Taking his opportunities as they arose, Vincenzo Nibali conquered the Hautacam and took his fourth victory – the last man to win the Tour with four (non-time trial) stage wins was Eddy Merckx. Meanwhile, Alejandro Valverde was distanced by the French, falling from second to fourth place, setting up a tantalising time trial showdown on Saturday.
After the magnificent Grand Depart, hard to imagine that by the first rest day, we would have seen the abandonment of Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Alberto Contador (among others), Vincenzo Nibali with a vice grip on yellow and Tony Martin wearing the polka dot jersey! We have all the tweets and instagrams from the most eventful week in the Tour de France in a very long time. Here we go … Continue reading
Blel Kadri counter-attacked from the day’s break and, to the delight of the home crowd, held on over the last two climbs to solo across the finish line, turning the French flag bleu, blanc, brun – his team’s colours. An entire nation breathed a grateful sigh of relief at a first ‘home’ win two days before Bastille Day.
Continue reading