Chris Froome's tearaway win up the La Pierre-Saint-Martin yesterday
would have been enough to break the spirit of each of his
adversaries, who before the French Tour began would have held high hopes of
winning. Already almost three minutes ahead of his nearest rival, Tejay
Van Garderen from BMC Racing, it's just a matter of him staying upright on the
bike for Froome to still be wearing the maillot jaune by the time the race
reaches Paris. Who knows how far the rider from Team Sky will be
ahead after another six mountain stages are played out?
Although finishing 59 seconds behind his teammate, one could argue that
Richie Porte's performance up the climb was just as impressive. A loyal lieutenant,
he set the pace early, providing the springboard for the Englishman to attack.
Somehow, instead of falling back in the pack as most cyclists who by now, are all
but spent often do, he found his legs and left last year’s Giro d’Italia winner Rojas Quintana, in his tracks.
Aged 30, it’s no wonder Richie Porte is keen to join another team, like
BMC Racing, to ply his trade as the leading rider. Just perhaps, it might not
be long before we Australians are applauding our second Tour de France winner.
No comments:
Post a comment