Jarlinson Pantano wins stage 15

A Colombian, who has a champion-sounding name, raised his hand in victory today, but it was not that Colombian.

Jarlinson Pantano, 27 years old, won in a two-up sprint against the new Polka-dot jersey wearer Rafal Majka. Pantano didn’t give up easily, and after getting dropped on the last climb, made a fast descent to catch a fading Majka.

Pantano gave Colombia something to cheer about, but his compatriot, and number 1 challenger to yellow jersey Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, was simply content to hide behind the skirt of the Maillot Jaune. Is there something wrong with Quintana? Does he have health issues?

Well, four of the last six stages are classified as climbing stages. Two of the four are mountain finishes, one a downhill finish and the other is a mountain time-trial. In all four, Froome is equal to or better then Quintana. If there is a Quintana uprising in the four stages, then it should be in the two altitude finish.

In the past two weeks, Froome has been providing the excitement –the daredevil downhill attack, the attack with Peter Sagan and the Forrest Gump imitation after he crashed and broke his bike. As for Quintana, all he did was complain about the dangerous route (you are a pro cyclist, not a chess player!) and did two timid attacks that was covered easily by Froome’s teammates.

Two former Grand Tour winners, Greg Lemond and Sean Kelly, believed that the riders in the top 10 behind Froome are simply content in keeping their positions until Paris. Only Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema have tried to ride against Froome.

Tour notes

Tejay Van Garderen and Rui Costa should return part of their salary to BMC and Lampre, respectively. Both should stop fooling their fans and their sponsors that they’ll contend for the yellow jersey. Both has the capability to win a seven-day stage races but for a Grand Tour, no way. They should do a Nicolas Roche or a Michael Rogers, which is to sign for team SKY and ride as a super-domestique for Chris Froome. Also, Van Garderen’s target right now should be to help teammate Porte to get into the podium instead trying to maintain his top 20 position. He owes it to Andy Rihs, the team owner who put faith in him all these years.