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2015 Tour de France post race: The consolation and redemption edition

July 27, 2015
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The 2015 Tour de France was a good one, especially the final week in the Alps. Nairo Quintana’s eleventh-hour bid to knock Chris Froome out of yellow was the main feature, but there were many sideshows that played out over those four stages. Make no mistake about it: Froome was easier the best rider and deserved his second title, especially after having so much suspicion and bodily fluids propelled at him. There was one worthy winner, but there were several other victories for riders–vindications and consolations.

Quintana’s quest: There was a moment on Alpe d’Huez when you thought he might actually do it, climb like a magnificent eagle to nick the yellow from Chris Froome on the last possible day.

The Colombian lost the Tour de France on Stage 2 in the Netherlands when he got on the wrong side of a crash split, while Froome, Contador, Van Garderen and Uran got on the right side. He lost 1:24 that day and lost the Tour by 1:12.

But it wasn’t just the Dutch Gap that contributed to Quintana’s second runner-up position to the Brit. Froome whipped everyone on Stage 10. Quintana couldn’t crack Froome before stages 19 and 20–nobody could. The fact that the Colombian also came second to Froome in the King of the Mountains classification says volumes.

Twice the best young rider and once the KOM, Nairo Quintana will win the Tour de France. It’s a question of when he’ll again get a course that suits his talents like 2015’s and when Froome isn’t on imperious form.

Other Movistar consolations: Movistar won the team competition, which isn’t surprising considering the outfit had two men on the podium. (Last year’s champion Ag2r was the only team with three riders in the top-20). What is surprising is that Movistar hadn’t taken this prize since it was called Banesto 16-years ago. The only Grand Tour team competition Movistar has carried is the 2010 Vuelta a España’s.

Alejandro Valverde continues to be a major force in cycling. Currently he leads the WorldTour individual standings with Froome right behind him. Sunday marked the first time that Valverde stood on the Tour de France podium, although he has won the Vuelta and made the Spanish Grand Tour’s final steps five other times.

The French: After the high expectations of last season when Jean-Christophe Peraud and Thibaut Pinot ascended the podium and Romain Bardet took 6th, the stark reality of the first half of this year’s race was a shock and disappointment. All three crashed early, lost heaps of time and were out of contention by the first rest day. Pinot’s tantrum on stage 4 seemed to summarize how the French felt.

But Peraud’s courageous bid to finish Stage 13 after a bad, bloody crash seemed to re-energize Bardet and Pinot, even though Peraud himself plummeted in the GC and top-Frenchman Tony Gallopin started his free-fall soon after.

On the day that Pinot and Bardet had the rug pulled out from under them by Steven Cummings in Mende, one could still believe they were snake bit. But Bardet and Pinot’s stage wins in the Alps were both beautiful in their own way–Bardet’s because of the sublime descending that eludes Pinot, and Pinot’s because it seemed like his destiny to win on Alpe d’Huez. Theirs was two of three French stage triumphs.

Bardet finished top-Frenchman in ninth place with Pierre Rolland right behind him, Rolland’s restlessness again propelling him into the top-10 and acting as a resume for when Europcar folds at the end of the season. Pinot came 16th and five Frenchmen were in the top-20, just one fewer than last year after the French Revolution.

The Dutch: The Tour de France hasn’t been kind to the Dutch over the last decade as far as stage wins. In fact, Lars Boom’s victory last season was the first in nine years. In the 2015 edition they were skunked once more. But they can take solace in having two riders in the top-10 for the second year in a row. Neither was particularly active and dynamic, but were always present and consistent.

Robert Gesink’s 6th place is his second Tour top-10 after his Grand Tour career-high of 4th in 2010. The LottoNL-Jumbo’s consistency was phenomenal.

Seventh place Trek rider Bauke Mollema has been in the top-10 of the past three Tours. Valverde and Nibali are the only other fellows who can claim that.

Nibali under fire: The first half of defending champion Vincenzo Nibali’s race has terrible. He was among those caught out by the Dutch Gap on Stage 2, he couldn’t take advantage of Stage 4’s cobbles like he did in 2014 the day Boom won and, while some contenders’ Stage 10 losses to Froome were bad, Nibali’s were wretched.

While Froome suffered the indignity of spit, urine and scorn, Nibali had team director Alexander Vinokourov trying to replace him as protected rider with Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark), who was 1:44 down on the Italian at the time. Everyone wondered what was wrong with the 2014 champion.

But like Quintana, Nibali made his moves in the final week, elbowing his way up the GC and winning Stage 19 with tremendous ascending and descending skill. Valverde, who had been very wary of Contador bumping him off the podium, suddenly had the Shark to worry about.

One of the Fab Four–which will be down to a power trio if Contador indeed retires after next season–Nibali has won all three Grand Tours and placed in the top-10 of the last ten he has raced.

BMC: BMC’s consolation for losing American Tejay Van Garderen to illness when he held third spot was winning three stages. Sammy Sanchez was its top GC man in 12th.

The Sprinters: André Greipel couldn’t win the green jersey in a year when the rules had been changed to favour sprint stage winners, but he did take four victories. Peter Sagan may have come runner-up five times, 3rd twice and 4th thrice, but he did pull on his fourth consecutive Paris green jersey.

Swiss Mis-ter: Mathias Frank (IAM), this year’s Leopold Konig, is the first Swiss rider since Alex Zulle in 1999 to finish in the top-10.

Ryder’s Alpe d’Huez élan: It was another rough start to a Grand Tour for Ryder Hesjedal, one so rocky that he couldn’t pierce the top-10 or even the top-20 with his traditional final week surge as in the last two Giros. But he was present in Alp breakaways, and his attack on Alpe d’Huez from the yellow jersey group was his finest, most dramatic moment of the season.

For a couple of minutes Ryder Hesjedal was leading on the Alpe d’Huez, having clawed his way back to Pinot and distanced the Frenchman. The Canadian would have to grind his way back to the eventually stage winner once more before getting dropped for good on the Dutch Corner. It was the third week fight and courage we’ve come to expect. Ryder would finish 41-seconds away from a legendary victory. His final placing on GC was 40th, remarkably his third best Tour result out of the six he has finished.