CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE:FOR MOST of the day it was like discovering that the best-selling detective novel you had been given to read consisted of blank pages.

Then, halfway through the final chapter, the words came to blazing life as the Tour de France once again rewarded the patience of its adherents old and new with an incident-packed finale in which Bradley Wiggins hung on to his yellow jersey, saw one of his principal rivals display an unexpected and possibly fatal weakness, crossed the line arm in arm with the other, and received a perhaps unwelcome reminder of the strength of his chief lieutenant.

The day was all set up to be one in which the race leader would be subjected to constant danger. At the end, however, the man who appeared to be in the position to pose the greatest threat to Wiggins’s chances of becoming the first British rider to win the Tour de France was not Cadel Evans or Vincenzo Nibali but Chris Froome, his own compatriot and team-mate.

When Froome staged a sudden attack on the yellow jersey group inside the final 5km, having previously taken over the task of shepherding Wiggins up the last long climb from Michael Rogers and Richie Porte, it seemed a strange decision – unless his team leader went with him, with the aim of gaining more time on his principal opponents in the general classification. But Wiggins failed to accelerate, and within a couple of hundred metres Froome could be seen listening to words coming through his earpiece before ending his solo effort and dropping back to rejoin the yellow jersey. With less than a kilometre to go, when there was no longer a threat of Wiggins losing a significant amount of time, Froome sprinted again, and this time was not restrained by a message in his ear.

On a blindingly sunny day, shady thoughts leapt to the fore. Had Froome, inadvertently or otherwise, exposed Wiggins’ principal weakness when required to accelerate suddenly during a long climb? Dave Brailsford, Sky’s team principal, had no explanation for the double move. In the pre-race briefing Froome had been told that he could attack in the last 500 metres to improve his position in the overall standings. Nothing had been mentioned about an earlier attack. “It certainly wasn’t my instruction,” Brailsford said. “But you can never have enough time on GC.” Froome, he pointed out, had lost almost a minute and a half early in the race and had been working wholeheartedly for Wiggins ever since.

Asked if Froome could be in a position to win the race were he riding for another team, Brailsford replied: “That’s a highly hypothetical question. We’ll never be able to answer it. But we’ve got first and second in the general classification, which is the perfect position to be in.”

Wiggins’ response was more puzzling. Asked about Froome’s first attack, he said: “I was concentrating on my own effort. There was a lot of noise and a lot of things going on on the radio and a bit of confusion about what we were doing at that point.”

A couple of minutes later he was asked again. “I don’t know who called him back,” he said. “My [ear]piece had fallen out.”

“I’ll follow orders at all costs,” the mild-mannered Froome said. “I’m part of a team and I have to do what the team asks me to do. Our plan is to look after Bradley.”

Pressed on why he thought Wiggins’s chance of victory was better than his own, he responded: “He’s just as strong as me, I think, and stronger than me in the time trial.”

Up at the front Pierre Rolland, the admirable young Europcar rider who acted as Thomas Voeckler’s super-domestique last year while also finding time to win the stage to the Alpe d’Huez, was sorting out a group of four with whom to ride to the finish. Robert Kiserlovski, a Croatian rider with Astana, Vasil Kiryienka, a Belarussin with Movistar, and Chris Anker Sorensen, a Dane with Saxo Bank-Tinkoff, were the Frenchman’s companions, until they fell away and he was able to ride in lonely splendour up the final slopes to the ski station at La Toussuire, where he had 55 seconds to enjoy his triumph before the next rider came home.

Local joy was unconfined when that turned out to be Thibaut Pinot, the 22-year-old who is the youngest rider in the race and who, wearing the jersey of FDJ-BigMat, another French team, won the mountain stage to Porrentuy on Sunday.

Pinot had been prominent throughout the closing stages and outsprinted Froome to the line in a further demonstration that an era of almost unrelieved bleakness for France, which began when Hinault won his last Tour in 1985, may be coming to an end.

Guardian Service

ROCHE SLIPS

Nicolas Roche had a tough day yesterday, slipping out of the top 10 after losing contact with the yellow jersey group on the final climb of La Toussuire. As was the case with many other big names, the Ag2r La Mondiale rider didn't ride to his usual level and came home 19th, six minutes and 17 seconds behind stage winner Pierre Rolland (Europcar).

He's now 13th overall, 10 minutes 49 seconds back. Dan Martin was more prominent during the stage, being part of an early break which stayed clear over all of the climbs. He's getting over illness and weakened on the final ascent, but the aggressive ride has boosted his morale for the days ahead. – SHANE STOKES