Chris Froome insists Tour de France defence on track despite missing Dauphiné podium (+ video)

Wasn't the excitement actually because (and I'm only going on highlights show) there were no teams with more than half their team in position by the last 2 climbs. I'll be very surprised if this is repeated at Le Tour. We can hope though.

Fuglsang advantage, as well as being in great shape, was having Aru up there at the end in almost the same condition. Though they didn't do the classic 1 - 2, that is what happened and it was always likely to play to the advantage of one of them. Though perhaps not to the degree it did in the end.

TBH thought the race was very mundane until the last three stages.

Daturaman, sounds like you were watching the UCI channel that gets broadcast alongside. Good for avoiding adverts or if you get tired of commentators...

Fantastic stage, really exciting, gets my vote for best 'stage' of a 'stage race' this year. So much going on

Porte was superb, he just would not crack, the way he brought back that 'super group' including Froome on the last climb.... it's a shame he missed out on the overall, but it's not at the  detriment of Fuglsang, who rightly deserved the win, he's been a beast all week and the best rider on the day won the race in the end. 

@Don Simon - it sounds like you didn't watch the race, Froome atacked from the off yesterday, again and again and again, Michael Kwika's value/stocks must be going through the roof and Pete Kenneagh won the stage on Saturday.  

Richie Porte seemed pretty pissed that "some people" seemingly would do anything they could to "stop him from winning", even at their own expense. Not sure how much help Froome might get from BMC in July were he to find himself isolated.

It should be a great TDF. I hope Froome does well, but at the same time I hope all the new contenders push him to the limit. It will be exciting to watch if a handful of riders have a shot of winning in the 3rd week

I think Contador seems to have crested and is now slowly descending down in performance. Quintana is not as punchy. Porte is great form and could easily win if everything goes his way, deserves it after being right hand man to Froome for several years

Hopefully this bodes well for the Tour, Froome's obviously in pretty good shape, although maybe not quite as dominant as previous years (but having seen him reduce racing beforehand to still have something left for the third week it's not a big surprise).

Some of the other guys have really stepped up this year, and having seen that they can beat Froome on a race he's clearly very good at should give a little bit of confidence and open up the racing a bit more (or hopefully not the complete opposite where all the teams just sit on and wait and wait until the last stage or two where they attack because they don't feel they need to make such desperate attempts)

I read the article as being Froome's explanation as to why he and SKY didn't light this one up, fanboy.

Brilliant stage. Froome and Sky light this one up and kickstarted the spectacle it was, although pretty much every rider played their part having a go: Valverde and Aru, Martin, Kwiatovski...and a fantastic effort from Porte. Shame some folks can't just enjoy a bloody great race without some little cynical snipe from the comfort of an armchair.

Don't worry Chris, it's all in hand mate. Just keep an eye out for the Jiffy bag.