Chris sits pretty
CHRIS FROOME is still firmly in the fight for the Tour de France after mounting a solid recovery yesterday from his shock loss of the race lead.
The Team Sky leader finished eighth on a short but tough Pyrenean stage and said he felt in much better shape than when he gave up the Yellow Jersey to Fabio Aru on Thursday.
Froome even put in two probing attacks on the steepest part of the final climb, the Mur de Peguere, that instantly brought Aru loping out of the pack in hot pursuit.
The Briton remains just six seconds behind Aru overall with everything to play for in the Alps next week.
“It was actually a great feeling to just go out there and race for the win,” said Froome. “It felt quite nice to have the shoe on the other foot.
“Yesterday was a difficult day but today I felt a lot better and we played a good strategic game with our team.”
On Thursday Froome’s Spanish team-mate Mikel Landa was criticised by Sky’s sports director Nicolas Portal for failing to wait for the Briton, who struggled on the final climb.
Yesterday it was a different story. Landa charged out after early attacker Alberto Contador and, while protecting Froome by ensuring that Contador’s move did not gain too much time, he improved his own position overall.
Landa finished fourth on the stage and his handy time gain of two minutes meant he moved up to fifth overall, 69 seconds behind Aru. The Italian race leader has barely had a moment to enjoy a day in yellow before he has found himself under increasing pressure from Team Sky.
Aru defended himself and his Astana squad by saying he could not chase down all the attackers such as Landa. “I knew Mikel might try something but I just concentrated on the rivals who were closest to me overall, like Froome,” he said.
“I won’t let him get away with that a second time.”
Froome said: “Mikel was not a long way back overall and he’s gained some important time. Maybe in the next few days we can do the same again.
“He’s a real challenger now and it’s a great card to play, especially when Astana don’t have the numbers to control the race.”
Aru’s depleted backing became clearer when he lost one of his top support riders, Jakob Fuglsang. A brilliant climber who won the Criterium du Dauphine ahead of Froome, Fuglsang bowed out after crashing and breaking his elbow. “He’s a big loss,” said Aru. “We’ll miss him.”
France enjoyed their second stage win in a row as Romain Bardet’s success on Thursday was followed by a triumph for Breton climber Warren Barguil at Foix.
Barguil outpowered three other breakaways, including Landa, to claim a victory for the French on Bastille Day – the first local win on their national holiday for 12 years.
Victory tasted sweeter for Barguil given his narrow defeat by Rigoberto Uran six days earlier.
Barguil then promised Bardet, third overall, his help to win the Tour, despite being on a rival team. “We’ve not had a French winner for such a long time – it would be great news for the country,” he said.
Bardet will have to wait, because the Tour now heads east away from the Pyrenees, and Froome and the rest of the peloton will enjoy four days’ racing on lesschallenging terrain.
Meanwhile, the pressure of leading sits squarely on Aru’s increasingly shakylooking shoulders and, with six riders all within 92 seconds, he has his work cut out.
It felt great to just go out there and race