Froome riding a perfect race, but one that has already been soured
After silencing his doubters and coming through the tough opening week of the Tour de France in the race lead, in between the two rest days Chris Froome has put his foot down and tightened his grip on yellow.
His attack and victory on the first summit finish at La Pierre-Saint-Martin was resounding and he has proved unbreakable since. He heads into the Alps claiming he’s in a stronger position than he was at this point during his 2013 Tour win. That must be quite demoralising for his rivals to hear.
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On a purely sporting level, Froome has had a perfect Tour so far and is firmly in command of the general classification, with a lead of 3:10 over Nairo Quintana. On a personal level, however, it has been a train wreck. If he thought the scrutiny and speculation over his credibility was bad in 2013, what he has had to face this year has been on a whole different spectrum. With innuendo, defamatory accusations and urine coming at him from various angles, you suspect that if he does reach Paris in yellow, it would be a difficult victory to savour. (PF)
Contador in need of cautious pragmatism
On paper Alberto Contador is in an almost identical position to the one he occupied during the second rest day of the 2013 Tour de France. This time around he’s 4:23 as opposed to 4:25 down on Chris Froome, having suffered at the hands of the British rider and his team during the opening fortnight, but such a one-dimensional snapshot fails to paint a complete picture of where the Spaniard finds himself as the race hurtles towards the Alpine stages.
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