Fearless Froome powers to victory extending his General Classification lead as well as becoming King of the Mountains
Team Sky's tactic of keeping yellow jersey holder, Chris Froome's legs fresh during saturday's stage paid off tremendously during Sunday's mammouth stage as the race leader pumped and powered his way to a second victory in the 2013 Tour de France.
After a seemingly never ending battle during the last 6km between Froome and young Cambodian rider, Nairo Quintana, the team Sky rider managed to accelerate away from the other rider and with 1km to go there was no stopping the owner of the yellow jersey as he crossed the line 29 seconds ahead of the next rider.
Nobody had the legs to challenge Froome as they pushed their bodies up to the summit of Mont Ventoux in the 15th stage of the Tour. The superb ride from the 2012 Tour runner up allows him to be leading in both the General Classification and the King of the Mountains after finishing 8 minutes ahead of the previous KoM holder. If this was not enough of a feat, Froome increased his lead over Mollema in the GC to 4 minutes and 14 seconds. With Contador finishing 1 minute and 46 seconds behind the leader, the Spaniard's time difference extends to 4 minutes and 25 seconds.
Despite this exceptional time cushion between Froome and his opposition it would be foolish to hand him the 2013 title right now - there is still a lot of work to be done during next week's trek through the Alps. However Froome, as he proved today, is one of the best mountain climber in the Tour and as he proved last week, he isn't too shabby at the odd time trial here and there either. It is difficult to see where his opposition could attack him because it does not look as if the leader has any visible weaknesses. The only danger to Froome is that he becomes isolated which has been a concern for team Sky since last week's uncharacteristic performance by the Sky squad which left Froome unprotected towards the end of the race - something that Sky can not afford to do again. Luckily for Sky, Froome is one of the toughest riders, both mentally and physically, out there and on the mountains teams are not essential - it's everyman for himself.
For the other riders it is now a case of attempting to find ways of climbing up the GC rather than attacking Froome who has an extraordinary lead over the rest of the field. With only three seconds between 4th place, Roman Kreuziger, and third place Alberto Contador as well as only 11 seconds between Contador and Mollema - there is everything to ride for, if not the yellow jersey a podium place.
After a seemingly never ending battle during the last 6km between Froome and young Cambodian rider, Nairo Quintana, the team Sky rider managed to accelerate away from the other rider and with 1km to go there was no stopping the owner of the yellow jersey as he crossed the line 29 seconds ahead of the next rider.
Nobody had the legs to challenge Froome as they pushed their bodies up to the summit of Mont Ventoux in the 15th stage of the Tour. The superb ride from the 2012 Tour runner up allows him to be leading in both the General Classification and the King of the Mountains after finishing 8 minutes ahead of the previous KoM holder. If this was not enough of a feat, Froome increased his lead over Mollema in the GC to 4 minutes and 14 seconds. With Contador finishing 1 minute and 46 seconds behind the leader, the Spaniard's time difference extends to 4 minutes and 25 seconds.
Despite this exceptional time cushion between Froome and his opposition it would be foolish to hand him the 2013 title right now - there is still a lot of work to be done during next week's trek through the Alps. However Froome, as he proved today, is one of the best mountain climber in the Tour and as he proved last week, he isn't too shabby at the odd time trial here and there either. It is difficult to see where his opposition could attack him because it does not look as if the leader has any visible weaknesses. The only danger to Froome is that he becomes isolated which has been a concern for team Sky since last week's uncharacteristic performance by the Sky squad which left Froome unprotected towards the end of the race - something that Sky can not afford to do again. Luckily for Sky, Froome is one of the toughest riders, both mentally and physically, out there and on the mountains teams are not essential - it's everyman for himself.
For the other riders it is now a case of attempting to find ways of climbing up the GC rather than attacking Froome who has an extraordinary lead over the rest of the field. With only three seconds between 4th place, Roman Kreuziger, and third place Alberto Contador as well as only 11 seconds between Contador and Mollema - there is everything to ride for, if not the yellow jersey a podium place.
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