Chris Froome’s seamless preparations for this year’s Tour De
France continued when he distanced several of his main rivals and took a grip
on the Tour o
f Romandie in yesterday’s time trial, very much a dress rehearsal
for the 33km test on Stage 11, albeit one with more changes in profile compared
to yesterday’s pancake flat test.
It’s actually Australian neo-pro revelation Rohan Dennis in
the yellow jersey courtesy of his fantastic effort to finish 5 seconds ahead of
Froome, the same amount of time that he leads him by in the general
classification, that leads – and the best of congratulations towards him for
doing so – but Froome’s position in the general classification sees him enter
the mountains with a large amount of time in hand over the race’s main climbing
talents. Alberto Contador, who is value at 16/1 with William Hill for today’s
stage following his horror day when losing more than 2 minutes to Froome, after
complaining about allergy problems, although clearly suffering on his bike with
a time trial position, lost 2.29 to Froome, Joaquim Rodrgiguez – another who’s
of interest today – lost 3.48, while Alejandro Valverde, another potentially
fancied to make a big bid in the Tour De France, along with Jurgen Van Den
Broeck, lost 2.38 to Froome yesterday, meaning that victory hopes for either of
those now looks slim.
Today’s first summit finish, taking place at the Ski summit
of Valmorel (pictured above) is Froome territory all over with 12 kilometres at an average of
7% begging to be ridden at a high speed thanks to domestiques Richie Porte,
David Lopez, Vasil Kirienyka, and Geraint Thomas, all of whom can be judged to
be in fine form given their time trial performances yesterday, while Michael
Rodgers, Benjamin Noval and Sergio Pualinhio will do the same for Contador. It
could well be a case of last man standing, and with Froome too short at 9/4 for
a stage win, an each/way wager on Rodriguez and Contador, who dominated so much
of the Vuleta A Espaana and have targeted this year’s Tour in hope that can prosper
on the more mountainous route than usual.
Advice
1 pt each/way Alberto Contador (16/1 Hills, 14/1 general)
1 pt each/way Joaquim Rodriguez (7/1 general)
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