devashish_paul wrote:
cartsman wrote:
Froome will be glad of the rest day tomorrow! Looks like he is back on ominously good form again, closing down that gap was impressive. Guess last week was either a bonk, a cold, or maybe just one of those inexplicable days when you don't have it.Seems like it was just a big bonk. It was impressive how he closed the gap today after the flat and then later lead the chase to Martin. You gotta hand it to Froome. The guy is a true racer, does not panic, is always in great position and when bad things happens, he pulls himself together and makes it happen. And kudos to Landa today dropping back to pick up Froome for the final close. Also on Martin, without that crash, he would be sitting in yellow now, but he might have also had less latitude from the peers if he was not as far behind. He should benefit from a few nights of recovery given the rest day tomorrow. Will be interesting to see who betwen Bardet, Aru and Martin do best in the final ITT. In the first one, they were all 3 seconds between each other and almost 40 seconds down on Froome. That day 1 ITT is really helping Froome's margin today.
You do have to hand it to Froome. And he has been very gracious and appreciative of the effort his team has put in. And although I still think he looks very vulnerable - he lacks acceleration and top end power - no one else seems to have the legs to attack when they should. Froome put in a herculean effort to get back up to the group. Had Aru or the other contenders had the legs or were otherwise the best rider in the Tour, they would of, and should've attacked Froome at that moment when he dropped back and even later when he was trying to catch up. They did not. And could not. That series of events showed right their everyone's form. Froome, though not at his best relative to his career, is still better than the others. Except for Landa, who if he otheewise were riding for himself or as team leader, would be in yellow right now...