Froome denies his ‘wobble’ with Aru was act of retribution
Chris Froome last night denied he had intentionally barged into rival Fabio Aru with 32km remaining of yesterday’s hugely controversial ninth stage of the Tour de France, saying he had “just had a bit of a wobble on one of the switchbacks”.
Suggestions that Froome had made intentional contact with the Italian were rife on Twitter, with many applauding the Briton after Aru – controversially – appeared to attack Sky’s leader just as he raised his hand to indicate he had suffered a mechanical failure near the top of the Mont du Chat. Aru claimed he had “not seen” Froome raise his hand. The Italian’s claim was described as “absolute bull----” by Britain’s Simon Yates (Orica-scott).
It is one of cycling’s unwritten rules that you do not attack the yellow jersey after he has suffered a mechanical failure, although the rule itself is a pretty grey area. Either way, Aru was quickly persuaded to sit up by Richie Porte (BMC) and others in the group.
After switching bikes, Froome caught back up to the group and appeared to ride into Aru as he passed
him, before apologising with a quick raised hand. Froome later insisted that the contact was unintentional, adding he had not even been aware that Aru had attacked him.
“I didn’t see his attack, I was too busy trying to change my bike,” Froome said after finishing third on the stage, behind Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-drapac) and Warren Barguil (Sunweb), and claiming four bonus seconds to consolidate his overall lead. “When I came back I just had a bit of a wobble on one of the switchbacks.
“It sounded like he [Aru] sat up, but I think that was more to due to Richie [Porte] from what I understand. Richie said to the rest of the guys, ‘Listen, it isn’t the moment to attack the leader of the race’. I want to say a massive thank you to Richie and the rest of the group for not taking advantage of that situation.”
Aru, for his part, claimed that he had not seen Froome’s hand go up. “I didn’t see it because I was attacking,” Aru said. “I wanted to attack at that point, when there was six kilometres to go. Then I heard over the radio Froome had stopped. Then I stopped.”
Aru added that he was satisfied Froome had not collided with him as payback. “He was almost falling because he’d come close to a fan, he lost his balance and the elbow came out for balance,” Aru said. “Actually, he said sorry. It wasn’t on purpose.”
Yates was unimpressed by Aru’s claim that he had not attacked Froome when he saw the Sky rider suffer a problem. “I think it’s a dirty move,” he told cyclingnews.com. “I don’t like what he did but it’s a bike race and he can do what he wants.”
Aru is now Froome’s nearest rival on GC following Geraint Thomas’s exit yesterday. The Italian lies 18 seconds behind Froome heading into the Tour’s first rest day today.