Stage 9: Saint-Girons - Bagneres-de-Bigorre
If yesterday was the day for Team Sky, then today was the day for team Movistar, and their leader Alejandro Valverde. The grueling stage in the Pyrenees that saw the peloton ride over 5 cols, 4 of which were category 1 climbs. After the dominance of Team Sky yesterday, the riders from Movistar were keen to prove a point: that they are capable of challenging for the yellow jersey, and they are capable of cracking team Sky.
From the outset, team Movistar made their intentions clear. They moved to the front of the peloton as the race reached the base of the first, and easiest (category 2 Col de Portet d'Aspet), climb of the day and immediately increased the pace. The results were immediate - the peloton started to disintegrate and before long the only Team Sky riders remaining in the bunch were Richie Porte and Chris Froome. It was clear that the effort exerted by Team Sky yesterday had taken its toll on the team, and Movistar and Saxo-Tinkoff were prepared to capitalise on their weakened state.
The hard pace was maintained, and those riders who were dropped were given no chance to rejoin the peloton on the descent to the base of the first of four category 1 climbs on the day, the Col de Mente. When the peloton reached the base of the climb the pace was once again set at a hard tempo by the riders from Movistar. Their efforts again produced results, and on the early slopes of the climb they claimed their first scalp of the day - Richie Porte. Porte's hard ride yesterday had clearly taken its toll and he cracked on the slopes of the Col, leaving Chris Froome isolated from his teammates and surrounded by riders from Movistar and Saxo-Tinkoff. Froome would remain without any team support for the rest of the day's racing. Porte lost out the most on today's stage, and despite a valiant attempt at a comeback on the Col de Val Louron-Azet, he found himself losing over 17 minutes to the yellow jersey at the end of the stage.
While the peloton's pace was being set by Movistar, Pierre Rolland was ahead on the road and was accumulating points in the King of the Mountains classification. No response came from Nairo Quintana, who was riding in support of his team leader, Alejandro Valverde. By the end of the day, Rolland had reclaimed the polka-dot jersey from Chris Froome and had put himself in a somewhat comfortable lead. Rolland is no longer a contender in the general classification, as he is over 12 minutes behind the yellow jersey, but his efforts in the mountains have made it clear that he is targeting the polka-dot jersey. His main opponents appear to be Quintana and Simon Clarke. Quintana's position in the overall standings makes him a marked man, and he will struggle to go for points on the climbs because attacking will result in a response from Team Sky. Clarke will be allowed to ride away from the peloton because he is no threat to the yellow jersey, but doing so will certainly result in a response from Rolland.
However, Rolland's breakaway was caught by the peloton on the base of the final climb, making the yellow jersey group the leaders on the road for the first time in the stage. Movistar were well and truly in control of the peloton and were driving the pace hard. More and more riders dropped off the back until the group was whittled down to just twenty of the strongest riders in the Tour. Froome, however, was still riding well near the front of the group and so the attacks from Movistar started to come. Quintana was the designated aggressor and he attacked repeatedly on the way up to the summit, each time being reeled in by Froome, only to attack again. With about 3 kilometres to go to the summit the attacks ceased. It was a show of respect to Froome for being able to withstand the pace set by Movistar without assistance from his teammates, and simultaneously a realisation that today would not be the day for Valverde to claim yellow.
The slight lifting of the pace presented a chance for a rider to escape from the group and try to get himself a stage win. The chance was seized by Dan Martin, who leapt clear of the peloton and started his bid for the stage win. He was joined moments later by Jakob Fuglsang, who also attacked the peloton to try for a stage win. Their attacks defined the last 30 kilometres of the race as they rode clear of the peloton and held a lead of 30 seconds all the way to the finish line. The peloton set up to chase them to the finish, but their efforts were unable to diminish the gap on the long descent to the finish line. Martin and Fuglsang were left to fight for the stage win, with some clever positioning and a well timed sprint, Martin was able to get ahead of Fuglsang and claim the stage win. His tactical cycling allowed the chasing peloton to diminish the gap by ten seconds in the final kilometre, but the two rider's lead was never threatened, and a stage win was assured.
With Porte dropped and a long way behind, Alejandro Valverde moved himself up to second place in the overall standings. It was a superb ride from Movistar's leader, and indeed a superb ride from the team. Their control of the peloton on today's stage was a signal to the other contenders for the maillot jaune. It showed that they are strong enough to fight against the other teams and put pressure on the contenders for the yellow jersey; pressure that could well see Valverde claim the maillot jaune if the other contenders aren't careful. The strong ride from Valverde was echoed by Contador, Mollema and ten Dam - who all found themselves moving up in the overall standings as a result of Porte's loss of time.
Perhaps one of the strongest performances of the day came from the wearer of the maillot jaune himself. Chris Froome had to cycle without assistance from his team for nearly 130 kilometres and, despite the onslaught from Movistar, he never faltered. Froome was a match for Valverde's challenge today and he showed why he is one of the favourites to win this year's Tour. The efforts of Movistar and Saxo-Tinkoff couldn't dislodge the leader of the Tour from the peloton, and at the end of the stage his advantage over Valverde was unchanged. It was, however, a stark reminder that the Tour de France simply cannot be won in the first week of racing. The race is not over until the riders complete their final lap of the Champs Elysees, and complacency will be punished. Froome will have to be vigilant if he wants to retain his yellow jersey.
A final remark about today's stage deals with the emergence of the new generation of riders in this year's Tour. Quintana has announced his presence with a flourish both yesterday and today, claiming a lead in the young rider's classification. It is hard to see him being knocked off the top spot of this classification, but he will be riding in support of Valverde in the mountains and could bury himself for his team leader - losing a lot of time in the process. If this happens his lead could be under threat from the Polish rider, Michal Kwiatkowski, who is currently second in the race for the white jersey. Kwiatkowski had a strong day in the mountains today, and finished in the yellow jersey group with Quintana. Romain Bardet was the most aggressive rider on today's stage, and the young rider from France showed that he will be a force to reckon with in the mountains in future Tours. Tejay van Garderen had a tough day in the Tour and ended up losing a lot of time, but he remains a great prospect for the future. His compatriot from America, Andrew Talansky, had a better day in the Tour, and despite being dropped on the last climb he showed that he is developing into a very good cyclist.
A rest day tomorrow...
The Tour's first rest day gives me a chance to rest my fingers for a little while. I won't be writing my predictions for the next day of racing now, and will instead write that up tomorrow night. It has been a crazy start to the Tour and a crazy start to this blog. It's tested my resolve at points, but I can now say that I'm fully committed to producing a post every day of the Tour (even rest days as it turns out). This project has given me a great chance to engage more deeply with the Tour, and I'm finding it more and more exciting and enjoyable as the race goes on. I'll check in tomorrow with my preview of the next day's racing. Cheers.
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