Amid reinforced security, the race rolled on and thousands of people lined the 23-mile route in Ardeche to celebrate the Tour and pay homage to the dozens killed and injured by a truck which drove through beachfront crowds celebrating Bastille Day.
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On Friday morning, Tour officials met with police, government, regional and security officials to discuss security arrangements, and Tour director Christian Prudhomme vowed the race would continue “in sobriety and with dignity”.
The security presence at the Tour had already been strong but was noticeably increased for Friday’s time trial between Bourg-Saint-Andeol and La Caverne du Pont d’Arc in the wake of the attack.
That was one minute and three seconds faster than Froome, who had to settle for second place.
Froome will have the opportunity to extend his lead in Friday’s 13th stage, a 37.5-km individual time trial from Bourg Saint Andeol and La Caverne du Pont d’Arc.
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.
“We can’t let our guard down, but it was important that they continued the race”, said Bruno Pruvost, a 56-year-old fan.
“My deepest sympathies and deepest condolences go out to those families who lost loved ones yesterday in Nice”. An additional 202 people were injured in the attack, 52 of whom are now in critical condition.
“And that we must not give in to the pressure of those who want us to change our way of life”.
Froome now leads Dutch Trek rider Bauke Mollema by one minute and 47 seconds.
Just 24 hours after he was forced to run up Mount Ventoux when his bike was broken in a crash, Va Va Froome put time into all his rivals in the general classification with a brilliant ride in the time trial.
However, Froome was credited with a new time by race organisers, ensuring he stretched his advantage of Yates to stay on course to win the race for a third time.
He did move up from 11th to 8th overall – thanks to weak displays from Fabio Aru (Astana), Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep), and Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) – but finishing on the same time as Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and slower than Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) surely represents a disappointment for last year’s Australian time trial champion. I think we’re in for more fireworks in this next week. “I think we can expect the same again”.
“I’m happy with how the stage went but everyone’s thoughts are with the people in Nice”. “You couldn’t really hear anything on the radio so I was just riding off feel”, Porte told reporters after pedaling back to the BMC bus.
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First he was given a neutral bike by an official race auto but he found it unrideable, ditching it before finally being given a team bike to finish the stage, which had started 178km away in Montpellier. It’s always good to try and ride them well, as well as getting a good result and pace it properly.
