Before the start of the Tour de France in Düsseldorf – just 10 days and nine stages ago – there were roughly 20 overall contenders fighting for a place on the final podium in Paris. The early stages revealed a few cracks and the finish at La Planche des Belles Filles caused a minor shake out, but there were 10 riders packed into sixty seconds before Sunday's stage to Chambéry. Then the Mont du Chat climb and especially the descent changed everything, shaking up the race and shaping the list of real overall contenders.
Now just Fabio Aru (Astana), Roman Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Rigoberto Uran are (Cannondale-Drapac) within a minute of Chris Froome (Team Sky), with everyone else's hopes and dreams arguably scattered in the wind.
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Richie Porte (BMC) and Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) are out of the race after crashes, Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) appear to be shadows of their former selves, and Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) and Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) are perhaps thinking of a place in the top five rather than going 'all-in' for overall victory.
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We are not seeing a change of generation but this year's Tour de France looks set to be very different from recent editions. When the Tour starts from Perigueux on Tuesday, with a flat stage to Bergerac, Froome, Aru, Bardet and Urán, will begin to fight for the final podium places, while watching out for a resurgence from those further back.
It has been an intense first part of the Tour and the rest of a race could turn into a tactical battle for every second. But there is a feeling and a hope that there is so much more to come.
There are 23 categorised climbs (mountains and hills) in this year's Tour de France. The riders have only covered seven so far (one in Vosges and six in the Jura). They still face eight climbs in the Pyrenees, two in the Massif Central and six in the Alps including the mountain finish to the summit of the Col d'Izoard.
How they stand and how they look after the first rest day
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