If the idea that Mikel Landa (Team Sky) could be a threat for the Tour de France title, and indeed to his own team leader Chris Froome, had been sown on Peyragude's altiport runway the previous afternoon, it grew shoots on the explosive mountain stage to Foix on Friday.
Starting the day 10th overall, 2:55 down on race leader Fabio Aru (Astana) and 2:49 down on Froome, Landa jumped aboard when Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) went up the road on the first of three first-category climbs on the short 101km route. At one point, he was 20 seconds from taking the virtual lead of the race.
With Froome attacking towards the top of the final climb, Landa forged on to gain as much time as possible, eventually finishing 1:48 clear of the yellow jersey group, which moved him up into fifth overall, 1:09 down on Aru and 1:03 down on Froome.
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"I'm very satisfied with what happened today," Landa told a group of reporters outside the Team Sky bus. Unlike Thursday's stage, where he unintentionally left Froome behind on the steep finish in Peyragude, his attack today was part of the tactical plan.
"Having me up the road obliged Aru and Bardet to close that gap," Landa said. "We wanted to make the most of that with Chris following the wheels. In the end, we didn't know whether to concentrate on the stage win or to try and gain as much time as possible, but I decided to try and gain as much time as possible."
Spanish-speaking media scrums tend to be far more entertaining and lively than English ones, what was put next to Landa was not so much a question as a rather bold statement.
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