Stage 11 of the Tour de France from Albertville to La Rosiere saw the first major shake-up of the general classification. Geraint Thomas moved into the yellow jersey after almost a week of trying, with his teammate Chris Froome right behind him, while some could only watch as their overall ambitions went up in smoke.
With the Alpe d'Huez set to change things once again on Thursday, Cyclingnews takes a look at how the GC is shaping up.
Team Sky dominate
There can be little doubt that Team Sky were the big winners of the day with Thomas taking the stage win by more than 20 seconds over Tom Dumoulin and assuming a relatively comfortable lead in the overall classification. His team leader, Froome finished with Dumoulin, having caught the Dutchman on the final climb. That was enough to move the defending champion from sixth to second overall and just 1:25 behind Thomas.
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Team Sky have full command of the overall classification as the race passes its midway point. However, they do now have something of a conundrum to deal with in terms of the yellow jersey.
Will we see the yellow jersey having to work for Froome or will he get protected status for the time being? Last season, Thomas headed into the first mountain stage with the yellow on his back but the gaps were closer and it only took a small slip back from Thomas to hand the yellow jersey over to Froome. This year is very different, Thomas has a sizeable lead and he's in the strongest form he has ever been at a Tour de France.
Will we see Froome attack his own teammate? Froome ensured that he kept his own losses to Thomas at a minimum on the road to La Rosiere, and is within striking distance of his teammate. If Froome does attack, will Thomas be allowed to chase - if he is able to - or will Team Sky tell him to hold station?
The chasers
Over and out
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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