Perhaps nothing summed up Chris Froome's Tour de France quite like its final ascent, the Col de Joux Plane. Beneath leaden sheets of rain, he had no fewer than four Sky teammates for company at the head of the yellow jersey group, and nobody so much as dreamed of trying to disrupt their rhythm.
There would be no frissons on the treacherous descent to the finish either, no tests of Froome's resolve after his crash in similar conditions on the previous afternoon. Rather than plunging into Morzine, the Tour peloton was glad simply to slouch towards Paris. This race, after all, was already over as a contest, all resistance long since crushed.
Froome will carry a lead of more than four minutes onto the Champs-Élysées on Sunday afternoon, but while Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) will stand alongside him on the podium, but ultimately, he was a man more troubled by circumstance than by rivals on this Tour.
ADVERTISEMENT
The enduring images of excitement on this Tour will be of Froome running up Mont Ventoux in his cleats or riding in a bloodied jersey to Saint-Gervais, but the anticipated duel with Quintana never materialised. Nobody else, be it on form or on pedigree, was on the same level.
"It was unfortunate that Alberto Contador crashed on stage 1 and he wasn't part of this battle this year," Froome said in Morzine on Saturday evening. "It's important that we have a big battle but even though I've come here with a four-minute advantage, it feels like every day has been a new challenge, a new fight. I don't feel as if it's been any easier in that regard.
"I have seen Nairo obviously stronger in the past. At the Tours I won in 2013 and 2015, he pushed me right until the end. I feel like this year, he wasn't quite at his best for whatever reason. But I've no doubt he'll be back here with the same hunger to fight for victory next year."
- Froome set to win 2016 Tour de France ahead of procession to Paris
- Tour de France: Stage 20 finish line quotes
- Tour de France stage 20 highlights - Video
Tour de France stage 20 highlights video
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2a6vXTx
No comments:
Post a Comment