There are only five GC stages left to go in this year's Tour de France, and the simple fact of the matter is that we're as uncertain about who could win the race as we were when the Tour left Brussels two weeks ago.
For one indication of how much things have changed since this point in the race last year, it's worth remembering that of the six editions won by Team Sky in the last seven years, the latest moment in the race that one of their riders took yellow was in 2018, when Geraint Thomas moved into the lead on stage 11. Before that, in 2016, it was stage eight.
This time around, on the other hand, stage 15 is done and dusted and Thomas is still over 90 seconds down on Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who has lost time, finally, on a crucial stage in this year's Tour.
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So for all their upbeat takeaway from Sunday's stage, Team Ineos – Team Sky's new guise – are still a long way from actually taking yellow and controlling the Tour in the way we have all grown so used to them doing in previous years. And the results are there for us all to see.
Alaphilippe has gone, by far, the furthest away from the usual Tour de France script of recent years. Even now, when on the back foot, he is far from out of the game, and now has three 'easier' days to recover before the Alps. That could be enough time for him to regain the momentum he needs to take the jersey all the way to Paris.
To quote Thomas from the first rest-day press conference, when asked to discuss whether he considered Alaphilippe a threat, he replied, "On the second rest day, we'll know a lot more. If he's increased his advantage, then we'll be more concerned, but racing for the [Tour] GC is an unknown for him, so it should be an interesting second week."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/everything-to-play-for-in-the-2019-tour-de-france-gc-battle
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