Froome on up and up after downhill dart

A STUNNING downhill attack deep in the Pyrenees enabled Britain’s Chris Froome to capture both the stage win and the yellow jersey of Tour leader.

The defending Tour champion blasted away over the summit of the Peyresourde climb, then hunched forwards over his bike and pedalled furiously to rapidly distance his rivals at speeds of up to 80kmh.

Following a faultless and hair-raisingly fast descent, Froome crossed the line in Bagneres-de-Luchon with a 13-second advantage, pumping his right fist in delight as he claimed Britain’s third stage victory in three days.

Froome, who won the Tour de France both in 2013 and 2015, now leads by 16 seconds from Britain’s Adam Yates (left), while his arch-rival Nairo Quintana (right) of Colombia is in fifth, 23 seconds adrift.

Froome, 31, admitted he took a risk. “It was a bit of a gamble and not at all planned but it paid off,” he said. “I tried once or twice on the climb but didn’t manage to shake off my rivals.

“So I thought, ‘Let me give it one more go’ and I’ll see if it pays off.

“I felt like a kid out there, trying to race my bike as fast as possible on the downhills. I’ve never won a stage this way before. It’s a dream to do that but it’s amazing to be back in yellow.”

Now with six Tour mountain stage wins to his name, Froome has taken all bar this latest victory with set-piece uphill attacks. But by ambushing his rivals so successfully on such unexpected terrain, the Sky rider will surely have dealt a major blow to their morale. However, Froome insisted that the Tour de France, which finishes on July 24 in Paris, is far from being won.

He added: “There are still some really difficult mountain stages to come, starting with the stage into Andorra on Sunday.”