I think this has been one of the great tours.
It was so close for so long, not because nobody was attacking, which they did relentlessly on some stages, but because all of the GC riders were so closely matched. Take Dan Martin, for example; he was arguably in the form of his life – this wasn’t by accident, nor was Ritchie Porte’s phenomenol strength. They’ve all identified what it actually takes to beat Froome.
Teams have clearly taken a step up and in some ways mimicked the formula used by Sky. Froome & Sky knew this was coming so have approached his periodisation differently to years gone by. Coupled with the calibre of riders such as Kwiatlowski acting as domestiques then you can see how hard they’ve worked to take yellow this year.
My biggest observation though is how Froome has developed as a professional; his bike handling (particularly his descending) has vastly improved. Again, this isn’t by happy chance – look at Bardet; his descending is simply awesome, generally matched only by Valverde. Now look at the profile of this year’s tour – it seemed designed for Bardet. Let’s not underestimate just how much the French want a French tour winner – I don’t think this has escaped Froome & Sky, hence we saw a striking improvement in Froome’s downhill ability.
Absolutely great tour – loved it & now slavering at the thought of this year’s Vuelta..!
