Greig Leach

As Team Sky pushed hard to the line trying to make up a one second deficit to BMC Pro Cycling, they realized that Nicolas Roche was slipping off of the back of the other four. As I have noted, the time will be taken by the fifth rider, so it was worth it for Chris Froome to go back to Roche, and encourage him to push through the pain for another half of a kilometer. While the fading Roche may have cost the team the stage victory, Sky did finish just one second behind the reigning Champion BMC. The gab was tight enough that it had very little effect on who would next wear the Maillot Jaune. Tinkoff Saxo finished 38 seconds back, so Sagan wouldn't be taking over, nor would the loss of one second to van Garderen force Froome to surrender the prized Yellow Jersey.