The Alpe d'Huez Delivers

Stage 18: Gap - Alpe d'Huez

The most iconic day of racing in the Tour de France this year was one of the most dramatic so far. It was a crazy day out in the Alps. The peloton rode up the famous Alpe d'Huez twice, Chris Froome struggled but ended up finishing the with a larger lead at the end of the day than that with which he had started, and Christophe Riblon - who looked a beaten man on more than one occasion - surged in the final 5 kilometres to claim a first victory for France in this year's Tour.

A breakaway of nine riders escaped from the peloton after just 17 kilometres of racing. It was this breakaway that would provide the eventual stage winner, Christophe Riblon, with a platform to launch from. However, his ride off the front of the breakaway would come as a response to a move by Tejay van Garderen on the early slopes of the first ascent of the Alpe d'Huez. As the breakaway reached the Alpe d'Huez, van Garderen attacked and rode clear. His move defined the latter part of the stage, as the breakaway crumbled behind him and only Riblon and Moreno Moser were left chasing him. The two riders combined their efforts and were able to bridge the gap to van Garderen just before they reached the summit.

The three riders led the race over the next col, but both Riblon and van Garderen were caught out by the tricky descent. Van Garderen's chain got stuck and he was forced to wait a long time for his support car, and further down the slope Riblon misjudged a corner and ended up off the side of the road. Despite the glitches, both of the riders were able to catch back up to Moser, and as soon as they hit the slopes of the Alpe d'Huez for the second time they rode clear of him.

Still with a long way to ride, the young American attacked and started his lone ride up the fabled Alpe. It was a move that, at the time, looked to have been the stage winning attack. However, Riblon remained calm and rode at a steady tempo - keeping the gap between him and the leader to just 40 seconds. Van Garderen rode valiantly up the legendary mountain, but he started to falter with about 5 kilometres to go. Spurred on by the faltering rider ahead, and no doubt by the possibility of a French victory on the Alpe d'Huez, Riblon launched his bid for the stage win. Over the next three kilometres Riblon reduced the gap to van Garderen, and with just 2 kilometres left in the stage he caught him. Riblon's attack was immediate - no sooner had he reached the wheel of the rider in front than he attacked and rode to victory. His emotion was plain to see, it was a massive victory for the French rider, and in claiming a first win for France, he simultaneously wrote his name into the record books, alongside the many great cyclists who have gone before him.

Behind the three leaders, the race for the yellow jersey was heating up. On the first ascent of the Alpe d'Huez, the peloton had decided to ride together and withhold their attacks. Likewise on the ascent of the Col de Sarenne. It was on the treacherous descent of the Col de Sarenne that the first move was made. Alberto Contador attacked on a straight stretch of road, and rode off the front of the peloton with Roman Kreuziger in an attempt to reach the base of Alpe d'Huez 2 ahead of the main field. The dangerous roads down the side of the col suited Contador, but he was unable to maintain his advantage. The riders from Movistar took control of the peloton on the wider roads at the bottom of the mountain and closed the gap that had been formed.

At the base of the climb, the peloton started to shatter and Team Sky came to the front once more. Richie Porte rode to the front of the group, and set a pace that quickly trimmed down the peloton. Bauke Mollema and Laurens ten Dam were unable to keep pace, and both dropped off the back fairly early on. The onslaught continued, and before long the yellow jersey group was whittled down to just ten riders - amongst them were Contador, Kreuziger, Quintana, Rodriguez and Valverde.

Porte's pace soon dislodged Kreuziger from the group, and Froome saw his chance to attack. The yellow jersey accelerated up the road in his recognisable, frantic style. Only Quintana was able to respond to the move immediately, but Rodriguez bridged the gap a few moments later. Contador and Kreuziger were dropped, and they would lost further time to the maillot jaune by the day's end.

Rodriguez knew that his chance to put himself in contention for a podium finish was at hand, and he attacked the yellow jersey. Neither Quintana nor Froome could respond immediately, but they rode a steady pace to reel him back in. Surprisingly, Porte was able to rejoin the three riders - it was a move that would prove vital, as Froome would find himself in need of Porte's support before the day was out.

With just over 5 kilometres to go, Quintana attacked and Froome shot his hand into the air, calling for support. It seemed that he was having a mechanical issue, but in actuality he was struggling. Porte dropped back to the team car and collected food for Froome, an illegal move at that stage of the race that is sure to come under fire from the other riders, and will perhaps result in Team Sky being penalised.

Froome ate, and for the last four kilometres was concerned only with limiting the damage done by Quintana. Ahead of him, Quintana and Rodriguez were working well together and building a lead. By the time the stage finished, Quintana had ridden himself over a minute clear of Froome, and into third place in the overall standings. Quintana moved up two places in the general classification, and narrowed the gap between himself and Contador to just 21 seconds. Rodriguez also moved up in the standings and is now only 26 seconds behind Quintana, and a possible podium finish in Paris.

Despite Froome's apparent cracking on the final climb, he finds himself with a larger lead at the end of today's stage than he had at the start. Contador is still in second place, but lies just over 5 minutes behind Froome. Contador started the day as Froome's biggest threat, but he undoubtedly passes that mantle over to Quintana. The Colombian, although in third, is the only remaining challenge to Froome's hold on the yellow jersey.

I said yesterday that a gain of time for Froome would be a psychological victory that could subdue the challenges to his claim on the maillot jaune. Today's stage was a bit of a mixed bag for him. On the one hand, he will be happy to take away the gain in time over Contador, and perhaps the mental advantage over him. But on the other hand, he showed weakness and was beaten by perhaps his closest rival at this stage. How he will respond remains to be seen.

The Madness Continues
If the riders thought today was difficult, they will probably be rather scared of the stage tomorrow. Arguably the toughest day in the Tour this year, the peloton will have to tackle two hors categorie climbs at the start of the race - the Col du Glandon and the Col de la Madeleine. The madness continues when they will have to ride over a further 3 massive cols in the last 60 kilometres.

The stage doesn't finish on the top of a mountain, but it does provide an opportunity for time gaps to form. The long downhill run to the finish will favour the rider in front, and almost any gap - no matter how small - could be maintained on the run in to Le Grand-Bornard.

I expect that Movistar will try something similar to what they did on the second day of the Pyrenees - isolate Froome and attack him when he's alone. Quintana could find himself moving up in the standings at the end of the day, and could well add red polka-dots to his white jersey. Froome showed some weakness today, which is reassuring to me - it proves he's human - but if anything it showed that he is capable of holding his lead even on the toughest days. His buffer is increased and he will be reassured by that. All he'll have to do is weather the attacks that are bound to come from Quintana in the next two days and he will wear yellow in Paris.