The Pyrenees offered a final chance for Vincenzo Nibali’s rivals to claw back what was proving to be a huge lead for the Italian champion.
However, the third and final mountain range of this year’s Tour served only to put the icing on the cake of an astoundingly good victory.
Each day, as large breakaway groups battled up the road, a separate race unfolded between the GC men.
And each day, Nibali could not be shaken off by his rivals despite repeated attempts at attacking.
The ascent of Pla d’Adet offered perhaps the most striking example of Nibali’s phenomenal skill as a climber.
The yellow jersey group was thinned and thinned on the short but brutal stage – with three category-one ascents en route to the hors categorie summit finish.
Nibali, however, could not be shaken while the likes of Valverde and Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) were dropped.
And as the finish line approached, Nibali suddenly accelerated, with only Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) matching his move.
The day’s break was picked off one by one and, while Rafal Majka celebrated his stage win, Nibali was blasting into third place with a phenomenal show of strength to further stretch his overall lead.
