AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this story. Alejandro Valverde was there for Nairo Quintana, but that was about it as Movistar came up short.
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World champion Peter Sagan won the windy 11th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday after getting in a late four-man breakaway that also included overall leader Chris Froome. Steve Cummings’s second stage win in two Tours proves that there is still room in cycling for riders who don’t necessarily fit into the template that most teams try to impose on their racers, who can plan for themselves, and who can think and ride tactically. “I’m loving being in yellow again, it’s a dream scenario for me”, said Froome.
“The change for me is that we won’t have to chase his attacks 100 kilometres before the finish”. It was a tough day out there.
But it was another stroke of genius from Froome to snatch a handful of seconds from his yellow jersey rivals following his victory on last Friday’s seventh stage when he attacked on a downhill finish to gain 13sec plus another 10 bonus seconds.
Orica-BikeExchange’s Adam Yates, second overall and only 16 seconds down, was with Froome, as was Irishman Dan Martin of Etixx-QuickStep as he moved up to third, only 19 seconds off yellow.
Porte came through to have a dig, as did Martin, but the top five all finished together as Italy’s Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet of France and American Tejay Van Garderen all lost time.
Froome had said he was focused on Thursday’s stage to Mont Ventoux, but the strong winds in the region could yet see that stage shortened on safety grounds – and Froome did not wait for confirmation as he grabbed his opportunity here.
Quite apart from the defensive tactics needed on the road and the media obligations off it, carrying yellow has in the past meant for Froome a barrage of unsubstantiated allegations and rumours about doping – and he even had urine thrown at him during last year’s Tour.
Similar to Yates, Martin has established himself as a contender for a place on the podium in Paris with a near-flawless opening week. Here, i reports on how the Brits have done it. GC stands for General Classification. We have to see how the other rivals are.
Quintana did not give anything away on Monday. Sagan took back the lead on the points classification by 30 points after winning the intermediate sprint and finishing second in Stage 10. “There were strong attacks”. Could we see him on the offensive on Thursday’s stage to Mont Ventoux? At 15.7km in length, the climb rises to its 1,912 metre altitude at an an average gradient of 8.8 per cent one.
With the wind at the peloton’s back from the start in Carcassonne, splits occurred nearly instantly as riders slipped off the front. The final nine stages of the race contain two time trials – one of them mostly uphill – and several other key mountain stages.
“It was a surprise”, Thomas said of the decisive move. “It also looks like it will be a hot day, but this doesn’t bother me”.
However, I’m good physically and mentally.
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“Ventoux was kind to me, but when I got to the top last time I had to get straight on to oxygen support I was so exhausted”, Froome said.
