Look out for a strong first break. The fact Froome showed some vulnerability today means lots of teams will know Sky won't favour a fast tempo all day long, so there's a good chance of the break being allowed away. If we see a couple of Bahrain, Катюша or Trek riders on the move, we'll know something's afoot. Sky have been defending the lead for two weeks (let's not forget that's part of people's frustration too - they led the Tour from stage 5 to the end bar two stages and have led the Vuelta from stage 3, and even today the team was strong, not exhausted from that constant duty like the doms often are, take Purito's lieutenants in 2012 in the similar stage) and the last thing they want is a day-long high-speed chase with Angliru looming large. Wily veterans in the péloton know how to deal, too. I have a chaque there might be some mercenaries out there in the next few days, both riding bikes and driving cars. It's the kind of thing Leonardo Piepoli used to love. I wouldn't be surprised if Unzué is open for business tomorrow. Plenty of riders capable of making an impact, nobody worth paying any mind on GC, no impediment to sticking men up the road, after all they're still after a stage and have dropped out of the lead in the teams classification they are so strangely protective of, so nobody will be surprised to see multiple riders in dark blue trying to sneak into the break tomorrow. And you never know when it could be worth having some favours to call in.
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