Sky keep Wiggins out of danger

ONE DAY soon someone will come up with a statistic telling us what proportion of the 2012 Tour de France has been occupied by Team Sky riding en bloc on the front of the peloton.

They were at it again yesterday, all eight of them lining out for long periods and controlling the speed of the bunch during a gently rolling 158.5km stage which proceeded through the ancient principality of Gascony to the foothills of the Pyrenees and was won in a two-up sprint by the French rider Pierrick Fedrigo.

The line of black jerseys makes them a formidable sight, an imposing and even an intimidating one. Bernie Eisel and Christian Knees do the heavy lifting in the early stages, Michael Rogers and Richie Porte take over later on, Edvald Boasson Hagen is ready for a lead-out, Chris Froome shadows Bradley Wiggins and – although this is a machine with only one real objective, which is to put Wiggins on the top step of the podium in Paris – Mark Cavendish awaits his chance in a sprint.

Wiggins’s yellow jersey and the white ones of Cavendish, the world champion, and Boasson Hagen, the Norwegian champion, relieve the sombre impression a little but, although the uniform is a handsome and stylish one, particularly by the standards of modern pro racing, it is among the factors that have made them hard for neutrals to love. Along with the giant black bus and the black Jaguar team cars, a row of black-clad riders on the front of the race evokes the memory, not necessarily a happy one, of Lance Armstrong’s years of bullying dominance.

If the question of the black uniforms seems a small thing, it is not. As a visual statement of intent, the livery was chosen with as much care as the team put into their tactics. An adjustment to the colour scheme might make them seem more human and approachable, although it must be said that Wiggins’s television interviews in excellent French and his role in ensuring Cadel Evans did not suffer from Sunday’s unhappy episode on the Mur de Peguere have helped to soften the unyielding impression.

For most of this year’s race Sky’s tactic has been aimed at setting a tempo high enough to discourage attacks by riders who might pose a threat to Wiggins. Yesterday, however, it was more like an expression of a non-aggression pact, once the peloton had agreed to allow a six-man break to go clear before half-distance.

Three French riders – Fedrigo of FDJ-BigMat, Thomas Voeckler of Europcar and Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis – were joined by Nicky Sorensen, a Dane with Saxo Bank-Tinkoff, Dries Devenyns, a Belgian with Omega Pharma-Quick Step, and Christian Vande Velde, an American with Garmin-Sharp. Since the highest of them in the overall classification was Voeckler, almost an hour adrift of the leader, they were able to go their own sweet way and fight it out in a sprint won comfortably by Fedrigo from Vande Velde after the two had broken clear of their companions with 6km to go.

Fedrigo, who is 33, was winning his fourth Tour stage and making it four for French riders so far in this year’s race.

The break had already formed when the riders entered Bassoues, population 350, where the Frankish army defeated the Saracens in the eighth century. A vast banner of welcome covered the facade of the 43m-high dungeon towering over the village, and the field passed through a medieval wooden hall that straddles the main street. On a relatively relaxed and brilliantly sunny day, in which they were no significant changes to the standings, this was a moment of pure magic such as only the Tour de France can provide.

Today the competitors rest before setting off into the High Pyrenees, where the Aubisque, the Tourmalet and the Peyresourde await tomorrow. “A lot of the riders are tired now, mentally more than physically,” Wiggins said last night. “Since Liege we’ve treated each day as if it was the last one. But we’re in a really good position and we’ll just carry on.”

Guardian Service

ROCHE, MARTIN SOLID

Yesterday was a solid day for Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin, with both finishing in the bunch and keeping their powder dry in advance of the crucial final stages. Roche finished towards the front of the peloton, in 26th, with Martin further back but reporting his legs felt very strong.

Both riders are looking forward to today's rest day, then to performing strongly in the Pyrenees. They will have different goals there, with Roche, who is 13th overall, wanting to climb strongly and move back into the top 10 and then hold on in the final time trial. Martin is staking everything on an impressive individual stage performance. – SHANE STOKES

STAGE 15: Samatan to Pau, 158.5kms

1 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 3hrs 40mins 15secs, 2 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Sharp at same time, 3 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar at 0.12 secs, 4 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank at same time, 5 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep at 0.21, 6 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne at 1min 8 secs, 7 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team at 11.50, 8 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp at same time, 9 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale at same time, 10 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team at same time.

Irish: 26 Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) at 11 mins 50 secs; 136 Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) at 11 mins 50 secs.

General classification

1 Bradley Wiggins (Brit) Sky Procycling 68hrs 33mins 21secs, 2 Christopher Froome (Brit) Sky Procycling at 2mins 5secs, 3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 2.23, 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team at 3.19, 5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team at 4.48, 6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan at 6.15, 7 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team at 6.57, 8 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team at 7.30, 9 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar at 8.31, 10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat at 8.51.

Irish: 13 Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) at 10 mins 49 secs; 65 Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) at 1hr 20mins 39secs.

Mountains

1 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana 69pts, 2 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Europcar 55, 3 Chris Sorensen (Den) Saxo Bank 39, 4 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Europcar 37, 5 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre 33, 6 Chris Froome (Brit) Team Sky 32.

Points

1 Peter Sagan (Slo) Liquigas 356pts, 2 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto 254, 3 Matthew Goss (Aus) Orica 203, 4 Mark Cavendish (Brit) Team Sky 130, 5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky 127, 6 Bradley Wiggins (Brit) Team Sky 105.

Teams

1 RadioShack (Lux) 205hrs 52mins 34secs, 2 Team Sky (Brit) at 12 mins 38secs, 3 BMC Racing (US) at 17mins 46secs.

Rest day today

Wednesday– Stage 16, Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon, 197kms.