FROOME MAINTAINS LEAD IN TOUR DE FRANCE

One series of giant Tour de France mountains out of the way. One more to come. And one less rival for race leader Chris

Froome to watch quite so closely. By sticking like flypaper to enterprising Romain Bardet, despite the French rider’s efforts to distance him on the race’s highest peak, Froome took a big step Wednesday toward a fourth Tour victory this weekend in Paris. Italian Fabio Aru, on the other hand, fell behind on the barren slopes of scree and patchy grass in the thinning air of the mighty Col du Galibier, one of the Tour’s most fearsome Alpine climbs. Having started Stage 17 in second place overall, 18 seconds behind Froome, Aru slipped to fourth — 53 seconds behind the race leader, who is getting stronger in the last week of the three-week cycling marathon. Uran leapfrogged from fourth to second. Bardet is third. That podium could stick all the way to Paris on Sunday, as they trail Froome by 27 seconds.