Winners
Bradley Wiggins
Almost the perfect start to the Tour de France for the Team Sky. Second behind Cancellara in the prologue meant that Sky did not have to work from the off, but also gave him a head start on the other GC contenders. While occasionally looking slightly isolated on the flat stages earlier in the week, the team rallied around him on stage 7 in a show of strength that allowed Wiggins to take the yellow jersey alongside a stage win for Froome. A reasonably comfortable defence of the jersey on the tricky stage 8 was followed by a dominant time trial performance yesterday, putting 1:43 into Evans, a decent buffer as the race heads into the Alps on Wednesday.
Chris Froome
Had it not been for a puncture on stage 1 that cost him 1:25, Froome would be sitting in second place, comfortably clear of Evans. However, after this setback, I’m sure he will be more than happy with third place overall and a superb stage win to his name at the first rest day.
Peter Sagan
As the focus has shifted to the battle for the yellow jersey over the last few days, it would be easy to forget that three of the eight road stages have been won by a 22 year old Slovakian riding his first Tour de France. Half-expected (but no less impressive) victories on the uphill finishes of stages 1 and 3 were followed by a denial of a third straight win for Andre Greipel, as the Liquigas rider powered round the German. It appears Mark Cavendish should think again it Sagan is not a force in the bunch sprints.
Rein Taaramae
The surprise inclusion in the elite group on La Planche des Belles Filles, the young Estonian has often flattered to deceive in recent years. Although he may be slightly disappointed with a time trial which saw him lose the white jersey to an impressive Tejay Van Garderen, the Cofidis rider will be looking to build on his performance in the Vosges to take the maillot blanc all the way to Paris together with a possible top 10 finish.
Losers
Garmin-Sharp
The American team have enjoyed a miserable first ten days of the Tour. Almost all of the team have been on the floor at some point in the race, and Ryder Hesjedal, Tom Danielson and Robbie Hunter have all been forced to abandon, leaving the team in a similar position to Radioshack after the first week last year. The sole consolation was the combativity award for Zabriskie on stage 6. Dan Martin may look to salvage their Tour with a punt at the polka dot jersey over the next few days.
Frank Schleck
Third last year, the Luxembourger was hoping to put in another challenge for the yellow jersey. However after apparent confusion on La Plance des Belles Filles where he seemed to wait for Fabian Cancellara before being told to ride for himself, and an unsurprisingly poor time trial the following day, he now finds him over 8 minutes down on Wiggins and well out of contention. Stage wins in the Alps and Pyrenees remain a possibility and the only way of salvaging his race.
Tony Martin
A puncture in the prologue arguably cost the world champion a chance of challenging Cancellara for the stage win and the race’s first yellow jersey. This was them followed by more bad luck on stage 1 where a crash resulted in the broken wrist that has obviously affected him all week. Looking uncomfortable on the bike in yesterday’s time trial he suffered yet more bad luck, puncturing in the first few kilometres, but recovering to record a respectable 12th given the circumstances. However, unsurprisingly he abandoned this morning to concentrate on recovering for the Olympics.
Student Cyclist 