The 2015 Tour de France continues to be thrilling. Purito Rodríguez achieved the first Spanish victory of this edition on the Muro de Huy, which he already conquered as the winner of the 2012 Fleche Wallonne. It was the same day that Chris Froome wore the yellow jersey with a slim one-second advantage over Tony Martin, who once again fell just short. Alberto Contador did not have a good day and conceded 18 seconds on the over 20% gradients of the mythical climb. Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana lost 11". There was a terrible crash before that and a hint of a split in the peloton. A complete menu.
The race passed through Meensel-Kiezegem, the hometown of Eddy Merckx, at kilometer 55, which was honored by the Tour de France during its journey through Belgium. Land of great cyclists. Historic champions. The mere mention of Merckx's name already promises a spectacle. And there was. With multiple ingredients.
The race experienced an exceptional event with 59 kilometers to go, a massive crash that occurred at a blistering speed, sending about twenty cyclists to the ground, including the leader Fabian Cancellara. The images confirmed the seriousness of the accident, which forced the Tour's technical direction to make an unusual decision and neutralize the stage. Several cyclists protested vehemently to Christian Prudhomme, especially those from Astana and Movistar, who had been affected by similar incidents the day before. The initial version that circulated was the lack of ambulances: the race could not guarantee the minimum security requirements. Gerrans, Dumoulin, Bonnet, and Kozontchuk were the first to retire... Others, including the yellow jersey, continued injured.
The stage resumed at 50 kilometers, after the peloton passed the first of the four climbs of the day: Bohissau (2.4 km at 5.5%). The calm was broken again as soon as the wind appeared threatening. At 40 km, Alberto Contador's Tinkoff and Vincenzo Nibali's Astana, with Nairo Quintana's Movistar as a guest, initially surprised Chris Froome's Sky, who was 14 seconds behind. The British had to make an extra effort to catch up. Cancellara, in pain, stayed in the second group. Without major casualties, the two groups merged shortly after.
The next climb, Ereffe (2.1 km at 5%), was covered with the only novelty being that Swiss rider Michael Schar obtained the first point of the Mountain Classification in this 2015 Tour. Anecdotal. The real show was yet to come. Tinkoff took the lead on the way to the penultimate difficulty, Chevare (1.4 km at 8.1%), and hardened the pace so much that it sometimes seemed like Contador himself was suffering. The final outcome would confirm that he was not in top form.
And so the moment of truth arrived. The legendary Muro de Huy, cyclist denomination of the Camino de las Capillas: 1,300 meters at 9.6% with ramps of over 20%. Finish of the Fleche Wallonne since 1983 and, for the first time, of the Tour de France. Contador was seen vigilant behind Froome, but he couldn't resist his power output. Ahead, Purito was doing his thing, despite the bruises he suffered in a crash the day before. Only Tony Gallopin initially kept up with him. Then it seemed that Froome could reach his level, but the Catalan held his ground in his most favorable terrain. He is lethal on these slopes. Both were given the same time, allowing the British rider to wear the yellow jersey: the same one he wore on the Champs-Elysees in the 2013 Tour.