Mountain stages could make or break Froome’s challengers

CHAMBERY, France — Chris Froome probably hoped he had a bigger lead than his 18-second advantage over Fabio Aru on the Tour de France’s first rest day.

At least he’s still in one piece.

Richie Porte, Froome’s most feared opponent, and Geraint Thomas, Froome’s most loyal support rider at Team Sky, both crashed out of the race Sunday.

With Colombian climbing specialist Nairo Quintana and seven-time Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador dropping out of contention, it seems there’s only a handful of riders remaining who can still challenge Froome for the title.

Aru, the Italian champion and 2015 Spanish Vuelta winner, leads the list followed closely by last year’s runner-up Romain Bardet, the Frenchman who is third overall, 51 seconds back.

Rigoberto Uran, the Colombian who was a two-time runner-up in the Giro d’Italia, is fourth at 55 seconds and Aru’s Astana teammate, Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark, is fifth at 1:37.

“I said [Saturday] that I expected the general classification to be blown up and looking at it, it has,” Froome said. “It’s a lot more spread out now.”

Froome and the other 181 riders still in the three-week race flew across the country late Sunday to southwestern France, where after Monday’s rest day the race resumes with two flat stages suited for sprinters.

The overall battle probably won’t see any changes until the race enters the Pyrenees Thursday and Friday with 16 percent slopes to the Peyragudes ski station and 18 percent stretches on the Mur de Peguere.

After some milder climbing in the Massif Central, the Tour returns to the Alps for the so-called “Queen stage” — an unprecedented mountain-top finish at the Col d’Izoard.

The hostile terrain of sunand snow-scorched rocks and the thinning mountain air on the long climb to an altitude of 7,742 feet could make the Izoard, at the end of stage 18, the scene of the last major contest between the remaining favorites.

Aiming to secure his fourth title in five years, Froome likely needs only the slimmest of margins — or even a small deficit — entering the 14-mile time trial in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille on the penultimate stage 20.