Pierrick Fédrigo Crosses The Line Comfortably In the 15TH Stage Of Tour De France.“We are first and second on GC so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out,” was Wiggins’ reply when quizzed about the danger Froome would pose if riding for another team.“He’s my team-mate and we’ll keep it like that. There’s gaps and even if we’re both in a good condition it’s not done yet.”Froome, meanwhile, offered timely assurance of his total support this week and also distanced himself from the interview in L’Equipe at the weekend which suggested, among other things, that he would expect support from Wiggins in next year’s Tour de France in return for his assistance this year.“Relations within the team are fine,” said Froome, who is 2 min 5 sec behind Wiggins. “There were a lot of things taken out of context there. There is no bad blood in the team. We are still here with the same goal. Nothing wrong with that.”The duo’s comments came after a quiet day when the peloton decided, after an hour of flexing its muscles, not to manufacture a sprint finish on a much tougher stage than anticipated. All the general classification contenders arrived safely in Pau with Pierrick Fedrigo, a winner here two years ago, beating Christian Vandevelde, the duo being nearly 12 minutes ahead of the bunch.The riders will rest today before the anticipated fireworks in the Pyrenees tomorrow and Thursday, especially the latter, which features a mountain top finish at the Ski station at Peyragudes.Paris is still a world away, well 458 miles to be precise.Wiggins , having garnered three Olympic gold medals and six World Championship titles on the track and more recently a clutch of top road races by religiously dealing with the present rather than the future, is determined not to get diverted by endless debates on hypothetical scenarios, much as it occupies the world’s media and indeed many cycling fans.To that end he will take a first glance at tomorrow’s massive stage from Pau to Bagnères-de-Luchon, with 4,687 metres of climbing, after dinner today.“I haven’t really looked at the two stages yet but I will,” said Wiggins yesterday after his eighth consecutive day in the yellow jersey. “If you look too far ahead you forget what’s in front of you.“It’s my way of dealing with everything, it never seems so vast that way. I won’t look at Thursday’s stage until Wednesday night. Since the first day in Liege we have treated each day as if it was the last one.“A lot of riders are tired now, mentally more than physically, but we’re in a really good position and we’ll just carry on. It was hard today, there was over 2,000 metres of climbing in 150km and it was very hot. “Meanwhile, there were warm words of encouragement, and thanks from Wiggins for Mark Cavendish, who has taken a back seat on this Tour with just one stage win while the Sky team ride for their leader.The world champion might perhaps have hoped for a burn up yesterday although ultimately the terrain, and the race position, dictated otherwise. As he tweeted himself: “Even a realist can dream.”“Mark has been fantastic these last 2½ weeks,” said Wiggins. “He’s been so committed to my cause – to the yellow jersey – and he’s a great champion and a great friend. Obviously there is still the stage to Paris for him and we are going to lay it down in Paris for him and try and get him the win there.“He’s also got the Olympic road race which he’s been quite open about, that’s his main objective this year, so it’s a shame that he hasn’t had the chance to race for more stage wins but in the end we’ve got a difficult task on our hands to try and win the yellow jersey. So far, he’s played a big part in that.“We’ve seen him going back for bottles and yesterday he tried really hard to get over that first climb with us... he’s also been an absolute gentleman this week.”As well as the sprint stage at the Champs-Elysées on Sunday the run into Brive on Friday could also see the quick men in action and Cavendish would certainly welcome a chance to blow the cobwebs out before that Olympic road race a week on Saturday when it will be his turn to take centre stage.By the sound of it Wiggins will bury himself for Cavendish in London, regardless of his own time-trial ambitions a few days later.
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