Barguil takes the pass but Froome looks safe
BRIANCON, France: Tour de France leader Chris Froome remained rocksolid on a thrilling Col d’Izoard climb won in audacious fashion by Warren Barguil yesterday, and now looks unstoppable in his bid to claim a fourth title in Paris.
Fans wedged on to the 2360m sunbleached landscape roared Barguil home. He became the fifth Frenchman to win the iconic climb, which had posed the last serious threat to Froome.
It was not the story the home fans craved, though.
They had imagined Romain Bardet leaving Froome in his wake and snatching the yellow jersey on the last day in the Alps.
The AG2R La Mondiale rider did beat Team Sky’s Froome over the line at the end of a 179km stage culminating in a brutal 14km ascent to the lunarlike Izoard summit finish.
But his third place, behind Sunweb’s Barguil and Colombian Darwin Atapuma, only allowed him to shave four seconds off Froome’s 27second lead as the British rider finished just behind in fourth place. Other GC rival Rigoberto Uran was fifth.
Onetime race leader Fabio Aru’s hopes evaporated as he suffered and slipped from fourth to fifth on the leaderboard behind Froome’s strongfinishing teammate Mikel Landa.
‘‘I gave it my all,’’ 2016 runnerup Bardet, who had set out to become France’s first Tour winner since 1985, said. ‘‘I risked everything. I have nothing to regret.’’
After some early wobbles, Froome has looked in control in the Alps and with just today’s straightforward 222km ride south followed by a time trial in Marseille before the ceremonial roll into Paris, he looks armourplated for the third year in a row.
The Briton leads Bardet by 23 seconds and Uran by 29.
‘‘For sure, it would have been amazing to have won on the most iconic climb of the race but my goal is the yellow jersey,’’ Froome said. ‘‘The hardest part of the Tour is behind now . . . but there are still two days of racing, so anything can happen.’’
It was Barguil’s day as he sewed up the polka dot jersey, timing his move to perfection to burst past Atapuma 1.5km from the finish and power to the line.
‘‘I feel like I’ve left the ground and I’m floating above the clouds,’’ an emotional Barguil, who has wrapped up the polka dot jersey, said.
‘‘It’s a dream; it’s unbelievable.’’ Barring a calamity, all that remains now is for Froome to seal the deal with a stage win that has been elusive this year, and it could come around the streets of Marseille tomorrow. — Reuters