Greig Leach

Not quite sure why, but Richie Porte (Ineos-Grenadiers) had a quick bike change at 50 kilometers to go. It was just before the climbing got going in ernest. There didn't seem to be a mechanical so it could have been that he wanted to change to a lighter climbing bike with a different gearing then the bike set up for the early part of the stage. Given how calm and fast the change was, it seemed more planned than a mechanical emergency. Porte did a beautiful job defending his Maillot Jaune that he claimed in stage 7. Spoiler alert, he took the overall win at the end of this stage, with his teammate Geraint Thomas taking the final step of the podium. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) finished second overall, a position he held on the general classication since the stage 3 time trial.