This is the way a mountain stage is supposed to go. A bunch of decent riders who are miles behind on the general classification head off up the road. The best climber among them attacks and wins. The favourites roll in a bit later with no major kerfuffle.
Just as it was twice last year, the best climber from the break was Rafal Majka who, I’d almost forgot, was one of five riders I suggested you watch out for this year. I thought he might do a sort of first reserve type support role for Contador this year, but apparently not. He’s basically rehashing his 2014 Tour, which presumably means he’s got another win in him yet.
General classification-wise, the only significant event was Vincenzo Nibali losing a few more seconds – and that’s hardly surprising given the form he appears to be in. I actually wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that he was carrying some sort of low-level virus or something, his performances have been that insipid.
Nibali’s now dropped to eleventh place overall and has been replaced in the top ten by Bauke Mollema who was pretty game today, gaining 10 seconds on everyone at the death.
Stage 12
Shitloads of climbing and a summit finish. Here’s the profile.
Leave a Reply