Thousands of fans lined the roads at the starting line in the town of Bourg-Saint-Andeol, France, amid reinforced security a day after a driver of a large truck plowed into a crowd for a Bastille Day fireworks display in the Riviera city of Nice, killing at least 84 people.
Advertisement
Team Sky have a training base in Nice, and several riders, including Froome and Geraint Thomas, live in nearby Monaco.
Despite finding himself just 10 seconds down on resounding stage victor Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) at the first checkpoint – at the top of the 7km incline – Porte finished 3:08 back, conceding just over two minutes to race leader Chris Froome.
“It made me very sad when I woke up this morning”. On Thursday we had the problems on Mont Ventoux; but this is only a bike race, and that was put into perspective by the events in Nice.
Dumoulin said racing on was the right decision but Tour organisers chose to dispense with the usual festive atmosphere, declaring a day of mourning.
In a mark of respect for the victims of the Nice attack, the usual podium presentation and celebration was replaced by Froome, Dumoulin, best young rider Yates, Green Jersey holder Peter Sagan and King of the Mountains frontrunner Thomas de Gendt standing on stage for a minute’s silence.
“Today, we want to pay homage to the victims with dignity”, Prudhomme said, while holding back tears. They could and will continue to appeal for the warranted time, but after the Tour de France race, Froome had only one thing to say: he’s content.
Dumoulin clocked 50 minutes, 15 seconds in the first time trial of the Tour to claim an emphatic win, sending a message to his rivals ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio next month. “So it was a stage with two sides”, said Dumoulin following his second stage win of the Tour after he prevailed in a mountain-top finish at Arcalis, Andorra last Sunday. “We have been asking ourselves if the race should continue and, after consulting with authorities, we have decided that it should”. Our thoughts are with everyone, and the families in Nice. “We have to keep living or we are going to live in terror every day”, he said.
Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) finished in 53 minutes and 23 seconds conceding another two minutes and five seconds to Froome and now sits fourth overall.
The race awoke to this news and to the question of whether the stage should go ahead. The form is good, the sensations are good.
The Tour continued under heightened security, which had already been ramped up for this year’s race.
After briefly racing up the mountain on foot before changing bikes, Froome lost nearly two minutes – enough to cost him the yellow jersey – until the race jury intervened and he came out with an increased lead, 47 seconds over Yates.
Advertisement
“My body responded better in the final part”, he said. I’m a little bit sore from yesterday. I think the decision is good. I will try to attack like I’ve always done. “I hope when we get to the Alps I can pull some time back and then fight all the way to Paris”.
