Team Sky had a plan. They wanted to take power on the first mountain day at La Pierre-Saint-Martin but Froome was scared of the first nine days. They were full of pitfalls. The British rider was perfectly escorted by his team-mates through the crosswinds in Zealand where he already took a psychological advantage over defending champion Vincenzo Nibali. The result of the first hilltop finish at Mur de Huy was a strong indication of what would happen next. Froome was the only rider finishing in the same time as stage winner and Flèche wallonne specialist Joaquim Rodriguez. On stage 3, the time gaps between the four favorites were small but very interesting: Nairo Quintana and Nibali were 11 seconds adrift, Alberto Contador was at 18 seconds. That would be the final hierarchy as well, with Alejandro Valverde taking place in the middle of them.
As a mark of respect, Froome opted for not wearing the yellow jersey the day after Tony Martin badly crashed in Le Havre. But he defended it strongly atop Mûr de Bretagne and even better in the team time trial when Tejay van Garderen looked likely to take over. The 102nd Tour de France was designated for a race by handicap. The order of the actors was just different than what many observers expected. Instead of Froome having to make up time because of his supposed-to-be poor handling skills on his bike, at the difference of Nibali with reference to the previous Tour de France, it was him with an advantage at the bottom of the Pyrenees.
Team Sky’s defense of the yellow jersey has been excellent, even though the British outfit showed some weaknesses towards the end of the three-week long effort while Movistar kept their self-confessed “yellow dream” alive till the grand final. Nairo Quintana really attacked at L’Alpe d’Huez and gave Froome’s victory an even better taste because of the fear to lose it all at the very end.
In 2013, Froome exited the Alps with an advantage of 5.03 over Quintana. This time, at L’Alpe d’Huez, he only had 1.12, which was the smallest margin between first and second on GC since 58 seconds put Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans apart in 2008. The foundations of Froome’s victory can be found in stage 2 and stage 3 but as much as it looks like a strong domination by Team Sky at half way into the race, it was indeed pretty tight at the end. As he faced his rivals and the critics with dignity, the Brit entered the club of the multiple winners of the Tour de France the same way he claimed his first yellow jersey two years before, very human indeed.
