It was super hot before we got rain on our head and ice falling from the sky.
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The Tour remains in the Pyrenees for the next two days.
Going into the first rest day, the Orica-Bike Exchange rider is second overall, 16 seconds behind fellow Briton Chris Froome of Team Sky, and wears the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider.
A brutal weekend of climbs claimed the race’s first casualties, with one of Froome’s main rivals Alberto Contador – badly injured after crashing in Normandy – pulling up the drawbridge along with British sprint hero Mark Cavendish’s lead-out man Mark Renshaw, who retired through illness.
The Spaniard had actually attacked on the first categorised climb of the day, the Port de la Bonaigua, but once he had been caught he was soon in discussions with his team vehicle before eventually climbing in.
The Monaco-based rider, 31, said: “I think it really is a good place to be at he moment, I’m really happy to have the yellow. It’s one less thing for us to worry about, but it’s maybe a shame for the race”.
The Colombian finished second to Froome in each of the Briton’s previous Tour victories in 2013 and a year ago. “And I did not feel good since I crashed on the first day”. “I’m third overall now, but I still want to take it day by day and try to get a stage win”. Meanwhile, Alejandro Valverde has slipped to tenth and Tejay Van Garderen and Fabio Aru fell out of the top ten.
The 23-year-old Yates is second and leading the young riders’ classification while Birmingham-born Irishman Dan Martin is third, 19 seconds back, but Nairo Quintana is still seen as the biggest threat to Froome.
“I guess people just don’t quite understand how it is when you’re on the limit – it’s just not always possible to keep attacking”.
But at one point on the final climb to the finish, Porte attacked the group of favourites before hesitating and looking back at Froome. Nairo and Chris were just playing cat and mouse.
“Tactically, it just puts the shoe on the other foot”. There are some pretty unusual tactics going on.
“I have not recovered from the crashes, I’ve been sick overnight, that’s why I made this decision”.
But Froome’s opportunistic move at the top of the Col de Peyresourde to take the stage win at Luchon and the yellow jersey showed that he is capable of far more than merely burning the opposition off his wheel when the road gets steep. “Sky is a very powerful team, but I expected them to be stronger (Sunday), Froome was a bit left on his own in the finale”.
Up front Dumoulin took advantage of some hesitancy in the breakaway to strike out alone.
The victory allowed the Dutchman to complete his set of grand tour stage wins after prevailing in the Vuelta and the Giro d’Italia. “I am 23-years-old. I have a lot of years ahead of me”.
“I’m a time triallist and it’s hard to close on me”.
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“We might not be brilliant at politics at the minute but we’re not doing badly at sport when you look at the weekend we’ve just had”.
