Alejandro Valverde of Movistar redeemed himself after a disappointing tour, leaving his breakaway comrades behind and taking the stage win in the Pyrenees.
With Cadel out of contention it was left to Vincenzo Nibali to attack the Sky team and try and make up some ground on the podium. Nibali's team Liquigas-Cannondale set the pace for quite a bit of the stage however it was evident that Nibali didn't have the gas to successfully attack Sky who again rode brilliantly to protect their team leader.
Sky's dominance in the peloton, and indeed Wiggins' impending victory has been quite the topic of this years tour.
Like him or not, Wiggins must be respected for his win.
Yes, he may well have been 'towed' across France, yes, his style of riding may be boring, yes, he has no idea on how to handle the media and yes, those sideburns..... but all that aside he is going to be a winner of the greatest bike race on the planet - and that is no mean feat.
It may be obvious that Wiggins certainly isn't the strongest rider in the peloton or his team for that matter, but he is the selected team leader. Congratulations and much respect must go to Christopher Froome for sacrificing himself and offering 100% loyalty to the team and Wiggins'.
We know, as does he, that he could have won the tour himself. And he certainly could have won the stage last night which is something that I don't' understand. With no doubt that the yellow jersey was secure why didn't team management let Froome go to chase down Valverde for the stage win? Is Wiggins that fragile? I cannot understand why Team Sky wouldn't want a stage win when the yellow jersey was safe. But that's another story, for another day...
When all is said and done, Team Sky came to the tour with the best team. Australians Mick Rogers and Richie Porte worked tirelessly, day after day for Wiggins. True workhorses and two of the finest domestiques on the road. Then of course there is Froome, Boasson Hagen, Eisel, and Knees. They have all done their job and deserve the yellow jersey as much as Bradley Wiggins. It has been a text book team victory.
Would things have been different if Cadel was on form? If Andy Shleck hadn't have been injured? If Contodor was available? Maybe. But 'What ifs' aren't acknowledged in the record books.
Are you a 'Wiggins' Fan? What do you think of Team Sky's dominance?
Some may say Cadel's win last year was based on a similar foundation of Time Trial dominance amongst GC contenders. The difference with WigFroo (4/7's of the jersey belongs to Froome BTW) is that he has not attacked....at all! 2011 saw Cadel steal time from contenders by breaking them. 2012 has seen Prudhomme and Wiggins steal a spectacle by boring the contenders through team strength.
ReplyDeleteSky should be disappointed that they are only taking Yellow and not the team's class, but that has more to do with team politics, and the fact that RadioSchleckDatsun have let their riders loose, and to hell with the GC
Hey Kevin, It's funny we were only just having that same conversation about 10 minutes ago saying we can't recall a GC winner that hasn't attacked or stamped his authority on the race in one way or another. Sad fact of this years tour.
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