SACRE BOO!
Froome survives bike problem and fans to stay in yellow
CHRIS FROOME was booed in Yellow Jersey rival Romain Bardet’s back yard – but produced a stunning fightback to preserve his lead on the Tour de France. Froome looked like he would lose the leader’s maillot jaune when he suffered a broken spoke around 25 miles from home, moments after Bardet attacked. But Froome’s Polish wingman, Michal Kwiatkowski, saved the day by stopping to help change his back wheel in barely 30 seconds – proving you can’t get quicker than a Kwiat-fit fitter. Then Britain’s three-times champion had to run the gauntlet of boozy fans on the Col de Peyra Taillade giving him the bird, and caught Bardet before he could abscond over the summit, after a lung-bursting effort where he learned “a lot of new words” from the galleries. Sacre bleu! Froome crossed the line with his overnight 18-second lead unscathed, a stupendous effort. Sacre boo! He had no complaints about his reception at the roadside, insisting it all goes with the territory. Sacre chew! And Froome still expects the battle for the Yellow Jersey to be a nail-biter, going right down to next Saturday’s time trial in Marseille. The top four are still separated by just 29 seconds. Shattered Froome said: “There’s never a dull moment on this Tour – I had to change my back wheel and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. “I’m just grateful that Michal stopped to give me his back wheel and my team-mates all dropped back to help pace me back to the group containing my main rivals. “But that was extremely stressful and chaotic – panic stations. I’m just happy to have got through it without any major losses, but I’m going to pass out tonight. I’m knackered!” Froome, who lost the Yellow Jersey to Fabio Aru in the Pyrenees last Thursday but regained it 48 hours later in Rodez, shrugged off his hostile reception from the roadside. In fairness, mere verbals is an improvement on being spat at, having urine chucked over him and a team-mate punched – which was Froome’s lot two years ago. Good old marginal gains, eh? But he was being charitable to les oiks on the Peyra Taillade when he said: “This was Bardet’s home stage, if you like, and it is only to be expected that the crowds would get behind him.” Dutchman Bauke Mollema (below), the strongest of the breakaway riders, who had three top 10 finishes on the Tour, won the 189.5-km stage. Bardet and Aru, who opted to stay in the wheels of the Frenchman’s team mates in the punishing ascent instead of upping the pace to finish Froome off, jumped away on the final climb but were easily reined in. Ireland’s Dan Martin pedalled away on late on to gain 12 seconds on Froome and the other favourites. Martin is now fifth overall, 1:12 off the pace.