I must apologise to the organisers of the Tour de France. Following yesterdays stage it has become clear that what they are doing is running two races on the same day using the same stages. First of all there is the Domestique Tour, this is fought out by the riders who are not quite good enough to be stage winners in their own right, once they get within thirty minutes of the lead they are switched to the Elite Tour on the following day. The Elite Tour is committed to racing between ten and twenty minutes behind the Domestique Tour, they are not allowed to start racing until entering the final five per cent of any stage, they also must beware of catching and passing the earlier riders except on flat stages, then they must wait until they are in the final five hundred metres of the finish.
I must applaud the sportsmanship of Contador, being known as one of the best technical descenders he fell off purposely to allow Geraint Thomas to recover the time he lost on Monday through no fault of his own. Contador actually overdid it so Thomas is now in fourth.
Having said all this the final part of yesterday stage was a cracker, Quintana really attacked Froome who came back at him every time. It was noticeable that Quintana had the support of his team from riders who had dropped out of the group in front. Was this planned, join the breakaway so that they can later support their leader? Or am I just ahead of the teams in my thinking?
I must applaud the sportsmanship of Contador, being known as one of the best technical descenders he fell off purposely to allow Geraint Thomas to recover the time he lost on Monday through no fault of his own. Contador actually overdid it so Thomas is now in fourth.
Having said all this the final part of yesterday stage was a cracker, Quintana really attacked Froome who came back at him every time. It was noticeable that Quintana had the support of his team from riders who had dropped out of the group in front. Was this planned, join the breakaway so that they can later support their leader? Or am I just ahead of the teams in my thinking?