I, for one, will be a bit pissed off if T $ky throw GT under the bus for Froome.
There has been no sign they will do so. On the contrary, it looks like Thomas is being given every opportunity to win the Tour if he can. I think that will continue and Froome will have to race Thomas if he wants to win. He’ll try that today if he has the legs.
I cannot see the starting grid having an effect on the race. The GC riders aren’t going to sprint and keep going until the Col de Peyresourde is climbed! As likely as not they’ll not even sprint out of the blocks for show. Teams that want to regroup will do so in the first few minutes without difficulty. Of course breakaway riders will be up the road by then, but so what (from the perspective of teams with a GC guy in the hunt).
LottoNL-Jumbo, Movistar, AG2R, or Sunweb will probably try a long-range attack (in about that order of likelihood?), perhaps on the second climb (Col de Val Louron-Azet). It probably won’t work and Sky, Dumoulin, and assorted others will reel it in. If Froome has the legs, I think he’s likely to go early on the Col du Portet when someone like Bardet attacks, in the hope of taking major time on Thomas and Dumoulin if they crack. I reckon he has a good chance of winning the stage but not by enough time to unseat Thomas.
My hope, on the other hand, is that Froome goes on the descent of the Col de Val Louron-Azet and Thomas, Dumoulin, Bardet and others have to make a wild chase.
Dumoulin may do better than expected on these steep climbs. Yesterday’s long and fast but attack-free stage was much easier for a big guy like him than for the pure climbers.