The Story So Far...
Chris Froome and his Team Sky have made the race their own this year, consistently taking charge of the peloton and dictating the pace and tactics of the journey to Paris. The big contest has been for the minor placings, with Quintana, Nibali, Valverde, Contador, and van Garderen all grinding themselves and their teams into exhaustion in an effort to climb onto the podium.
Stage 17: Digne-les-Bains to Pra Loup
Unfortunately for the popular American, Teejay van Garderen's Tour came to an end on the slopes of the Col d'Allos. Complaining of a severe headache, possibly as a result of minor sunstroke, van Garderen was in obvious pain as he wobbled across the road. He was clearly unwell, unable to ride in a straight line let alone defend his position of third in the General Classification. Weeping and distressed, he was forced to abandon the Tour, leaving his BMC team without a leader and without any hope of a stage win before Paris.
At the front end of the race, Giant-Alpecin's Simon Geschke attacked from a large but uncoordinated breakaway, holding his lead down the mountain and up the short final climb to Pra Loup. Andrew Talansky of Cannondale-Garmin gave chase but it was ultimately in vain, with Rigoberto Urán coming in third.
Chris Froome remained in yellow, Nairo Quintana kept a firm hold on second place and his team mate Alessandro Valverde moved up into third courtesy of van Garderen's departure. Geraint Thomas of Team Sky moved up into fourth spot after Alberto Contador crashed on the descent of Allos, losing over two minutes in the process.
Stage 18: Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Young Frenchman Romain Bardet of Ag2r-La Mondiale put on a clinic to display his exquisite descending skills as he streaked clear of a 29-man breakaway as they crested the summit of the Col du Glandon. He carved out a stylish advantage over the group, held his lead over the Lacets de Montvernier and gritted his teeth to hold on over the final 10 kilometres to the line, notching up his maiden Tour victory.
It was a wonderful day for the throngs of French spectators lining the course: Bardet's compatriot Pierre Rolland of Team Europcar set off in pursuit, leaving the rest of the breakaway to fend for themselves. He held them off with ease, making it a French 1-2 ahead of a late-charging Anacona from Team Movistar.
Chris Froome once again withstood multiple attacks to keep a firm grip on the leader's yellow jersey – despite the number of assaults on his lead, and the desperation and ferocity with which they were carried out, the Team Sky leader would not be shaken and kept his 3-and-a-bit-minute lead over Quintana.
Stage 19: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to La Toussuire - Les Sybelles
Defending Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali of Team Astana took out his first stage win of 2015 in controversial circumstances when he attacked leader Chris Froome as he stopped to fix a mechanical problem. Tour etiquette dictates that the leader cannot be attacked during such circumstances, but Nibali spurned tradition and accelerated away as Froome struggled to remove a stone that had become lodged in his rear braking mechanism.
There are two sides to every story, of course, and Nibali denied flatly that he had seen Froome was in trouble.
"Rubbish," the Team Sky leader retorted. "He looked around, saw what had happened to my bike and attacked. It was a cheap shot and pretty poor sportsmanship in my opinion."
Either way, Nibali made the most of it and capitalized on his excellent descending skills by establishing a 50-second advantage down the Croix de Fer, then put another minute into the lead group up the climb to the summit of the Col de Mollard. With Froome and his team of bodyguards focusing on Nibali, Quintana seized the opportunity and launched an attack of his own, getting 30 seconds clear of Froome and maintaining the advantage all the way to the finish line.
While Froome still holds an advantage of two and a half minutes and Nibali's effort, unethical or not, only brings him up to fourth overall, this stage demonstrated that there are indeed a few chinks in the leader's armor. It was very much a case of too little, too late though – if the other contenders had launched co-ordinated, concerted attacks like this earlier in the race then perhaps things may have been different, but as it stands Froome is still firmly entrenched in the lead.
Stage 20: Modane Valfréjus to Alpe d'Huez
The summit of Alpe D'Huez has long been considered the crown jewel of cycling, and it was here that embattled Frenchman Thibault Pinot hit back at BikeRoar and his other critics by carving his name into history with a solo win on the hallowed mountain.
Pinot's 2015 Tour has been erratic at best, punctuated with spectacular tantrums and occasional shortlived flashes of brilliance. On this day, though, he apparently managed to get his prodigious physical talent to align with a rare burst of mental clarity, and he simply rode the legs off his challengers. He finished 18 seconds clear of a late charge from Nairo Quintana, who was in turn 23 seconds ahead of Canadian Ryder Hesjedal.
The race within the race – that is, Froome vs. the other main contenders - came down to a man-against-man showdown, and while Quintana reached the top of l'Alpe d'Huez and gained some time back, Froome held on to his overall lead and will wear the yellow jersey into Paris on Sunday. Quintana's efforts came too late to make him a serious danger. He finished 1:20 ahead of Froome, and gained two seconds in bonuses. The day ended with the Colombian 1:12 down in GC, followed by his teammate Valverde in third at 5:25, Nibali fourth at 8:36 and Contador fifth at 9:48.
The French Alps proved to be as exciting and controversial as ever, adding even more drama to an enthralling Tour. However, it might have been even more captivating had Froome's dominance been challenged a little earlier, and a little more decisively.
On to Paris
General classification after stage 20:
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