Very true. I'd asked the question before the start of the race about who would be Froomes Froome this year? With Henao and Uran in the team things would look different in the hills. Uran is off to OPQS next year so there is no way Sky would have raced him in this only for his points to go elsewhere.

Also agree that Froome put in a good performance on Sunday but I do believe Movistar and Saxo could have duffed him up a bit more between them.

Cav is in danger of his Tdf being a failure this year. His lead out train is all over the place and he is not in good form. Steegmans was in a good position yesterday and Cav should have been on his wheel. Why he chose Veelers wheel in that last corner is beyond me.

Today will be a win for Das Panzerwagon. We're all expecting Froome to put time into his rivals but.......Contador could surprise us all.

I thought Steegmans went too early, which was what Cav then said afterwards. Just as it looked like they'd got their train in order, it's all fallen to bits again now.

Yesterday wasn't the first crash at this Tour caused, at least in part, by parts of a lead-out train dropping back through the pack. There has to be some more responsibility on riders pulling up in those situations to make sure they do it safely.

Agree, got in the house with about 40km left in the stage on Sunday & knowing that Froome was isolated I was expecting Movistar to be on an attack frenzy. I'm not sure how much Contador had in the legs which probably explained why Saxo were so quiet.

I'm sure that if they manage to get the same scenario in the Alps they'll take advantage & pepper him with attacks.

I can only imagine how Nibali must have felt watching that stage on Sunday, it was the scenario he'd hoped for throughout last year's race that the yellow jersey would be left alone by his team and it never once looked likely to happen. Yet here we were a year later and in just the 2nd day in the mountains it was happening.

Wow. Excellent ride from Froome. Thought he had Martin for a minute, but no. 12 seconds short of him, but no-one else anywhere near. Two minutes over his nearest rival in 33km is ridiculous.

The stage Cav won was when he was on Steegmans wheel with Steegmans first round the last corner. Had Cav been on his wheel I think Cav would have won.

Peeling off lead out men is nothing new but I would have to agree about them showing more responsibility. To my eye I think Veelers deliberately moved back towards Cav after looking where he was.

Cav beaten by Kittel in a straight fight.

EBH withdraws. Sky are going to miss him, he's a workhorse in the low hills.

Are the new generation laying down the marker to Cav this year that flat straight sprints are no longer his domain? Or have the mountains just taken too much out of his legs?

I think it says a lot that OPQS have hired Mark Renshaw for next season. Wouldn't surprise me if they tried to get Bernie Eisel in as well and go full Blues Brothers in trying to get the old band back together.

Some might say that the Giro took a lot out of him and that it would appear he peaked for that instead of the Tdf.

Some might say that his lead out train is useless. OPQS are a classics squad. A team of riders who break things apart (polar opposite to Sky and the HTC train) and a lead out train needs a team of riders who are experts at keeping races together. Yesterday was described as a day where he had been delivered to the line perfectly but thats not what I saw. I saw a great final lead out by Steegmans but he was blown too soon and Cav then had to go a bit too early.

Having said that.....Cav is not as fast as he has been and something us most definitely up. Or.....perhaps Kittel is the next big thing and Cav is a spent force.

It would not surprise me to see Cav climb off his bike soon.

It would surprise me. It's all about Paris.

Change of tack by OPQS. Huge injection of pace, Argos dropped and forced to expend a lot of energy to get back. Peloton in splinters. Mayhem of the most brilliant kind.

Valverde punctures. Four team-mates with him to pace him back, but OPQS are driving on so quickly they're stranded 35" adrift.

Boring, flat, transitional stage, eh? Not a bit of it. Belkin leap on the front of the peloton, Valverde and his buddies are gone, gone, gone, back in the Kittel group at 1'10"

Saxo have a go at distancing Froome as echelons form in cross-winds. And it might be working

This is setting up for a tremendous final week.

And today they used this skill to perfection.

Normally I'd agree with you. You do know the finish in Paris has been moved closer to l'Arc de Triomphe? Uphill finish, longer to go after the final corner. On this years form I don't fancy him.

It certainly made a flat boring stage interesting. Here's hoping Bert fancies bashing Froome next week.

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www.up-shack.com/assets/up/10866 ... 40c8b4.swf

Sagan wheelie-ing up Ventoux... Just when you thought you couldn't love him any more.

Another stunning statement from Froome and Sky.

Brilliant ride from Froome, such a shame that instead of celebrating such a magnificent ride, many journalists question the validity of such a dominant performance and ask the same old questions about doping.

Unfortunately, that is the legacy Armstrong et al have left behind for modern-day cycling.

See also the mens 100m, where six of the eight fastest men of all time have now been shown to have doped at some point in their careers.

Quote ="John_D"Sagan wheelie-ing up Ventoux... Just when you thought you couldn't love him any more. '" Have you seen this? nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up.

Quote ="John_D"Sagan wheelie-ing up Ventoux... Just when you thought you couldn't love him any more. '" Have you seen this? nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up.

Quote ="vbfg"Have you seen this? nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up.'" I have seen that before, but always worth a repeat viewing. If it was anyone else, I'd call trickery. But it's not, so he gets the benefit of any doubt.

Quote ="vbfg"Have you seen this? nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up.'" I have seen that before, but always worth a repeat viewing. If it was anyone else, I'd call trickery. But it's not, so he gets the benefit of any doubt.