The Tour de France: Stages Seven and Eight

Stages seven and eight were very different beasts from each other. Stage seven was classified as a medium mountains stage and so there was a question mark over whether the sprinters would get to the finish in order to contest the sprint. In the end, it turned out that the hills were just too much for many of the pure sprinters, such as Cavendish and Greipel. However, some sprinters did make it over the climbs and it was Peter Sagan who finally managed to get the win, after coming second so many times, thus strengthening his hold on the green jersey. He finished ahead of John Degenkolb, who is known as a sprinter who can get over climbs in a similar manner to Sagan. Daryl Impey also managed to finish in the front group, thus keeping hold of the yellow jersey.

Stage eight, on the other hand, was a high mountains stage and gave the GC contenders an opportunity to stretch their legs for the first time in the race. Rather surprisingly, it was Quintana who made the first move, putting in an early attack with about 40km to go. It was Team Sky that were at the front, but there was no sense of panic, as they kept to a tempo, as they are known for doing so well. Although Quintana was going well, he was ultimately brought back, as Peter Kennaugh and Richie Porte kept the pace high for their team leader, Chris Froome. Indeed, the pace was so high that many high-profile GC contenders were dropped, including Cadel Evans and his team-mate Tejay van Garderen. Eventually, even Contador began to suffer.

It must have been disheartening for all the riders, as they watched Chris Froome ride off the front so that he could put even more time into his rivals. Porte stayed behind and kept an eye on things, but decided he had enough gas in the tank to push on, so that whilst Chris Froome took the stage victory and, in the process, the yellow jersey, Porte was able to finish second, 51 seconds down. He was followed by Valverde who was 1.08 minutes down on the winner, Mollema who was 1.10 down and Ten Dam who was 1.16 down. Contador crossed the line in eighth place, 1.45 down on Froome's time.

Of course now it is up to Sky to control the race, but it's a position they're used to and seem comfortable with. Unfortuately, this doesn't bode well for the other teams and unless something unexpected happens, it is hard to imagine Froome being dislodged from top of the GC, even though there are still two weeks left of the race. If other riders don't find a way to challenge Sky's dominance, this could turn out to be a rather boring affair, as it would appear that everyone is now basically riding for third place and the lower placings.