Dumoulin anticipates change in pace as Tour de France heads for La Rosière
18 July 2018 12:44
The terrain was very different, but the first day of the second part of the 2018 Tour de France proved to be rather like the days that preceded it. After a week in the big ring, the race's entry into the Alps was expected to provoke some degree of separation among the principal favourites, but most took a cautious approach on the road to Le Grand-Bornand on stage 10. During Monday's rest day, Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) had spoken of how "another Tour de France" would begin on stage 10. On Tuesday, he even entertained the notion of attacking, but Team Sky's brisk pace-making on the Col de Romme and the Col de la Colombière – not to mention the block headwind – quickly dispelled the idea. But the race is still young, and there are more arduous battlegrounds to come, and soon.ADVERTISEMENT "It was a very strong tempo that Sky set, and it was a full-on headwind. I think some guys, including me, had the idea of attacking if it was possible, but it really wasn't, actually," Dumoulin said after wheeling to a halt just past the finish line. "You saw when Dan Martin attacked that they immediately closed it down, and I think today was an effort for nothing. But I'm in contention so I'm happy with today." The selection, as is often the case on the Tour's first mountain stage, came at the rear of the group, where Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) were among those distanced.
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