Greig Leach

The first team that seemed willing (and able) to take on the dominance of Team Sky was Astana. They took control of the reduce peloton the contained all of the contenders and the Maillot Jaune on the climb up the Grand Colombier. They kept up the pressure all of the way up and back down the other side. On the front was the brilliant descender, Vincenzo Nibali. Nibali is both a former winner of the Tour, and a former Italian National Champion. The bulk of the team was driving across the valley floor with their leader, Fabio Aru, tacked onto the rear of the sky blue team. Behind them was the Maillot Jaune on the shoulders of Chris Froome (Sky). He had seen his support reduced to just two team members so he felt that he would need to keep in touch with the Astana train himself. Oddly, Movistar and Nairo Quintana didn't join in the effort, but continued their passivity behind the team of the race leader.