Chris Froome of Team Sky has tightened his grip on the 102nd edition of the Tour de France on the first day in the Pyrenees as he put his rivals to the sword and seized control of the race.
The 2013 champion attacked with 6.5 kilometres of the climb of the Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin remaining after some sterling work from Peter Kennaugh, Geraint Thomas – now fifth overall – and finally Richie Porte.
He crossed the line around a minute ahead of team mate Porte, who overhauled Movistar’s Nairo Quintana 300 metres before the line to deny the 2014 Giro champion extra bonus seconds.
The man who began the day second overall, Tejay van Garderen of BMC Racing, lost two and half minutes to Froome. He remains second, but is now 2 minutes 52 seconds down after the 167 kilometre stage from Tarbes.
Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador lost 3 minutes to Froome today, while the title defence of Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali is in tatters, the Sicilian finishing ceding the best part of 4 minutes to the stage winner.
With Sky's Thomas finishing sixth and Adam Yates of Orica-GreenEdge seventh, three British riders finished in the top ten.
On Bastille Day, Pierre Rolland of Europcar was the first French rider to finish, coming home in eighth, with a decade now having passed since David Moncoutie's Fete Nationale win at Digne les Bains in 2005.
Stage winner and race leader Chris Froome
What a stage! Through yesterday's rest day, we were very focused on today's stage. We didn't necessarily want to ride aggressively. We were happy to let a breakaway go, let other teams chase and be more defensive than usual. But when I heard the big names were struggling and getting dropped, I told Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas: “let's push.
I could feel our rivals were in trouble after the rest day so my team-mates set up the finale for me. I attacked when it was steep before the road was flatting out. It's the dream scenario. I couldn't have asked for any better one, especially with Richie coming second and taking the time bonus away from Nairo [Quintana].
Geraint wasn't far at the end, it means a lot for our team. But the race is far from over. In 2013, Alberto Contador took us on in the crosswinds and in the descents. We can expect this to happen again. We have to see how much we'll pay tomorrow for the efforts we produced today.
I wouldn't like to be where my rivals are on GC now after only one climb. But we know that Nairo can be strong in the third week of a Grand Tour. He can put us in trouble. We actually expected that he'd do so today. Movistar rode and I waited for him to attack. It didn't happen so I attacked him.
Even though it's at a different point of the race, the day after the first rest day and not the day before the second rest day, it's amazing to repeat the feeling of the Mont Ventoux when I won at the top of a big mountain with the yellow jersey, on July 14.
Tejay van Garderen of BMC Racing, who remains second on GC
Sky definitely put on quite the performance. I tried my best to stay with them. When it got too much for me, I tried to stay in my rhythm and focused on getting to the top. I don't think today was my best day. But it wasn't all bad. I am still keeping a good GC position.
In the overall standings, Froome leads van Garderen by 2:52. Quintana is third, at 3:09. Spanish national road champion Alejandro Valverde is fourth, at 4:01, and one of five riders still within five minutes of the overall lead.
The first mountain day is always tricky. We have done almost two weeks without climbing any real mountains. So it can be quite a shock to the system, especially after a rest day. I feel like it should go better from here. I am definitely still happy about where we are sitting.
Movistar's Nairo Quintana, now third overall
The outcome and my feelings are good but not excellent. We want to raise the tempo at the bottom of the climb to evaluate the level of our rivals. Froome's superiority is implacable. He's stronger than all of us. His rhythm uphill was too high for my abilities of the day.
The last climb was hard with a hell of a heat. I'll have to see how my legs and my body will recover from that. I want to keep my position [third overall] and try and build a strategy to make up for the time lost. My chances to take the yellow jersey are reduced a bit but I'll fight till the end. Two years ago we've seen that Froome was less strong at the end.
We have to see if one day, he's less inspired. He's human and vulnerable, like everyone. My dream in yellow isn't over yet.
76 thoughts on “Tour de France Stage 10: Chris Froome takes first mountain stage”
Unbelievable ride from Team
Unbelievable ride from Team SKY, truly unbelievable.
Woah
Woah :O
It’s either just ruined the
It’s either just ruined the next 2 weeks, or made things very interesting. Sadly with Sky it’s probably the former.
Absolutely fantastic
Absolutely fantastic demonstration of hill climbing. Talk about destroying the moral of his nearest competition. I hope he does it again tomorrow. Chances of fading in the Alps as Nibali hoped for, Chris Froome will be Un catchable.
Chapaue 🙂
lol
lol
(No subject)
=))
Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =))
But the Sky fans will still believe, and Mr Walsh will still deny!
daddyELVIS
[quote=daddyELVIS]Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =))
But the Sky fans will still believe, and Mr Walsh will still deny![/quote
Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.
George S. Patton
CXR94Di2 wrote:daddyELVIS
I don’t lead my life following the quoted ramblings of blood-thirsty tw@ts, thank you.
daddyELVIS
I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles. But this is one hell of a race. This is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe it. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. 😉
Kadinkski wrote:daddyELVIS
I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles. But this is one hell of a race. This is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe it. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. 😉— daddyELVIS
Haha, I see what you did there 🙂
All other teams = Labour and
All other teams = Labour and lib dems when exit polls came out.
I raise a glass to him – for
I raise a glass to him – for many others on here it seems to be BITTER!
Froomey’s pillow is uncatchable!
I’m sure I saw the great
I’m sure I saw the great Lance Armstrong do something like that once. 😉
I see four options:
1)
I see four options:
1) everyone is doping so sky did a brilliant job of winning when the playing field is level
2) no one is doping so sky did a brilliant job of winning when the playing field is level
3) (nearly) everyone else is doping but sky are not so sky did a brilliant job when the playing field is not level
4) only sky are doping so they are evil.
Answer 4 is the least likely I think most would agree. Sky therefore did a brilliant job. And we have no facts about the angle of inclination of the playing field.
It’s a myth that “everybody
It’s a myth that “everybody doping” makes it a level playing field.
First it rewards those that have the most money so can afford the best doctors and the latest drugs. It becomes like F1, but instead of teams buying the best engineers making technical innovations to improve an cars speed it’s teams buying the best doctors to improve the riders power.
Second some respond better to the same drug than others meaning the dirty result wouldn’t be the same as a clean one. Take EPO the optimum level to ride th tour with might be 60% a rider with a natural level of 55% is getting a much smaller advantage taking epo than one with a level of only 40%.
Finally there’s the moral argument that some riders aren’t willing to cheat and that shouldn’t mean they have to finish 10 minutes behind rather than on the podium.
brackley88 wrote:I see four
As different people react differently to different drugs, it’s not really a level playing field.
Astana would probably say that once you’ve been put in the cross hairs that the playing field becomes less level.
5) (nearly) everyone else is doping including sky and sky did a brilliant job when the playing field is not level
😉
brackley88 wrote:I see four
5) Most teams / riders dope and keep quiet about it. One team claims to be cleaner than clean whilst doing the opposite?
daddyELVIS wrote:brackley88
5) Most teams / riders dope and keep quiet about it. One team claims to be cleaner than clean whilst doing the opposite?— brackley88
B
Hi Gonedownhill, I have had a good think about your comment and after review have decided it is flawed. It is not MECE. It is basically further detail added to option 3 or a sub option within option 3; ie 3a.
Good effort though. That’s for taking the time to try to add something.
What an exciting days racing.
Bagsy no return.
brackley88 wrote:I see four
Absolutely spot on. Well said!
I said froome would win by 8
I said froome would win by 8 minutes and laughed at, make that ten …
Listening to it on R5 they had the same terms as when we saw LA do the same – unbelievable, a show of power, left a class field behind …
Astana did the same int he Giro – dopers, same for Sky ?
Other than his winning, his
Other than his winning, his behaviour seems pretty unlikely for someone who is doping.
To convince a doubter you’re basically talking about him not testing positive for the rest of his riding days, then his tests surviving the next decade of improved testing and a similar, possibly longer, period of his former team mates not coming out and grassing him up before you will convince them he is clean.
Not really sure how you can watch the sport under those conditions.
This whole data thing is perhaps one way, but then it’s also pretty clear that if you put all that shit into the public domain then there’ll be a thousand different interpretations.
One of the more brutal
One of the more brutal attacks I’ve seen. As Sean Kelly said – Like a Bomb going off.
Excellent analysis as usual
Excellent analysis as usual by Ross Tucker
http://sportsscientists.com/2015/07/day-1-in-the-mountains-one-more-pixel-context-mistrust/
Basically Froome at the very edge of what is possible
Wrong place sorry
Wrong place sorry
ianrobo wrote:Excellent
Nope. The tone is slightly hysterical and hyperbolic, suggesting Tucker is trying too hard to prove a point …I’m just speculating but he sounds like he wants to be famous for saying I told you so. Check everyone’s motives in this game.
ianrobo wrote:Excellent
This article is rather deceiving. The power method calculation it relies upon is seriously, seriously flawed in that it does not take into account aerodynamics.
The equations used assume an unassisted rider riding alone. What is in no doubt is that for the first 9km of the climb, Froome was riding behind other riders. The average speed he achieved for the entire 15km was around 21km per hour which is fast enough for aerodynamics to play a reasonably significant role. If this wasn’t the case, then there would be no or little advantage to following other riders up the mountain.
So the “he’s on the edge of what is possible” is just misleading BS – if 6.1W/kg is just possible for an unassisted rider, then riding efficiently using other riders to reduce air resistance must reduce the power to weight ratio necessary appreciably below that “just possible” figure actually making it very much harder to assert an allegation of doping because the numbers are well within bounds.
May be we should be
May be we should be celebrating a fantastic attack, rather than speculating on things we have no facts on.
I’ll stay positive and enjoy watching the tour.
Flying Heron wrote:May be we
Except the way it’s going, sprint stages could be the highlight!
You really didn’t think that
You really didn’t think that was exciting today?
You really didn’t think that
You really didn’t think that was exciting today?
Would of been quicker if he
Would of been quicker if he had been sleeping in the sky motorhome
the motorhome thing is all a
the motorhome thing is all a little bit USPS innit?
‘Not really sure how you can
‘Not really sure how you can watch the sport under those conditions.’
I can watch the sport just fine with all those caveats. It’s the comically unbelievable performances which spoil it.
andyp wrote:’Not really sure
Who’s performance WAS believable? Quintana? Porte? Thomas? Contador? Nibali? Where’s your line as to what would be ‘acceptable’ to make the sport watchable? Is it not worth seeing how Sky (and the others) do over the next 3 stages before jumping to (obvious, and probably unavoidable) conclusions?
If you’ve been following pro
If you’ve been following pro cycling for any length of time, you become used to these kind of moments; moments where half the cycling world seems to be suggesting foul play and half are aghast that anyone would dare question the effort of their superstar.
Best not to devote much in the way of emotional energy to what is, even if clean, only entertainment.
I trot out the same old tired phrase each year when the Tour comes on; Pro cycling is like sausages; I like sausages, but I don’t want to know how they’re made.
Quote:Which one ?
This one,
This one, obviously.
don simon wrote:Quote:Which
This one, obviously.
Why not the first one ?
A good point made by the ITV
A good point made by the ITV cycling commentators is that you shouldn’t draw conclusions about doping just from performance – it’s not evidence. You need evidence, which would be a test result, or testimony from other riders.
I would be very surprised if Team Sky were organising doping for their riders – amazed, in fact. Then you wonder if one or some of the riders could be doing it on their own initiative. It’s possible, but we have no evidence.
HarrogateSpa wrote:A good
The way Team Sky (and by extension, British Cycling) are about absolutely everything else I’d be surprised if management weren’t involved in organised doping IF it were taking place. I don’t think it is, and still enjoy the racing either way.
One thing that is clear from
One thing that is clear from the last decade, dopers will be found out and if Armstrong is anything to go by will, stand to loose everything.
So how many team leaders are stupid enough to do it? Domestiques, they’re just canon fodder.
so what we’ve learned from
so what we’ve learned from this is that when Astana dominate a stage, we all shit the bed. When Sky do it, it’s a level playing field so it’s ok.
Can we apply one or the other rule across the board then please so we can just get on with it?
Cheers.
Chasseur Patate wrote:so what
Sky didn’t dominate the stage – Movistar did and, as Chris Boardman said, it wasn’t a good move in hindsight… even Quintana said as much. Sky followed their train and did bugger all until about half way up the climb. At that point they still had half a team left although they were shedding as fast as anyone by then. I thought Quintana held on pretty well, as did TJ given his lack of support.
fukawitribe wrote:Chasseur
Sky didn’t dominate the stage – Movistar did and, as Chris Boardman said, it wasn’t a good move in hindsight… even Quintana said as much. Sky followed their train and did bugger all until about half way up the climb. At that point they still had half a team left although they were shedding as fast as anyone by then. I thought Quintana held on pretty well, as did TJ given his lack of support.— Chasseur Patate
Also, Movistar put all the work in on the hardest part of the climb. Froome only attacked where the climb profile went from red to blue. Quintana suffered because he had to be part of the attack the Movistar and Valverde initiated.
Yes, performance is not
Yes, performance is not evidence, well put. As CB said it will take a few years and no high profile positives before people believe and that’s the legacy for this riders.
Did anyone mention it was another fantastic stage and what a great tour this has been so far? With even sprint stages being essential viewing. Sky put on a display today, I think Froome feels he has something to prove after last year and he is certainly proving that so far. Long way to go, Froome doesn’t like the bad weather, that could cause issues. I have to say Contador fought today like I have never seen before, hurting like that for so long on a stage and still limiting his losses, just amazing.
The next couple of stages
The next couple of stages will be interesting. It looked like froome and sky buried themselves today, possibly more so than their rivals. I wonder if that comes at a cost of fatigue….still a long way to go
Movistar did most of the work
Movistar did most of the work and shelled most of the riders. Contador has a giro in his legs. Froome sat on Porte’s wheel then attacked and won. Sky worked from like 6 k out, no more. So is it that Froome was incredible or Quintana was lacking?
I can’t see Sky doping, they’d be utterly ruined if they ever got found out. Or they may have some mega undetectable PED. But it all gets found out eventually, doesn’t it?
Either that, or it’s the nose
Either that, or it’s the nose ring.
Did anyone actually pay
Did anyone actually pay attention to what played out on the road that led to the win, or did everyone just tune in for the last 5k?
The only things doing damage to the sport of cycling are journalists who don’t like British riders doing well and online bedroom scientists.
Movistar did sky’s leg work today. Contador and nibali’s mental strength was already gone before lining up at the start and quintana is an unrealised young talent whose grand tour achievements don’t reflect the hype surrounding him just yet. It’s also very early days in the tour and were not in the Alps yet. If or when quintana wins a stage or two, will people accuse him of doping? Doubt it
Kojima wrote:Did anyone
Exactly! To many people watch the highlights and jump to conclusions, also so many don’t understand stage racing.
The big story of yesterday wasn’t that Froome won (that was expected) but that Ritchie Porte came 2nd, that happened because Movistar got it completely wrong and were all knackered before they even got to the climb, Quintanas lack of legs wasn’t surprising in the context of the entire stage.
Skys tactics were spot on (maybe they’re taking tactics enhancements drugs..?), also worth mentioning that Nibali looked very iffy in the Dauphine (he had 1 good stage) and Contador faded noticeably in the last 2 stages of the Giro so I’m not surprised neither of them turned up.
Btw Froome isn’t on drugs he’s just a freak of nature, just look at the guy.
Excellent ride today by Sky,
Excellent ride today by Sky, just sat in and let Movistar bang out the miles then attacked when Movistar were blowing out their backsides.
As far as some of the comments made by other so called cycling fans, if you don’t like it don’t watch it, simples.
All of what you have said is
All of what you have said is equally applicable to LA and US Postal using the same calculations.
I am always reminded of what Walsh said when he became suspicious of LA. HE was in the media center watching him a climb and he did exactly what Froome did and said it was unbelievable and the doubts grew from there.
ianrobo wrote:All of what you
So perhaps it would be worth hearing what he said about Froome yesterday then ?
fukawitribe wrote:ianrobo
So perhaps it would be worth hearing what he said about Froome yesterday then ?— ianrobo
Since the doc he has always said he thinks no doping but not holding the same standard as LA.
He was suspicious of LA not because of evidence (that came later) but because of what he did. I was in a talk from Walsh where he made this point and once he started to write about his concerns the likes of Andreau, O’Reilly and others came forward.
ianrobo wrote:fukawitribe
So perhaps it would be worth hearing what he said about Froome yesterday then ?— fukawitribe
Since the doc he has always said he thinks no doping but not holding the same standard as LA.
He was suspicious of LA not because of evidence (that came later) but because of what he did. I was in a talk from Walsh where he made this point and once he started to write about his concerns the likes of Andreau, O’Reilly and others came forward.— ianrobo
Evidence was not mentioned. You said he was suspicious from watching him climb and said it was unbelievable and “the doubts grew from there”. Not quite his commentary on Froome the other day. Or indeed from any of the other people involved in the sport. Clearly the Prophets powers have faded.
fukawitribe wrote:ianrobo
So perhaps it would be worth hearing what he said about Froome yesterday then ?— ianrobo
Since the doc he has always said he thinks no doping but not holding the same standard as LA.
He was suspicious of LA not because of evidence (that came later) but because of what he did. I was in a talk from Walsh where he made this point and once he started to write about his concerns the likes of Andreau, O’Reilly and others came forward.— fukawitribe
Evidence was not mentioned. You said he was suspicious from watching him climb and said it was unbelievable and “the doubts grew from there”. Not quite his commentary on Froome the other day. Or indeed from any of the other people involved in the sport. Clearly the Prophets powers have faded.— ianrobo
When it comes to Sky and Froome he’s hardly impartial is he? Had no issues calling-out the Astana train in the Giro though! And why no suspicion about G’s ride yesterday?
What we should see today in a
What we should see today in a monster stage and one of the highlight mountains is that every other team takes a back seat.
No other team should help out Sky and could be a chance for a breakaway because of that.
I wished I could watch this stage in full because it will tell us a lot not only about Sky but the state of mind of the other teams.
Well on Froome he seems to
Well on Froome he seems to have no doubts does he ? Froome very much splits people and lets see what happens today, will be a key test up the Tourmalet.
ianrobo wrote:Well on Froome
Indeed – should be an interesting day all round. Half way through the Ventoux video on Vimeo at the moment, nothing odd yet (apart from the amount of power produced whilst in the pack)… second half when I get some time out from work.
could you post a link to this
could you post a link to this please. i haven’t seen the video
Scoob_84 wrote:could you post
Sure
https://vimeo.com/133412409
A few things here, and I’m
A few things here, and I’m not saying Froome is clean or not, but I am watching on the basis he is cause otherwise, why watch?
In the LA days of doping, an unbelievable performance was someone blasting out of the lead group and then maintaining that accelerated pace pretty much to the line, an accelerated pace that many scientific analysts have shown to be impossible unless doping, and int he case of LA, doing it pretty much every day and not letting up regardless of what the competition was doing.
Yesterday, yes Froome sprinted away, but then the gap only grew gradually, and at one point quintana actually narrowed it very slightly.
Nibali just looked like he couldn’t be arsed once he was initially dropped (even being shouted at by a team mate at one point) and so his time drop may have been less if he hadn’t lost interest, and Contador just doesn’t look like Contador
Also, as I understand it, times for climbs have dropped (once tailwinds etc have been taken into account) since a decade ago.
If Froome does something similar today, and then again the next day, then suspicions will rightly be raised further, as one of the biggest things about the period of rampant doping was not necessarily the out and out speed but the ridiculously quick recovery times.
A whole team performing well after a rest day could mean doping, or it could just mean that the team has an extremely good rest day routine.
I will now sit back and wait for the backlash from those who have lost all hope or sense of reason.
It just when he attacks you
It just when he attacks you see the difference and the HR. Again this is why I believe all data should be public so we can compare. Cycling is such a technical sport on stats that it should release it all.
If Velon were serious we should have instant data feedback on each rider available to commentators and viewers to see exactly what is happening !
Some may cry it gives opposition an advantage but it would be the same for everyone.
ianrobo wrote:It just when he
Seen the first couple of big digs against Quintana – HR rise and fall look pretty normal, interesting to see how long even the very best take to reduce HR after an attack up a mountain when you’ve spent half the day in saddle.
fukawitribe wrote:ianrobo
Are his stats out for the climb then ?
ianrobo wrote:fukawitribe
Are his stats out for the climb then ?— ianrobo
The stats are displayed real-time as an overlay on the video – not seen the raw data yet.
I don’t have any views either
I don’t have any views either way about whether people are doping. I simply don’t know, so it is pointless getting worked up about it.
Yesterday’s result was very interesting and somewhat shocking. But it wasn’t simply a case of Froome shredding all his rivals. At least some of his rivals seem to be seriously under performing, which makes the comparison between the four / five ‘Beatles’ look a bit strange.
Nibali has been crap from the off this year, the only time he has looked remotely like the 2014 rider was on the cobbles. Contador looks like he has left his legs in Italy after the Giro.
TJvG was close to Froome on the Dauphine although never looked able to stay with Froome’s accelerations, and he has faded in the Tour before. I suppose the main surprise was that Froome was able to take so much time out of Quintana, but if you turn that round, how come Quintana only took 30 seconds out of Gesink and a minute out of new pro Adam yates on the climb? Quintana only took just over a minute out of classics specialist Tony Gallopin too. Maybe gallopin should be accused of doping. Or maybe Quintana’s good time trial performance is ‘proof’ of doping?
It is pointless just trying to look at results in isolation and use that as ‘proof’ of doping.
Sky were superb yesterday and
Sky were superb yesterday and got the tactics bang on, Froome incredible as was his team,but one swallow doesn’t make a summer!! let’s see what what today brings, bigger longer climbs, and yesterday must have an impact on Sky’s performance today ? we’ll see, but so far been a great tour to watch and hopefully some of the big contenders will start to earn their corn because if they don’t Froomey will putting 2 minutes a day on them? either way looking forward to the next week and a half.
ah sorry mate I thought you
ah sorry mate I thought you meant from yesterday’s climb !
ianrobo wrote:ah sorry mate I
Ah yes ! Quite so, see what you mean. Sorry for confusion. Yesterdays would be interesting..
well as posted on the leak
well as posted on the leak thread another vid is out and shows the same thing, where he launches an attack power goes up a lot but HR does not.
Whatever you may think of Froome, if that is clean he is one truly remarkable athlete to put in intense effort and for HR to stay the same. Unless something real dodgy is going on.
Is it possible to go at 800W at the same HR as 400W clean ?
Even for a super athlete ?
ianrobo wrote:well as posted
Where does it stay the same ? The big kicks i’ve seen so far (all the Vuelta and half the Ventoux) have resulted in an HR rise, albeit with a lag as would be expected. Some of the Vuelta ones are small, the Ventoux ones so far are bigger and the recovery is much, much slower – not entirely suprising. The power levels thus far (which I presume are the uncorrected ones on the Ventoux with the SRM) seem believable, although as i’ve not watched the end of the Ventoux yet perhaps i’ve missed something ‘mutant’, as Vayer would say.
Edit : should also say, I wonder if the Vuelta ones are uncorrected as well. Stages quote 4-5% higher readings with (unspecified) “non-round” rings.
Well done to Froome and Sky.
Well done to Froome and Sky. Hope they continue with the amazing performance.
It is still too early to call a winner. Anything can happen still.
Froome est
Froome est Extraterrestre…?
A fascinating twist, power data leaked not hacked:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vayer-says-froomes-supposed-ventoux-data-was-leaked-not-hacked/
unclebadger wrote:Froome est
Sounds like quibbling to me – back when I was wearing my sys admin hat and having to worry about such things, the industry rule of thumb was 90+% of hacks were inside jobs – things have probably not changed much. If it was internal or someone external with (possibly temporary) access, it would make more sense of the legal comments.
Looks like Froome has climbed
Looks like Froome has climbed down a bit from his original independent testing ?
Froome: “I’m open-minded to potentially doing some physiological testing at some point after Tour or at whatever point suits”