Froome now hitting peak
CHRIS FROOME stayed 100 per cent locked on target for another Tour de France victory as the Sky rider kept his rivals at bay in the race’s last summit finish yesterday.
Froome concluded a stout defence of his Yellow Jersey on the interminable ascent of the final Col d’Izoard climb, capturing a solid fourth place behind solo breakaway specialist Warren Barguil of France.
The only very minor dent to Froome’s lead came courtesy of another Frenchman, Romain Bardet, who claimed a foursecond time bonus and is now only 23 seconds back overall.
But with tomorrow’s time trial in Marseille very much in Froome’s favour, the Briton is now well within touching distance of his fourth Tour title in five years.
“I’m happy to have got through the Alps without a problem,” said the 32-year-old. “It was a very, very hard stage with the climb to the finish, and the Alps have always been more difficult for me.”
As the Tour crossed the bleak, grey moonscape of the upper slopes of the Izoard, Froome launched one big attack with about two kilometres to go, briefly going clear and trying to bridge the gap to key climbing support rider and team-mate Mikel Landa.
But although he briefly shed key rivals Bardet and Rigoberto Uran of Colombia, the two other contenders quickly regained contact, passing Landa in the process. “Dropping them was virtually impossible,” said Froome.
The three strongest Tour racers crossed the line together, with Froome all but closing down a last-ditch charge by Bardet to finish fourth.
On the plus side, after a Tour during which his climbing performances have been nowhere near as impressive as in previous years, Froome has come through the last mountain stage in control of the race.
But his lead remains narrow, and he will have to race all out for victory in the time trial, a technical 22km course through the streets of Marseille.
“I’ll do my best to try to win the stage, and I’ll ride for yellow. I’ve already seen the course, it’s very fast and I’ll give it my maximum,” said Froome.
Team Sky could clinch their first double podium finish in Paris since 2012, when Sir Bradley Wiggins and Froome were first and second, if Landa, currently fourth overall, turns in a strong performance tomorrow. The 27-year-old Basque may yet outstrip Bardet, just over a minute ahead, to move up a spot into third.
Bardet put on a brave face after the stage, yet still all but admitted defeat to Froome overall. “In the years to come, ❑ LIZZIE DEIGNAN finished second on the Col d’Izoard as Holland’s Annemiek van Vleuten won La Course by Le Tour. The British Boels-Dolmans rider began the day saying she was solely a domestique to support team-mate Megan Guarnier in the Tour de France women’s event, but once it became clear the American did not have the legs, Deignan went for it. “We took control of the race,” she said. “But perhaps I made a mistake in not having the confidence.” several Frenchmen will go victory in the Tour,” he said.
Rather than Bardet, whose attacks failed to unseat Froome, local hero of the day was Barguil, already the winner of a stage on Bastille Day in the Pyrenees.
This time round Barguil jumped single-handedly away from the main group of favourites halfway up the Izoard, reeled in the last remnants of a day-long for breakaway and then fended off Froome and Bardet as they counter-attacked.
Impressive stuff, and come Sunday, Barguil will conclude the Tour as the winner of this year’s King of the Mountains classification.
In the battle for the Best Young Rider’s classification, Britain’s Simon Yates kept control of his lead after veering
RACE STANDINGS
perilously close to disaster on Wednesday. He struggled slightly on the upper slopes but limited his losses to Louis Meintjes to just 22 seconds.
“It’s still going to be difficult, and you can never say I’ve definitely got this, but it was much better than Wednesday,” said the Orica-Scott rider.
Today’s 222.5km stage through the Alpine foothills to Salon-de-Provence is the longest in the Tour this year.
But the favourites will likely keep their powder dry in anticipation of the time trial, where Froome should be able to inflict real damage on his rivals and perhaps claim his first stage win this year into the bargain.