Froome’s dominance leaves Tour predictable

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FINHAUT-EMOSSON, Switzerland (AFP) — French sports newspaper l’Equipe ran a headline before Wednesday’s 17th stage of the Tour de France that said, “At last the Alps.”

The inference was that the Alps would finally kick some life into a Tour that was becoming increasingly predictable and uneventful.

As it happened, the Alps brought nothing new or exciting to the three-week race which seems to be as good as decided — Sky’s Chris Froome has a third Tour crown all but wrapped up.

Adam Yates of Orica – BikeExchange said as much after the 184.5-kilometer stage through the Swiss Alps.

“Obviously Froome is pretty strong. In my opinion, he’ll be on the top spot of the podium in Paris,” said the 23-year-old Briton.

For the rider lying third overall at 2:53 back to say that with three tough Alpine stages to come spoke volumes about how Froome and his Sky team have strangled the life out of this year’s race.

Froome boasted before the Grand Boucle began that Sky had cobbled together its “strongest Tour team yet.”

And it proved to be anything but bravado, even his assertions that many of his teammates would be team leaders elsewhere.

When the group of favorites reached Wednesday’s final climb, Froome was surrounded by five teammates, hardly anyone else had more than one, and most of them not even …

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