Having been in the privileged position of experiencing directly how Grand Tours are won and lost, I can't help thinking that this edition of the Tour de France isn't going to follow the previous pattern of what happens when it's two teammates up against each other for the overall victory.
This isn't Hinault versus LeMond or Roche against Visentini all over again, and that's mainly because they were stories of young against old, of youth versus experience. In the case of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome this year, neither are up and coming, and, more importantly, they are actually friends.
That's the biggest thing that makes a team-splitting fallout unlikely, and the other just-as-important fact is that Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford is in charge of it all. If a decision is going to be made as to which of his two riders becomes the team leader, then he'll be the one making it.
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Of course, if out on the road either of his riders falter or are caught out tactically, then deciding who wins is taken out of his hands, and he may well have decided already that it'll be the race that decides. But that's not something we are going to be party to.
However, there are a number of external factors that could influence the outcome, and in prime position is Tom Dumoulin, who has been the only one capable of matching the Sky duo so far. How they deal with the Sunweb star may well come down to how the Pyrenees affect him. Or maybe they won't affect him at all and it'll be the time trial on the penultimate stage that becomes the final challenge.
Time for others to attack
The more likely upset to the current status quo lies behind the first three on the GC, although with the loss of Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo NIbali, the options there are limited to Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Movistar's Mikel Landa, Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and the LottoNL-Jumbo pairing of Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruiswijk.
Getting personal
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/philippa-york-analysis-bubbling-under-a-look-at-what-may-happen-next-at-the-tour-de-france
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