Martin sprinted in 14th, six minutes 37 seconds behind the solo victor Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and two seconds behind Yates, Froome and Quintana.
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By the time the race hit the mountain principality’s capital, Andorra-La Vella, the break had split into smaller groups and it was there that Dumoulin, sixth overall in last year’s Vuelta, launched his solo attack ahead of the final Hors-Categorie ascent. “In the final climb, Froome was a bit alone”, he said.
“It won’t make a big difference because there was a downhill and flat portion before the finish”, said Thierry Gouvenou, the Tour technical director.
“One minute we were pouring water over our heads and putting ice packs down our back, the next minute we had ice falling from the sky with the hailstones and the temperature dropped to 10 degrees”. It’s been nine hard days of racing, so fatigue definitely starts going into play, but it’s still the first week.
Two-time victor Alberto Contador sensationally quit cycling’s Tour de France yesterday, after injuries and illness left him trailing in 20th position overall.
And it’s notable that the lead he does have is the result of a daring descent on stage 8, set up by a surprising attack over the top of the day’s final climb.
Then on Sunday’s trek over five massive Pyrenean cols, Froome had to contend with freak weather conditions as much as his rivals, when four hours of blazing heat abruptly gave way to near freezing conditions. It is a difference between riding a week-long race and a Grand Tour. He then handed his bike to a mechanic and waved to TV cameras as he exited the race that made him famous.
Eleventh on the stage, overall Froome maintains his 16-seconds advantage on Britain’s Adam Yates, lying second in a breakthrough France performance from the 23-year-old Yorkshireman.
Yates has said he does not believe he can challenge in the general classification due to his time-trialling, but is happy to still be in the mix after the first week of the Tour.
“I was quite surprised to hear that Alberto Contador was in his vehicle”, said Froome.
“I am doing good on GC but it’s a background objective”.
“Tomorrow we’re hoping for a similar day to today, another day we can tick off and get through without too much happening. I’ll rest up and see how the legs come out after”. “Froome, I think, is thinking about those days”. Nairo and Chris were just playing cat and mouse.
Brailsford said he’s been surprised that other teams, not just Quintana’s Movistar, have simply let Sky control the race, rather than trying to put them into difficulty. There are some pretty odd tactics going on. “That’s not ideal, so I’m not thinking about it any more; if I hadn’t had that crash and was in the top 10 you’d think about it, but it’s over three minutes now”.
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“When I got to the top last time I had to get on oxygen support, I was so exhausted”, Froome said. “I don’t think one Brit tries to win just because a Brit won the day before but obviously a lot of us have grown up together”. After winning the Tour of Turkey in 2014, and the San Sebastian single-day classic past year, he is already being tipped as a future victor of a major Tour.
