Froome edging nearer Oz lead

CHRIS Froome finished sixth on stage one of the Herald Sun Tour in Australia as he looks to become the first rider in more than a decade to claim back-to-back titles in the five-day event.

Having come 26th in yesterday’s prologue, the three-time Tour de France winner came home one minute and 11 seconds behind stage winner Damien Howson of Orica-Scott.

Froome completed the 172.4km stage from Wangaratta to Falls Creek with a minimum of fuss as Team Sky bossed the peloton.

Howson was part of a break with Kenny Elissonde 15km from home and shook off the Team Sky rider with 3km remaining, with Attaque Team Gusto’s Jai Hindley coming through to take second, 32 seconds behind.

With climbs over the Tawonga Gap and to the Falls Creek summit, the field finished the day well strung out, with 2:25 separating the top 20.

Howson’s win gives him a 38-second advantage over Hindley in the general classification, with Froome 1:12 off the lead in fifth.

Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), who is expected to be Froome’s main rival for the title, is three seconds behind the Brit in ninth after finishing fifth in today’s stage.

JODY Cundy will lead Great Britain in next month’s UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles.

Jon Gildea and Cundy are the only individual riders selected.

Six tandem partnerships form the majority of the squad.

Neil Fachie teams up with pilot Craig Maclean, James Ball will be piloted by Matt Rotherham, Sophie Thornhill will be piloted by Corrine Hall, Lora Fachie is piloted by Hazel Macleod, Aileen McGlynn will be alongside pilot Louise Haston and Alison Patrick will have Helen Scott as pilot.