After just 10 stages, the two pre-race favorites have crashed out of the Tour de France. And Vincenzo Nibali is wasting little time in showing that he's now the man to beat.
In a solo breakaway, Blel Kadri gave France its first stage winner at the Tour de France in the entree to the Vosges mountains on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Vincent Nibali extended his lead over his biggest rivals except an important one: Two-time champion Alberto Contador, who sped ahead thinking he might win the stage and trying to test the response of the Italian in the yellow jersey.
An injured wrist was just too much for Tour de France champion Chris Froome, in one of the most memorable and crash-marred stages in recent race history.
Froome ended his repeat bid Wednesday, dropping out of cycling's big event and dropping a bombshell on his competitors after crashing twice in a rain-, mud-, sweat- and blood-soaked fifth stage through nerve-wracking cobblestones along France's border with Belgium.
Chris Froome has two hands firmly on the Tour de France trophy. All that remains is for the British rider to raise it above his head before cheering crowds in Paris on Sunday.
Nairo Quintana says cycling's fight against doping has helped him excel at the Tour de France by allowing his intense, high-altitude training to make a difference.
Along with soon-to-be Tour winner Chris Froome, the 23-year-old Colombian climbing sensation emerged Saturday as perhaps the biggest revelation at this 100th Tour.
After five grueling hours of riding, as he strained and sweated to victory in an eye-popping Tour de France stage with crowds that turned cycling's most famous climb into a huge and raucous high-mountain party, Christophe Riblon didn't want it to stop.
Even when he expects to lose, Tour de France champion-in-the-making Chris Froome cannot help but win. He's that strong and he's making it look easy.
On a day when the British rider was planning to save some energy for upcoming mountains, Froome still brushed aside the field and took his third stage win of this 100th Tour.
Hurtling too fast for comfort down a twisty, turning foothill of the Alps, Tour de France leader Chris Froome faced a high-speed choice between risk and reward.
At the Tour de France, it really isn't a cliche to say that every second counts. As a former winner, Cadel Evans knows that better than most.
The 2011 champion was one of the losers Tuesday in the team time trial. Even riding bikes that cost as much as a good second-hand family saloon car, Evans and his teammates still couldn't keep up with two of his main rivals -- Chris Froome and Alberto Contador.