Froome sure he’s hitting top form for Tour finale

Chris Froome expects to be on his best form in the final week of the Tour de France as he fights to hold on to the yellow jersey in the closest battle this race has ever seen.

Just 29 seconds cover the top four as Team Sky’s Froome leads by 18 seconds from Italian national champion Fabio Aru, with Frenchman Romain Bardet a further five seconds back in third and former Sky rider Rigoberto Uran of Colombia looking ominous in fourth.

The race heads for the Alps today after a rest day before Saturday’s time trial in Marseille.

Three-time Tour winner Froome is used to starting the final week with a decent cushion, but struggles in the Pyrenees saw him temporarily surrender the yellow jersey. “i feel as if I’m on an upward curve,” said Froome. “I came in with the least amount of race days ever coming into a Tour de France. I really do feel as if I’m coming up and the last few days have been evidence of that. I had a bad day in the Pyrenees about a week ago but hopefully I’m on track to be at my best in the last week.”

Froome says he will not be lulled into relying on the time trial to claw back time knowing that Cannondale-drapac’s Uran poses a strong threat. “Rigoberto is more the dark horse,” he added. “He slips under the radar a little bit. He’s probably the strongest time trialist of this group of GC contenders so he’s a big threat.”

Aru was the man to take yellow from Froome in the Pyrenees, and he impressed by winning on the first summit finish to La Planche des Belles Filles, only to give up the race lead when he faded on the finish to Rodez on Saturday. There is also a sense it is Bardet and Uran who pose the bigger threats due to the weakness of Aru’s Astana team.