Froome seizes Tour lead back after Aru falters on climb
Fabio Aru was dropped in the last 500m of Stage 14 of the Tour de France won by Michael Matthews and relinquished the yellow jersey to Chris Froome yesterday.
Aru lost touch with the leaders in the final short, sharp ascent of the Cote de Saint Pierre in the town of Rodez and crossed the line 25 seconds behind Matthews.
It was unclear whether the Italy champion suffered a mechanical problem in the closing stages, or simply made a mistake by riding at the back.
Froome, who trailed Aru by six seconds at the start of the stage in Blagnac, was well positioned at the front and had no problem tackling the final climb. He finished hot on the heels of Matthews.
While the Team Sky train hit the front in the final kilometres, Aru was at the back and did not attack before the peloton split in the climb.
“It’s a beautiful surprise,” Froome said.
He lost his jersey in the Pyrenees after enduring a bad day on the road to the ski station of Peyragudes.
“I need to say thank you to my teammates who rode at the front in the final 10km. In the final climb, we made a big difference on other favourites. Every second counts at this Tour.”
Froome had an 18-second advantage over Aru, who is paying for the weakness of his Astana team, which lost key member Jakon Fuglsang on Saturday after he broke a wrist and elbow.
French rider Romain Bardet, the runner-up to Froome last year, is 23 seconds back from the leader, in third place.
In fourth is Rigoberto Uran, who stuck with Froome on the final climb. He trails the Briton by 29 seconds overall.
Froome could hardly believe he won back so much time and recovered the yellow jersey on a stage that, on paper, didn’t seem set up to pose such difficulties for Aru.
Froome said his teammates played a vital role in keeping him at the front.
In the last frenzied dash, Froome said teammate Michal Kwiatowski was urging him on over their radio system, yelling: “Froomey, go, go, go! There are gaps everywhere!”
Froome remained wary, because the top five were still very close. He said he had always expected this Tour to be open, with its atypical route over all five of France’s mountain ranges, a prediction that is coming true, with just 29 seconds separating the top four.
Matthews, who beat Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet in the sprint to claim his second stage win at the Tour, said he had targeted the stage win all year, and trained specifically for the last climb.
Kiwi George Bennett was 25th and remained 11th overall.