FROOME BOOSTED BY LANDA’S DUMMY RUN

CHRIS FROOME, who looked punch-drunk in the Pyrenees, bounced back yesterday as the defending champion and his Sky team took back control. Froome, who struggled badly in Thursday’s high-altitude finish to Peyragudes, played a clever tactical game, sending team-mate Mikel Landa ahead and forcing Tour leader Fabio Aru to chase and then bluffing his rivals before attacking them. ‘We played a bit with our team because we had Landa close to the top of the general classification so it was perfect for us,’ said Froome. ‘Mikel was really strong and maybe another day we can try that again. ‘Thursday was a tough day for me but today I felt much better. It was a great feeling to go out there and race for the win, rather than racing defensively and having the pressure of defending the yellow jersey. ‘We’ve got a lot of faith in Mikel and I think he showed today that he’s a contender for the Tour. It’s a great card for us to play, especially now that Astana (Aru’s team) don’t have the numbers to control the race.’ Although Aru retained the yellow jersey, Landa’s jump up the standings gives Team Sky a strong tactical hand. Their sports director Servais Knaven described the outcome of the 101km stage as ‘perfect’. ‘Landa is close on the classification now and that’s good if we have to change tactics,’ he said. ‘Froome is still our leader, but with Landa we have another card to play.’ Aru’s team was further weakened by the loss of mountain support rider, Jakob Fuglsang, who has quit after breaking his left wrist on stage 11.