Well, the Tour de France was unofficially won today when the 1-2 combo of Froome and Wiggins charged up the mountain thus putting even more time between themselves and Vincenzo Nibali. The stage was pretty exciting though.
Team Liquigas lead most of Peloton today in an attempt to setup Nibali for an attack, which never came.
Frenchman Thomas Voeckler was out in a breakaway for the majority of the day in an effort to secure the King of the Mountains jersey.
Controversial rider Alejandro Valverde won the stage by about 20 seconds today with Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins finishing 2nd and 3rd.
Chris Froome has been the real story of the 2012 Tour de France though. He was totally able to chase him down but he instead chose to stay loyal to his teammate Bradley Wiggins and waited for him on a number of occasions during the final climb when he could have been chasing down Valverde. Wiggins and team Sky have held him back this year.
GC Standings:
- Bradley Wiggins
- Chris Froome, 2:05
- Vicenzo Nibali, 2:41
It’s also worth mentioning that Team Radio Shack has 4 riders within the top 16. Had Andy Schleck been able to compete this year, things may have been very different considering how dominant they’ve been as a team.
King of the Mountains Standings:
- Thomas Voeckler, 134
- Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff, 123
Voeckler should be able to hold onto the jersey pretty easily now.
Sprinter’s points race:
- Peter Sagan, 356
- Andre Greipel, 254
- Matthew Goss, 203
Sagan has destroyed this race.
Best young rider classification:
- Tejay Van Garderen
- Thibaut Pinot, 3:16
Van Garderen just needs to not give up 3:16 in the final time trial and he’ll win the best young rider competition.
Stage 18 Preview
Lots of little hills makes it possible for a breakaway to survive. I like Alexander Vinokourov, who’s racing in his final Tour de France to get the win tomorrow.
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