Froome will win his 4th. The tour has become boring lately.

I am not so confident as you are HN. Froome lost his #2 with a broken collarbone and some of the others are sensing this vulnerability, IMO. With Porte out, how will the other teams respond? Collaboratively or cut throat by team? Astana has Aru plus Fuglsang, but the Cannondale team, could they get Talansky to pull for Uran?
Contador looks out of gas so I don't look for him to do much.
It may be that Team Sky has the overall depth to keep Froome in yellow, but those mountains can certainly keep things interesting.

Contador just needs a big juicy steak to turn his Tour around.

Oof. Tough stage. Even lost a few riders including Demare due to the time cut. MAYBE Aru can go on another attack on stage 18 or something and grab the yellow jersey. But it won't matter because Froome is going to shred everyone in the stage 20 ITT. Yellow #4. Give it to him.

The true climbers always look a little gaunt towards the final week, but doesn't it seem a little early to be gassed? I say that with nothing but admiration for that climb today. Looked brutal.

Aru should have kept up his attack. It's a BS gentlemen's agreement but it's one sided. Groomed didn't slow down when Rigo was having issues with his derailer! Or when Martin got taken out by Porte.

He was put into a bad situation not of his own doing. What's the difference between that and a mechanical?

The real issue is Bardet should have pushed to get 3rd and the time bonus instead of letting Froone get it.

I don't want Froome to win more because if Team Sky. I actually like him as a rider and how he always works for those little extra time here and there.

Astana pulled Froome all the way up to Bardet and couldn't even get one of their riders in the top 3 and prevent Froome from getting the time bonus

Does BMC go full mercenary and help Astana or Quick-Step control the pace against Team Sky? There were some "Hills Have Eyes" looking spectators during portions of the climb. The guy slowly walking across the road filming with his iPad as the peloton approached should have been punched.

JCRiley09 said:

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Astana pulled Froome all the way up to Bardet and couldn't even get one of their riders in the top 3 and prevent Froome from getting the time bonus

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yep. just awful tactics by Astana.

pete_claw98 said:

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Aru should have kept up his attack. It's a BS gentlemen's agreement but it's one sided. Groomed didn't slow down when Rigo was having issues with his derailer! Or when Martin got taken out by Porte.

He was put into a bad situation not of his own doing. What's the difference between that and a mechanical?

The real issue is Bardet should have pushed to get 3rd and the time bonus instead of letting Froone get it.

I don't want Froome to win more because if Team Sky. I actually like him as a rider and how he always works for those little extra time here and there.

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i kind of thought the same thing. no one slowed down to let Martin catch up right after Martin and Porte slowed Aru and Quintana due to Froome's mechanical.

^^ I also was wondering why they didn't slow up. I don't follow cycling as closely for other races so am unfamiliar with protocol for certain situations. Purely speculating, but if the others were ahead as the crash happened, one would think that eventually the team cars would've radioed that Martin was trying to catch up. I did think I heard Rolle mention that Martin had another mishap after he went down the road a bit? It is like they said "Sc*** it, we're going to close the gap on Barguil" and left Martin to catch up or get left. The fact that he did may have left him a little salty w/regards to that or they all got it sorted out and there is no drama after all. Martin seems like a good sort and tough as nails. I'm fairly certain he has left more skin cells on French roads than most.

Wonder how the sprints will be over the next few days without Sagan, Demare and Cavendish. All Kittel?

Welp, all Kittel. Have to agree with the announcers--why did Lotto do all the work chasing the two breakaway riders? Seemed like it conceded all to Kittel. His strength is impressive.

Tour jury craps the bed again. Bouhanni punched another rider and only receives a 1 minute penalty plus a fine (about $207). Of course he's French.

Video:
https://streamable.com/wn2vd

Article:
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/nacer-bouhanni-handed-fine-time-deduction-tour-de-france-disqualification-apparent-punch-video-341267

If it wasn't for the scenery, this stage today is ho hum. The Director may have had something or someone else in mind when he set it up, but not enough variety in the middle stages, IMO. The sprints are exciting, I get that, and the Tour is a business as well, but like several of you have pointed out, the losss of key riders has the potential to be predictable.

JCRiley09 said:

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Tour jury craps the bed again. Bouhanni punched another rider and only receives a 1 minute penalty plus a fine (about $207). Of course he's French.

Video:
https://streamable.com/wn2vd

Article:
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/nacer-bouhanni-handed-fine-time-deduction-tour-de-france-disqualification-apparent-punch-video-341267

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Not only hit him, but absolutely cut off another ride later on. IMO, he shouldn't be DQ'd but penalized more heavily. But give the Sagan penalty, yeah, this was worse and he should be tossed.

And evidently, he's an ass and no one likes him. I'm surprised there's not some backroad "justice"...

He seems very hot headed. He was the highest placing French sprinter in Stage 11, would like to see fans support riders who behave more sporting regardless of their country of origins.

Apparently there was a crash in the feedzone today and another rider withdrew. Believe it was an Astana rider? Bad for Aru then.

Oh, and Kittel gets #5. Going for 8?

Edit, I guess there were several crashes, not Porte level incidents thank heavens.

Lance's Stages podcast is greatness.

Tomorrow(stage 12) could have some attacks. Pyrenees with some sizable ascents plus a descent that may favor Bardet. Can't recall if AG2R has enough people to help, but I think so.
Aru will have an injured Foglsang (wrist) but that will probably not be that big a deal(?)
This may be where Froome will miss Thomas and even his friend/rival Porte. I don't know if Sky has anyone able to chase down multiple breaks so that may be a factor if Froome has to go after them. Stage 13 will have mountains too so if a rider gets overwhelmingly fatigued, then it may come down to how much time each GC guy can gain/lose.
I am watching for the Kiwi, George Bennett to see if he is able to get anything going. He has been getting better each year, but I'm not certain his team will give him the green light to try anything or if the leaders will squash any attempt.

Nairo just absolutely melted down today. He's about a minute back from the lead group. Froome and Aru missed a turn and peloton SAT UP. I get not attacking because Froome still had 4 teammates with him in the group but why the **** would you sit up???

I thought all the contenders rode weak this whole stage and then they prove me wrong in the last 300 m. Incredible. Aru needs way more time though if he's going to survive the ITT at the end

BigCat mentioned Quintana and the Giro and that seems to be the way it's going for the Columbian.
As far as that lead group and waiting, I had to step out and missed part of the broadcast so will try and catch it, but was it the whole peloton or the lead group of ten? The lead group had a lot of Team Sky riders so they would wait naturally, but Bardet and the others could've gone I suppose. And Georgie! Tried to break away but a little too early. Good for him. Congrats to Aru & Bardet though, they will be watching tomorrow to gain time.
As it were, that last hill--whew, I think my legs are shot just watching. Love hills, absolutely love them.

I wonder how much time those guys would have put in froome if they attacked at the base of that last climb. A 1km effort to the top.

I guess the advantage for froome always looking beat is that you can't tell when he's actually beat.

I guess we'll never know. He cracked, but would they have been able to hang on themselves? That was a serious stretch. Even Dan Martin couldn't pull it together. He may have still had aches and pains from the crash w/Porte, but it was his chance to gain some time back.
Did Aru wait since he had no help? Jakob dropping off the back was a blow, how is the rest of Astana? Can they hold off Sky et al?

They could probably hold off Sky but that's not the issue. Aru needs to get a lead of at least a minute going into the ITT of stage 20. Froome can make up 1-2 minutes there and that's how Nairo was caught by TDM in the Giro. Tomorrow will be a good indicator of what Sky's plan is for the rest of the tour.

I hope tomorrow shakes out to be exciting. If no one attacks, I will be shaking my head. No one should be feeling tip top so just grit it out and go for it. ( easier said than done, but go big or go back to training wheels) Otherwise I'm going to be sitting there missing Alpe d'Huez & the Col du Tourmalet.
Although, 18/19 may sort things even more. ...

I'm a Tour newb. Why no sprinters like Kittel today?

rasher said:

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I'm a Tour newb. Why no sprinters like Kittel today?

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They competed super early in the intermediate sprint - which is a point the organization places in the middle of the race for the green jersey contenders to get additional points. If I remember correctly, Kittel and Michael Matthews finished 1, 2 or maybe reverse of that. But those sprinters tend to weigh many pounds more than the climbers and general classification contenders; their bodies are just not designed for the massive efforts going up hill. If you look at the yellow jersey standings right now, you'll see that these guys are hours behind Aru and Froome. This is because on stages like today (very mountainous), they come in well behind the overall contenders.

Awesome explanation, thanks!

Great explanation, JC. The announcers were talking about Kittel today when he went with the early break. I think they said he weighs 195 pounds. One of my children is built like the GC riders: 5' 9ish and weighs 114 pounds. Each have their strengths....

Sorry for double post...

JC, you called it earlier about the jury and incompetency-- they handed out two time penalties of 20 sec apiece to R. Uran and G. Bennett for taking on items outside of the feed zone but didn't penalize Bardet who did the same. If I understood it correctly, The rules prohibit taking on items a certain distance prior to finish but it was extended today due to the heat. Uran accepted a bottle but his team said it was from a fan (not against the rules) and I don't know about Bennett but Bardet was captured on film as doing the same out of the zone and not penalized. It doesn't affect their placement but does place them further behind the podium.

I hope they take that as inspiration to get mad and get even by attacking attacking attacking.

Bardet is never going to get penalized in the TdF....he's French.

Oh, I realize that; it's not like I expect him to volunteer to hand over twenty seconds or anything. I actually kinda like him and remember when he won his very first TDF stage. I guess I was naive enough to think the UCI wouldn't be quite so, pardon the expression, 'figure skating' judge about it.

I saw sky take bags at a weird time. I may be mistaken. Probably no penalty for them.

I wish Talansky would re-appear and go for a stage win tomorrow in the break so that an American can ruin Bastille day. But I guess he has to give his terrible effort at supporting Uran through the first 100 meters of the mountains.

Same with Nathan(?) Brown. He had an okay stage today, but will have to pull with the team I suppose.

Holy crap today is exciting. Landa in virtual yellow going up last climb. Froome looks spent. Aru has no teammates. Quintana and Kwiato attacking. Contador in a breakaway with Landa.