In Giro d’Italia champion and Vuelta a Espana runner-up Vincenzo Nibali, Astana undoubtedly boast one of the peloton’s finest riders. But Jakob Fuglsang proved at last year’s Tour de France he is capable of competing for the GC after a well-deserved seventh place overall that promised much for the future. Now, side-by-side, Fuglsang and Nibali are proving are rather effective double act which many of their rival teams would be well-advised to take note of. Twice now, one has launched an attack and the other has counter-attacked just as the race came back together. It is proving difficult for their rival teams to mark them and if they can keep it up they will no doubt soon start reaping the rewards of such an aggressive strategy.

Which gets you thinking what could happen if other teams opted for a similar tactic. Imagine if Chris Froome and Sir Bradley Wiggins worked together to blow races apart for Team Sky, or if Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana were tasked to do so for Movistar. Tinkoff-Saxo, too, could utilise both Alberto Contador and Roman Kreuziger. As the Wiggins-Froome saga rumbled on last year it was questioned whether they could ever jointly lead a team. Nibali and Fuglsang are proving it can be done to great effect, and it will be interesting to see if one of them is rewarded with the maillot jaune. If they are, perhaps the likes of Team Sky should take note.