who continues to having fun pinching a little more seconds for all his opponents who are increasingly resigned to a subordinate role.
The top ten doesn't change much but Froome earns another 8'' on Yates, 11'' on Bardet, 19” on Aru and Meintjes, 28'' on Quintana, 40'' on Bauke Mollema who remains second in the general classification but sees the his gap go up to 2'27''. All waiting for Quintana but he, the Colombian condor, even on the day of his country's national holiday, not only never attempted a sprint, but even went crazy when there was an acceleration in the last two km of the ascent the final.
At least first Valverde, then Daniel Martin, they did a semblance of an extension, a small jolt immediately returned and paid for dearly in particular by the Spaniard, who gave in cleanly losing another 2'02'' from the yellow jersey. The only man in the standings who hasn't lost ground to Froome is Richie Porte, the only one of the big names to lead an attack that made some selection in the last km.
And who achieved it? Just Froome himself, who started swinging his legs and in an instant – while the others lost his wheels – he grabbed Porte again, contenting himself with following him until the finish line, 11th at 7'59” from Zakarin. For Porte, a small step towards the podium area, a result that at Bmc alleviates the disappointment caused by the collapse of Teejay Van Garderen who reached the top exhausted more than 26 minutes behind the winner.
Today the Tour faces the uphill time trial, 17 km from Sallanches to Mégève: given the conditions of Quintana, the favorite can only be Chris Froome who could create an even wider gap between his yellow jersey and the others. An uphill time trial in which Fabian Cancellara will not participate, who decided to abandon after finishing the second all-Swiss stage more than a half late.
