Stage 5 Daily Dish: Why Was BMC On the Front?

And other pressing questions, like: does anyone in pro cycling do a better pain face than Fabio Aru?


Joe Lindsey |

And other pressing questions, like: does anyone in pro cycling do a better pain face than Fabio Aru? – By Joe Lindsey

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Did BMC Do It Right?

Team Sky had the yellow jersey entering Stage 5—were 1-2 on GC in fact—and facing the first summit finish of the Tour, on a climb that Chris Froome has won before. So Sky would assume responsibility for chasing the breakaway, right?

The generally unhappy history of teams trying to out-Sky Sky was on many minds today. Cannondale-Drapac general manager Jonathan Vaughters mused on Twitter that BMC was giving Sky a free ride:https://twitter.com/Vaughters/status/882581067970088960At the finish, Porte was on Froome’s wheel at the line, but Froome got third place and the four-second time bonus that comes with it. So for all the work, Porte still conceded four more seconds to his rival. Porte defended the tactic, saying that “As a unit today, BMC racing were the team that made the race,” and that he felt Sky “aren’t quite what they were last year.

”We’re not sure we agree. At the crucial point of the climb, Froome still had four teammates with him (there were three Sky riders in the top 15 on the stage), while Porte was more isolated. Porte is correct to observe that Sky “has plenty of work coming up. They’ve had the jersey since the start and that’s going to take its toll.” But doing Sky’s work for them on one of the few genuine mountain stages in the race? Seems to us like a good way to lose the Tour.

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Faces of Aru

The rider who did win, Astana’s Fabio Aru, is looking more and more like a fashionable dark-horse pick. Aru was quiet much of the spring recovering from knee trouble, but his form has been on an almost parabolic trajectory since June. If you’re looking for an omen, here’s some obscure trivia: Aru won on Belles Filles wearing the tricolore jersey of Italian national champion. In 2014, Vincenzo Nibali won the same stage in the same jersey, and went on to win the Tour overall.

Whatever happens by Paris, Aru’s win is something we’re happy to see, if only because Aru has some of the best “pain faces” in cycling. Yes: plural. Where most riders have only one look when they’re on the limit, Aru’s wide-mouth grimace and expressive eyebrows give him some pretty incredible range. There’s no better place to enjoy them than the Instagram account @facesofaru, where you see Aru with doppelgangers like Jerry Seinfeld (smiling Aru); crying LeBron James (crying Aru); Agent Smith from the Matrix (maniacal Aru) and even Prince (emo Aru). With the way Aru’s riding, we’ll get to enjoy more, to be sure.

Isn’t Alberto Contador a little old for Best Young Rider?

Teams at the Tour have traditionally avoided jersey designs that confuse with the yellow race leader’s top. The old ONCE team annually switched from its primarily yellow jersey to a pink one for the Tour. And LottoNL-Jumbo swapped from a mostly yellow jersey with black shoulders to a black jersey with yellow shoulders this year.

So it was a bit of a bummer to see Sky and Trek-Segafredo both roll out predominantly white jerseys for the Tour. Both kits are ordinarily dominated by black. Of course, white kits reflect more of July’s heat, but it does make for some confusion about who’s where on the road: is it Froome or best young rider Simon Yates of Orica-Scott? Is that Louis Meintjes of UAE, or Alberto Contador, who is nine years his senior and not really eligible for the best young rider competition?

We get it: black is hot in July. Maybe consider that in October when you’re designing your kit for the coming year.

Sagz/Cav Denoument

We’ll leave yesterday’s controversy over the sprint crash and Peter Sagan’s subsequent disqualification behind soon, but it’s still a topic of hot debate. Retired sprinters and former green jersey winners Baden Cooke and Robbie McEwen all questioned whether the crash merited a full DQ versus a relegation and loss of points. Within the race, 11-time stage winner Andre Greipel agreed with that assessment, but Michael Matthews of Sunweb said it shows the jury will take a tough decision no matter who’s involved, and Quick-Step’s Marcel Kittel told VeloNews it was “a wake-up call.”

Whatever the case, Sagan is now off on two weeks’ vacation and is at best resigned to it. “I can only accept the decision of the jury, but I disagree,” he said outside his team hotel this morning as the final confirmation came that there would be no reconsideration by the UCI.

Quote of the Day:
“When I am well, I will attack.” Aru, on Twitter

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