Gallery
It's About Gaining Seconds
With rides sliding all over the course, Andrew Talansky (Garmin Sharp) included, the end of the stage became all about trying to gain time on one's rivals. Talansky may have lost time against the Astana trio, he gained seconds on most of the other GC men. You can just see Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte (Team Sky) rounding the corner ahead of the Garmin leader. I am very impressed with Team Sky's response to Froome's abandonment of the Tour, whether it had been a contingency set in place before the start of the race, or a mid race gut reaction, the team immediately rallied around Porte as their new team leader and "protected man". At the end of the day only Nibali's teammate was able to maintain the two second deficit to the Yellow jersey with Talansky, Kwiatowski, Bardet and van Garderen suffering the least amount of time damage in the stage. It was Alberto Contador who lost the most on the surprising Italian National Champion, Nibali.