Karma for Aru?
The hubbub from Peter Sagan’s Stage 4 DQ has just started to die down, but the Tour was almost hit with a second “polemica” when Fabio Aru attacked during a mechanical issue for Froome – a violation of the unwritten rule not to attack the race leader during a mechanical. As Froome raised his right arm to signal for his team car, Aru, on his wheel, surged ahead, literally under Froome’s armpit, with Nairo Quintana attached.

Froome quickly got a spare bike and chased back on with the help of teammates, but it was Martin and Porte who neutralised Aru’s attack, catching up and motioning to him to cut off the gas. Aru attacked a second time later on but couldn’t get clear.

And maybe Aru paid for it later too. Despite having teammate Jakob Fuglsang in the move and leading him out, Aru couldn’t beat Froome for third in the sprint and missed out on four bonus seconds. Froome now leads him by 18 seconds overall. That might not sound like much, but heading into last year’s first rest day, he was only 16 seconds clear of his closest competitor and went on to win by more than four minutes. The only good thing for Aru? Since it was quickly shut down, perhaps his faux pas will pass quietly.

Time Cut Hits the Sprinters Hard

FDJ’s Arnaud Démare was sick yesterday and barely survived the time cut, but wasn’t so fortunate today. Worse: his FDJ team put three teammates with him to help, in a risky move to try to get him to the race’s first rest day. The gamble didn’t work, and so the French team has lost almost half of its Tour squad on one day.

Also “hors delai” or behind the time cut were Dimension Data’s Mark Renshaw and Quick-Step’s Matteo Trentin. That’s a blow in particular to Quick-Step, as Trentin is the primary leadout for triple-stage winner Marcel Kittel.

In total, 12 riders failed to finish today from crashes or time cuts, making Stage 9 live up to its billing as arguably the hardest stage in this year’s race. There are 181 riders left of 198 original starters.

Being Lilian Calmejane

As the French hate to be reminded, it’s been 32 years since one of their countryman won their national Tour. The yearning for a French Tour hope never fades, and the latest to come under pressure is 24-year-old Lilian Calmejane, winner of Saturday’s Stage 8.

French media was understandably quite pleased with his win. “The little actor of the Tour,” was Liberation’s headline, suggesting he’s “the new Voeckler” and the new boss of his Direct Energie team. Not to be outdone was the French sports daily l’Equipe, which ran the headline “Calmejane: l’ame d’un boss,” or “The soul of a boss.”

Calmejane, who is just in his second pro season, but has already won a stage of the Tour of Spain and now the Tour de France, is trying to tamp down the comparisons. “With my qualities, I’m not the next Bernard Hinault,” he said. Calmejane’s best hope may be that his older countryman, Romain Bardet, second in last year’s Tour and currently third overall, shoulders the brunt of those expectations to allow Calmejane time to grow.

Tweets of the Day

Sometimes the vast machinery that runs the Tour ends up gumming up the gears. In the past it’s been team buses getting stuck under the finish line arch, or inflatable banners falling down on the race (this year, organisers have moved to rigid banners). And sometimes, it’s the publicity caravan. Driving an 18-foot-tall dinosaur over mountain passes ain’t easy and sometimes the wheels fall off. Like today, when a Disney Mickey Mouse float broke down on the Mont du Chat and had to be towed off course (fortunately well before the race arrived).

https://twitter.com/LeGruppetto/status/884032443069739010

Cannondale-Drapac general manager Jonathan Vaughters, pointing out that Rigoberto Uran won a sprint on basically one gear. Uran’s derailleur hanger got bent when Dan Martin’s foot hit it in the crash; Uran asked the Mavic neutral support mechanic to just put it in the 11-tooth cog, the biggest gear on the bike.