Sentence:  There was the <WSD>sternness</WSD> of an old-fashioned Tour "patron" in his rebuke to the young Frenchman Pierre Rolland, the only one to ride away from the peloton and seize the opportunity for a lone attack before being absorbed back into the bunch, where he was received with coolness. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The state or quality of being stern.