The climax comes Saturday with an uphill finish at Alpe d’Huez, a day before a largely ceremonial ride for the race victor on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
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Green jersey holder Peter Sagan of the Tinkoff-SAxo team was in that group as was Spanish veteran Plaza.
Slovakian national champion Peter Sagan was today forced to settle for second place on a stage at the 2015 Tour de France for the fifth time.
Most notably, the 26-year-old won the opening stage of the Criterium du Dauphine which is seen as the main warm-up race to the Tour de France, and helped his Sky team-mate Chris Froome claim the overall win.
However, the Welshman was soon back on his bike and managed to finish the race to retain sixth place in the general classification.
“It was really about establishing yourself in the second week, and straight after the rest day Chris Froome did exactly that”.
To be exact, 38 seconds.
“I was all tangled up in the bushes”, he said. “I’ve had a lot worse”, Thomas told Eurosport after his scare. He’s a fantastic climber but you can find time on the descents, too.
Kerrison said he calculated that Froome had produced 414 watts and a pedal cadence of 97 revolutions per minute on average on the climb, which he said lasted 41 1/2 minutes by his count.
Overall, Froome leads second-placed Quintana by 3:10 with American Tejay van Garderen 22 seconds further behind. Over Plaza’s radio earpiece, his team kept him updated on the time-gap as the two of them descended.
Both riders formed part of 27-man breakaway which established itself nearly from the start, setting the tone for an aggressive day of racing with the route offering ample opportunities to launch attacks on either the ascents or descents.
After the break passed the first of two climbs, the Cat.
With 30km remaining, the leading duo hit the final climb with just under a minute to play with.
Plaza finished 30s clear of Sagan and 36s over Colombia’s Jarlinson Pantana (IAM Cycling).
As he crossed the line, Plaza sucked his right thumb as a wink to his young son.
“But my focus has been on the race”.
Then the flashpoint occurred.
Thomas, who said he was uninjured, later criticised his rival for poor descending skills.
In a tricky final descent Thomas bumped into Frenchman Warren Barguil and collided head first into a telegraph pole, disappearing over the road into the vegetation. Cycling fans the world over could exhale a huge sigh of relief. Sara saw Fran’s name come up on her phone and thought “oh my god, what’s happened?”
Such a data release may not be the end of the matter as it could invite more questions than answers for a media and public sceptical after years of drug-riddled performances at the Tour.
Well, it’s that man Sagan again. There’s an element of self-sabotage in his daily near-misses – and he will certainly regret not closing down Plaza when he attacked on the Col de Manse.
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Now the scrutiny has returned in the 102nd Tour. He thumped his chest in anger and resignation when crossing the line – but while he’ll feel like a loser, he’s a far bigger victor than most of his colleagues. On Wednesday, the pack enters this Tour’s piece de resistance – three days in the Alps – with a 100-mile romp over five climbs, including an uphill finish, from Digne-les-Bains to Pra Loup.
