Greig Leach

As this pair climbed the Cote du Rosier, it was Omar Fraile (Astana) looking back to see if anyone else was bridging across. For Tanel Kangert (EF Education First) it was more about the effort of getting over yet another short steep climb. For a break away, it is a delicate balance of numbers, particularly when there is still 60 kilometers to race. You need numbers to help with the work load, but not so many as riders are able to sit on and use their saved energy to beat you to the finish line. For Fraile and Kangert, two was too few.