Grand Tour racing is often like a game of snakes and ladders, and the uphill finish of stage 14 of the Tour de France in Rodez produced another shuffling of the general classification, with Fabio Aru (Astana) losing contact with his rivals on the uphill finish and as a consequence the yellow jersey.
Chris Froome and Team Sky had perhaps expected a quiet few days in the Massif Central before a final showdown in the Alps. Indeed, Froome needed a moment to realise what had happened in the chaos of the uphill finish. But he was soon smiling, pleased to be back in yellow after he and his teammates exposed the weakness of Aru and his Astana squad.
The Team Sky riders celebrated behind the podium area before going up to collect yet another team prize. They lead AG2R La Mondiale by a significant 19:07 and showed why, with perfect execution of a plan that came about after studying the hectic finish of 2015. The devil is in the detail in Grand Tour racing, even if it now called a marginal gain.
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Many in the peloton were expecting a simple fight between Michael Mathews (Team Sunweb), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data). That happened, with Matthews crowned the king of lactic acid for his win. However, behind – and largely out of view of the television camera – the peloton split several times, and then again and again as the line approach.
Team Sky ensured that Froome was up front and so on the right side of the numerous splits thanks to a superb effort, in particular from Michal Kwiatkowski. They have by far the strongest team in the race and used it to drop off Froome right on the tail of the sprinters. Froome finished seventh on the stage but won the sprint amongst the overall contenders.
He crossed the line a single second behind Matthews but only Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) finished in the same time. Behind them, riders cracked and lost contact with the wheel in front, and others, including struggling sprinters such as John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) and early attacker Oliver Naesen (LottoNL-Jumbo), slipped back, creating the official time gaps of five, 12, 15, 20, 22 and 25 seconds, amongst the overall contenders.
The 'A-Team' deliver, Aru left embarrassed
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 15, 2017
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