Froome hangs on to yellow jersey
open section in the last 20 kilometers to go, the guys committed to that and we saw the gaps opening out straight away.”
Froome, the defending champion, has an 18-second overall lead over Aru, with Romain Bardet 23 seconds back in third place. Colombian Rigoberto Uran completes the leading quartet, 29 seconds off the pace.
Landa, who has been impressive since the start of the Tour despite dedicating himself to Froome, moved back to fifth overall, 1 minute, 17 seconds back.
“Myself and Mikel Landa are feeling great,” said Froome. “The next two days are the biggest consecutive days in this year’s Tour de France. And the goal of my preparation for the Tour de France was to head into the third week feeling the way I’m feeling now.”
The battle for the yellow jersey will resume today during the first of two Alpine stages in high altitude. It will lead riders to the ski station of Serre Chevalier through a grueling 114-mile trek featuring four climbs, including the Col du Galibier — one of the Tour’s most fearsome and famed climbs at 11 miles, with a 10-percent gradient at the top.
Three days after his victory in Rodez, Matthews reduced the gap with green jersey holder Marcel Kittel to 29 points in the best sprinter’s classification with his second stage win.
He made the most of a slightly uphill section 500 meters from the line and accelerated after Greg Van Avermaet launched the sprint. Matthews then resisted Edvald Boasson Hagen’s late surge to prevail by a wheel’s length. John Degenkolb completed the podium.