The climbing is now over for the 101st Tour de France, but not before the Italian in yellow captured the last summit finish while adding nearly another two minutes to his lead. Sure, we all know anything can happen yet, though I must say here at the end of stage 18 that overall victory in Paris is looking pretty safely wrapped up. At least the polka dots are set, while the green jersey has once again this year remained on the same single dominant back- and we know whose that is!
Then of course there’s white, for the best young rider, in this case France’s bright rising star. Thibaut Pinot has impressively ascended in all rankings throughout his journey, to now sit in second place behind le maillot jaune. Could France see the GC podium in Paris? Likely. Could France see yellow? Unlikely, as this would require a very unusual and surprising seven minutes.
Now heading into the final three days of Le Tour, more now than ever, Vincenzo Nibali will be the champion of the 2014 Tour de France. At the same time, more now than ever– especially with an individual time trial still to come– again, anything can happen yet. Now back to the sprints!
(Photos Courtesy LeTour.fr – ASO)
Ryan R. Sanderson 