Aru’s gamble yields stage win

LA PLANCHE DES BELLES FILLES, France: Fabio Aru claimed his maiden Tour de France win yesterday, as defending champion Chris Froome snatched the yellow jersey he intends to wear all the way back to Paris. Italian champion Aru launched a blistering attack in the final stretches of the fifth stage, jumping away from the leading group with 2.3km of the 5.9km climb left. The 2015 Vuelta champion of the Astana team became the third winner at the top of La Planche des Belles Filles, where Team Sky’s Froome came to prominence in 2012 and Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali prevailed in 2014 when he won the Tour. “I had seen a video of Nibali’s win and I tried to do the same to see what would happen,” said the 27-yearold Aru. “I wanted to test my rivals, I did not have the stage win in mind but obviously it’s a great day.” Ireland’s Dan Martin took second place, 16 seconds behind, while Froome was 20 seconds off the pace in third, with his rival Richie Porte in his tracks. Another top contender, last year’s runner-up Romain Bardet, took fifth place, a further four seconds behind. “When Aru went, I still had teammates (to do the work) so I waited for the others to react. Nobody moved so I thought I had to go to see what I could do,” said Froome. Colombian Nairo Quintana, tipped as one of Froome’s main challengers, finish ninth, 36 seconds back. Froome took the yellow jersey from teammate Geraint Thomas, who could not sustain the pace on the climb’s steepest parts. Overall, three-time champion Froome leads Thomas by 12 seconds with Aru in third a further two seconds behind. He believes he can defend his lead until the last day in Paris. No team has kept the yellow jersey from day one all the way to the finish of the three-week race since Eddy Merckx’s Faemimo-Faema held it throughout. “I’m used to being in that position,” he warned. — Reuters