Today's race has started and whether you agree with the decision or not, Peter Sagan is not in race ! Also Mark Cavendish is out due to his injuries suffered in yesterday's crash. Regarding today's stage, so far it looks like BMC doesn't plan on letting the breakaway escape to steal a win so I expect a showdown at the mountain top finish ! A 20 % gradient at top will cause some separations.
Fabio Aru went on the attack on the final steep slope and claimed a victory by easily riding away from all the top GC contenders. He now has moved himself into 3 rd place in the Yellow Jersey race ! Chris Froome is now the leader of the Tour De France with a very impressive 3 rd place finish ahead of Richie Porte who finished 4 th. It was a day that most expected Porte to try and gain a few seconds back on Froome but even though they were given the same time for today's finish, Froome actually gained 4 seconds for his 3 rd place finish. Chris Froome now leads his fellow Sky teammate Geraint Thomas by 12 seconds. However Fabio Aru has came from nowhere to trail by only 14 seconds.
I will say it wasn't a great day for Richie Porte and BMC. The team worked all day to set up a great finish for Richie Porte and got nothing for their efforts! However it was a very impressive performance by Fabio Aru and perhaps he now becomes Chris Froome's main competition. Froome mentioned as much in his post race interview. He finished well back in opening Time Trial which might be his downfall IF he doesn't take lead in the mountains ! Im sure Team Sky will be paying attention to him as they pretty much didn't respond to his attack today. Perhaps that will turn out to be a mistake ! I wish now that I had taken a hedge wager on him before the start as he looks like the real deal. ��
Yes, I think +350 on Richie Porte is decent value. We must remember that actually the main difference between Froome and Porte so far is that Porte took a safe conservative approach in opening time trial whereas Froome took a more aggressive approach. There's a lot of stages left with only 1 mountain stage so far. However it just appears that Team Sky and Chris Froome have regained their form and that's not good news for any of their competitors. Contrary to what Porte has been alluding to in his recent post stage interviews, I still think Team Sky is the best team in the Tour. I've been more impressed by Aru's performance so far. I wish I had some of that 18/1 that was posted on him at start of Tour. GL ��
Marcel Kittell is declared the winner of today's stage in the closest finish I have ever seen. How this is not a dead heat is beyond me ?
I guess I need New glasses as do most of the commentators! Kittell now takes over the Green Jersey race. The GC Yellow jersey race remains unchanged as expected.
I guess I need New glasses as do most of the commentators! Kittell now takes over the Green Jersey race. The GC Yellow jersey race remains unchanged as expected.
Tomorrow's stage 8 finally is NOT a stage for the sprinters as they head into the Mountains. Whether it turns out to be a showdown for the main GC contenders remains to be seem. It could easily be won by a breakaway group as my gut tells me they might be keeping their powder dry as stage 9 the following day is a far tougher day followed by a rest day. There will be some time lapses nonetheless but an all out attack by the main contenders is,questionable! We shall see !
Lilian Calmejane won today's stage despite experiencing cramps in the last few Km. There really wasn't any attacks by any of the main GC contenders so the Yellow Jersey race remains the same. Tomorrow will be a different story as I expect plenty of action with the top GC contenders in the spotlight. Stage 9 tomorrow will be the story teller of this year's Tour ! Jmho
Rigoberto Uran won today's stage in a photo finish over Warren Barguil. Chris Froome takes 3 rd to keep the leader's Yellow Jersey. The huge news was Richie Porte crashing and being carried away in an ambulance as his Tour is over. Also Team Sky's Geraint Thomas has crashed and is out of Tour. That is a blow to Chris Froome as he was in 2 nd place and one of Froome's key assistant. Dan Martin was also involved in the Richie Porte crash and lost valuable time. I think it's down to a 2 man race between Fabio Arum and Chris Froome. Arum trails Froome by a mere 18 seconds.
I think Aru at 5/1 at this stage of the race has good value. 18/1 was available on Aru BEFORE the start of the Tour. However most of Chris Froome's main competitors are out of race or too far behind. I see Fabio Aru as the only cyclist left that poses much of a threat to Chris Froome. I only see 3/1 available in Vegas on Aru. JMHO
