Geraint Thomas attacked with five kilometers to go in Stage 11 and won, securing the yellow jersey with nearly a minute and a half lead. For nearly any other rider, we would speculate whether he has put a stranglehold on the Tour de France. One problem: In second place is Chris Froome, Thomas’ Team Sky teammate and a four-time Tour de France winner.
The Tour de France has become a fight within Team Sky for the yellow jersey
Geraint Thomas won Stage 11 of the Tour de France, proving that no one in the field is stronger than him ... except, maybe, his teammate Chris Froome.
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Here’s where we stand just past the midway point of the Tour.
Wednesday showed that, right now, the field isn’t up to the task of beating Sky.
A quick rundown of the day for the yellow jersey contenders:
Tom Dumoulin: Got clear of the yellow jersey group, and tried briefly to partner with Alejandro Valverde up the final climb to no avail. Got passed by Thomas, but pipped Froome at the line to finish second, and currently sits 1’ 44” out of yellow. Valiant effort, and the only plausible non-Sky yellow jersey winner now, but it’s hard to imagine him doing it without better teammates or better cooperation from the field. If only he didn’t lose 1’ 17” seconds to a mechanical error and a time penalty on Stage 6. Sigh.
Alejandro Valverde: The only other GC contender to try a concerted attack before the final climb. He held a gap over Thomas, Froome, and company until about nine kilometers to go. Then he shook his head when a charging Dumoulin tried to get him to help up the final climb, and dropped back.
Dan Martin: Finished sixth on the stage with an aggressive move in pursuit of Thomas, but also got Froome stuck on his wheel, allowing Sky to dominate the final result. He might finish in the top five overall, if not on the podium, but he’s likely too far back to win yellow at 10th place and 3’ 16” to Thomas.
Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Primož Roglic: They were the next strongest GC riders at the finish in La Rosière. They were also impotent to Sky’s attacks. They hung back with Froome when Thomas left them at the five-kilometer mark, and despite Bardet’s prods, they couldn’t bridge the gap to Froome after he latched onto Martin’s wheel. They shipped nearly a minute on the stage.
Everyone else: They’re not really worth talking about in terms of the general classification anymore, though we can take a second to pour one out for Adam Yates. The 2016 winner of the young rider classification entered the 2018 Tour as one of the overall favorites, but rode himself out of contention Wednesday, finishing nearly six minutes off of Thomas.
So is Thomas really going to take the yellow jersey away from Froome?
Nobody knows, but the Thomas vs. Froome subplot is now the most compelling thing driving this year’s Tour. Let’s break down the arguments:
Argument 1: Yes, Thomas is committing mutiny. The Tour de France is about winnowing out the fastest man over three weeks. What a team planned only matters so much when it becomes evidently clear that the guy with the best legs isn’t the one gunning for a fifth yellow jersey. Thomas has looked spry on every stage of the Tour so far, battling for bonus points and wrangling cobbles, hills, and mountains alike. The one facet in which Froome is clearly better than Thomas is the individual time trial, but if Thomas can get two minutes on his teammate by Stage 20, there might not be anything that Froome can do.
Argument 2: No, this every bit part of Sky’s plan. And Sky’s plan is so detailed, it may very well include “make everyone believe Chris and Geraint aren’t friends any more.” And on Stage 11, Thomas had a chance to turn the screws on Froome when he caught Dumoulin in the closing kilometers, but he refused to pace the Dutchman even though both might have been able to take time away from Froome if he had done so.
Sky have also explicitly been trying to tamp down speculation that usurpation is taking place, knowing that’s what the world is most excited to see. Froome and Thomas are also longtime friends, unlike, say, Froome and Bradley Wiggins, who Froome overtook as Sky’s team leader in 2013 to win his first yellow jersey.
Sky is so buttoned up, it’s hard to imagine unrest running in its ranks. Then again, in absence of a general classification competition, what else can we do except hope for treason?
Stage results
Stage 11, 108.5 kilometers from Albertville to La Rosière Espace San Bernardo
Wednesday, July 18
1. Geraint Thomas (Sky) - 3h 29’ 36”
2. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) - + 20”
3. Chris Froome (Sky) - + 20”
4. Damiano Caruso (BMC Racing) - + 22”
5. Mike Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) - + 22”
6. Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) - + 27”
7. Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) - + 57”
8. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) - + 59”
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) - + 59”
10. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) - + 59”
General classification
1. Geraint Thomas (Sky) - + 44h 06’ 16”
2. Chris Froome (Sky) - + 1’ 25”
3. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) - + 1’ 44”
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) - + 2’ 14”
5. Primož Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) - + 2’ 23”
6. Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) - + 2’ 40”
7. Mikel Landa (Movistar) - + 2’ 56”
8. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) - + 2’ 58”
9. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) - + 3’ 16”
10. Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) - + 3’ 16”
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