Chris Froome celebrates winning stage eight of the Tour de France into Bagneres de Luchon after one of the most courageous descents the race has seen in recent memory. He took yellow and held it all the way to Paris.
By Brian Canty
The Tour de France is put to bed for another year and over the last three weeks we’ve been er, ‘treated’ to an exhibition of race execution from the man and the team who won outright, Chris Froome and Team Sky.
On the whole, however, it was a largely forgettable Tour because as soon as Froome took the yellow jersey on stage eight with victory into Bagneres de Luchon he held it all the way to Paris.
We cannot fault him or his team for how they rode because they’re in the business of winning but from a spectator’s point of view and certainly a neutral point of view, it was hardly on a par with some of the other Grand Tours of recent years.
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Here are four things we believe the race lacked…
An Irish stage winner
Sam Bennett grimaces in pain after his opening day crash at the Tour. It meant he was unable to contest any of the sprints during the opening week when there were plenty chances.
With Sam Bennett effectively out of the running for a stage win because of the injuries he suffered on the opening day and Dan Martin held on a tight leash because of how dangerous he can be when he breaks loose, Irish fans had little to get too excited about.
It didn’t stop the latter from having a crack on a few occasions, most notably on stage eight where he claimed second but all too often as soon as he stretched his legs he was reined in by those closest to him.
Proper fan conduct
The pile-up on the climb of Mont Ventoux was one of the few flashpoints of the Tour and it was caused by over-zealous fans, though the race organisers must also accept some blame.
The race has gone from a pantomime to more of a circus with fans using the air-time afforded them to publicise political ideas, daft costumes or general stupidity. It caused a number of crashes – most notably the stage 12 pile-up on Mont Ventoux that saw Froome crash.
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The Team Sky rider was also caught on camera thumping a fan while LottoNL-Jumbo rider reached out and “Sonny-Billed” a spectator who stepped out in front of him. Sooner or later, somebody is going to get seriously hurt, or worse.
The organisers, the ASO, have 11 months to do something.
A little bit of bunch gumption
Moments after this shot was taken, the man leading (Simon Gerrans) crashed and took two Team Sky men down with him. Inexplicably, the bunch waited for Froome who went back to check on his teammates. It was a turning point in the race when nobody took advantage.
Descending the Col des Trois Termes on stage 12, Simon Gerrans (Orica-BikeExchange) crashed and took down Team Sky's Ian Stannard and Luke Rowe, two of Froome’s most important domestiques.
While the rest of the Sky train remained upright the bunch called a ceasefire because Froome went back to check on the boys, who were fine.
It was the perfect time to attack the race leader, but they said no.
When the yellow jersey crashes it’s customary to wait, but his teammates, come on guys?
More rain
Amazing how rain did more to shake up the race than two and a half weeks of racing, eh?
Just as we were all becoming drowsy from watching Team Sky emulate a TGV racing around France at breakneck speed, their train became derailed on the 19th stage from Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc when Froome slid out and crashed on a fast descent.
He was forced into a frantic bike change and for the first time in the race he lost time to his nearest challengers.
A little more rain could well have really changed the complexion of the race…
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