Stage 9 Saint-Giron / Bagnères-de-Bigorre – Hooray for Hollywood

As day two in the Pyrenees dawned the peloton prepared for another gruelling day in the saddle for the 168km stage between Saint-Giron and Bagnères-de-Bigorre.

This was going to be another challenging stage after a day of hard climbing and with more mountains to cross than the number of bidons a domestique can humanly stuff into a jersey.

Froome started the day in yellow after yesterday’s triumph. But it was a different story today with his Sky lieutenants left far behind. Tasmanian team mate Richie Porte, who rode so strongly the day before, was all but left behind in Saint-Giron finishing about the time the rest of the tour was checking in baggage for the flight up north for the rest day and the next stage from Saint-Gildas-de-Bois to Saint-Malo.

The Froome Dog would finish the day in yellow but in the space of less than 24 hours the wheels had seemingly fallen off the Sky train. Team member Kiryienka is out having finished outside the time limit. Cyril Gotye of Oooorpcar was left wondering if this was the Sky team we used to know.

But it was not all gloom and doom. Movistar’s rising star Nairo Quintana had a good day with a top ten finish in the GC. And it seems quite a few of the fans are starting to develop a bit of a Quintana crush for the young Columbian.

At the podium preso Froome failed to show at the allotted time to accept the yellow once more. Reports suggest he had gone to the team bus. We waited...And waited. What was going on? Was this a diva like straight-to-trailer-Hollywood-tanty? Froome did show in the end. We’ll just have to wait for OK! Magazine to reveal the real truth behind his slow-show.

 

 

What really went on in the Froome Dog trailer?

 

With the podiums out of the way, it was time for Le Tour to pack the bags and head for the airport. Being a relatively short domestic flight, a feeding station was set up on the tarmac between the terminal and the plane. Riders grabbed their musette bags whilst trying to avoid any collisions.

Gabriel Gate had popped some Escargots aux Beurre d’herbeset de Noix or snails in walnut butter into the bags. How you get butter from a walnut I don’t know. I always thought it came from cows. Still what’s been a snails paced start Gabs has delivered with a healthy 150g of butter. A good start but he has A LOT of catching up to do.

Before I leave you to enjoy the rest day, here’s a joke that would make Mike Tomalaris proud; Why did the arthroscopic surgeon set up his practice in the mountains in the south of France? Because he likes the peer in knees.