Bad luck for Contador too. He was keeping up right until he fell off his bike again.
Valverde has a podium position now. 
Interesting how Froome chased down every challenge even though he technically didn’t need to worry about either Nibali or Quintana on the last climb to the finish.
Up until now Froome reminded me of a daddy long legs spider. But I think octopus is more fitting. 
Too bad about Teejay - I was rooting for him to at least get in the top 5. I heard he was feeling bad on liveupdateguy.com
Brian
Poor Tejay. When the camera moved around him and got the head on view of his head being cradled by the guy from BMC, you could see he was deathly white. He must have been suffering.
So either Phil or Paul said something about this being the last year that Richie Porte will be riding for Sky and that he’s accepted an offer from another major team.
Which team, I wonder… Anyone know?
Think BMC is the rumour.
Good luck to him making the step - he has to take the opportunity if it is there. Think he can mix it with the top boys, but always seems to have at least one terrible day up his sleeve. The likes of Froome or prime Contador are cyborgs, so consistent.
Still, maybe it’s different when you’re the Man of the team.
Rumors point to BMC, but BMC currently says that Tejay’s their long-term captain. Teams can’t officially comment on free agency (or whatever they call it) until August 1, so we might not know until then.
What was yesterday all about? Just some useless thrashing from Contador and half hearted attacks and counters by Quintana and Valverde. Froome was all, “Settle down, kids!”
Froome is under a bit of pressure here - sky team has fragmented today. Nibali put in a sly dig there earlier, double-checked that Froome was having bike difficulties and then attacked. He’s 8 mins back, though, so guess he can’t be standing on niceties.
Fantastic stage that, Nibali avec panache, Quintana gapping Froome, Froome hanging in there.
Be awesome to see Quintana go long tomorrow - get rich or die trying. Can’t see it happening, though. Not enough time on the stage and Sky will have re-grouped. Quintana will put in some hard digs on Alpe D’huez but reckon Froome will take the stage.
What is the strategy for Quintana tomorrow? It seems Bardet has legs in the alps, as well as Nibali. I don’t see any way this happens, but if three or four guys can gap Froome on the decent toward Huez with two of those guys being quality descenders like Bardet and Nibali then Quintana goes full out up Huez.
I dont see Movistar as being sophisticated enough tactically, however. Either that or a personality issue with Valverde. The only way anything happens is if he sacrifices himself for Quintana. It seems unlikely.
Movistar have a lot on their plate as Nibali is too far back to trouble Froome, but he could potentially dislodge Valverde off the podium. So they have to ride it both ways tomorrow.
I find myself missing Didi.
I think Froome purposely did not bury himself in an attempt to stay with Q. He had no reason to. No sense busting your ass when you’re only going to lose 30 seconds and you have a difficult stage coming up.
Unless Froome gets sick or dies the GC race is over.
Sad but true.
I’ve been really enjoying Bardet’s riding. The win yesterday was classy as anything. Pity he had the mechanical today or he might have bridged up to Nibs and Rolland on that descent. Unlikely that he can hang on to the polkadots tomorrow, with 75 points up for grabs, but you never know.
And Valverde makes his move on the Cole de la Croix. Allez!
Sky boys have 9 lives - they keep dropping then coming back up to defend Froome.
Was sure Quintana would wait until the Alp d’Huez.
Why now?..
Seems personal between him and Valverde.
Froome schools Nibali to the top of La Croix.
Fans or cycling hooligans? :dubious:
Once again, holding my breath for Ryder at tete de la course.
Movistar need to sign a Dutch rider or two. Without the time loss in the crosswinds in Stage 2 Quintana might have won this thing. Entertaining final stage. I was surprised Movistar actually dared to attack on the Croix de Fer, because it was always extremely likely to come to nothing - as it in fact did. But it was their only chance to actually win aside from Froome bonking or having a mechanical on L’Alpe.