GOODBYE MOUNTAINS
Thursday 19 July / Bagnères-de-Luchon to Peyragudes, 144km
ROUTE/ Short, brutal and four big vertical zig-zags to cope with: the Col de Menté, the Col des Ares, the Port de Bales and the 1,603m Col de Peyresourde. A key day – the final punishing mountain stage – and a climb of more than nine miles to the summit finish.
THE CHALLENGE/ Wiggins must survive only one more day in the Pyrenees where Vincenzo Nibali would try to make the most of his last chance to reduce his lead before the 21 July time trial. ‘Froome service’ very much required.
HOW IT UNFOLDED/ Nibali’s Liquigas team tried to set him up for a last-gasp stage win on the climb towards the finish line at the top of Peyragudes, but the Italian could not maintain pace. Froome and Wiggins, a familiar tight unit now, were left to try to chase down Alejandro Valverde. The Spaniard eventually crossed the line first, 19 seconds ahead of the Team Sky duo, with Wiggins extending his lead over his main rivals.
‘We were talking about Nibali. We knew he was on his limit,’ said Wiggins. ‘The moment we crossed the Peyresourde, I allowed myself to drift and that was the first time I thought maybe I’ve won the Tour. All the way up that last climb my concentration had gone, everything about performance had gone. Chris was egging me on to take more time and I was in another world.’
Wiggins now retains a lead of 2:05 over Froome and 2:41 over Nibali, with no other rider within five minutes of the maillot jeune. With three stages to go – including the time trail and the final stage where, by tradition, the yellow jersey is never attacked – Wiggins and Team Sky had all but closed out the 2102 race. Sportingly he maintained Froome would one day win the Tour. ‘Maybe he is stronger than me in the mountains, but I’m not a true climber. I’m still a rider against the clock who can climb.’
‘Credit to the guys, they did it again,’ said Dave Brailsford. ‘All the work they did to set it up for the two guys at the end was brilliant. Now that the mountains are over we can let out a sigh of relief and look forward. We set out to consolidate the lead and we showed again we are the best team in the race. Unity was really important to us, I’m very proud of that. The closer you are the more you have to lose. It is my job to ensure that tomorrow we’ll be as vigilant as at the start of the Tour.’
STAGE 17 RESULT:
Winner. Alejandro Valverde (Spa); Movistar; 04h 12’ 11”
2. Chris Froome (GB); Team Sky; +19”
3. Bradley Wiggins (GB); Team Sky; +19”
OVERALL STANDINGS:
1. Bradley Wiggins (GB); Team Sky; 78h 28’ 2”
2. Chris Froome (GB); Team Sky; +2:05”
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita); Liguigas; +2:41”
‘Everyone in the team makes sacrifices for the yellow jersey, that’s cycling. It’s our work. I’m 27 and I hope to win the Tour one day. If you had said to me a month before the Tour that with three days to go I would be second. I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m very happy.’
Chris Froome