FROOME AT THE TOP Sky star back in yellow jersey
TOUR DE FRANCE
Just 48 hours ago, Va Va Froome looked a broken man when he cracked on a brutal ramp finish in the Pyrenees and surrendered the Tour de France leader’s fabled maillot jaune to Italy’s Fabio Aru. But on another gruelling 700-yard climb to the line in Rodez, the cleat was on the other foot. Where Aru’s depleted Astana team melted in the final scramble, Team Sky ushered Froome towards the front. And this time, when he kicked for home uphill, there was some gas left in the tank. Froome crossed the line in seventh after the blustery 112.7-mile stage 14 from Blagnac, next door to the check-in desk at Toulouse airport – and he left Aru 24 seconds down the runway. Britain’s three-times champion effectively repaired the damage of Peyragudes, and he said: “It’s good to be back. “After a couple of tough days in the Pyrenees, it’s nice to bounce back – but it’s a very nice surprise. “It definitely wasn’t the plan to lose the yellow jersey, and I didn’t expect to get it back on a stage like this. As we began the final climb, I didn’t know where Fabio was, but then I heard Michal Kwiatkowski, who did another incredible job out there on the road, shout on the radio: ‘Go, go, go Froomey! There are gaps everywhere – go for it!’
“I still never dreamed I would be taking 24 seconds out of Fabio.
“But it’s going to be all hands on deck again tomorrow.
“There is only half a minute between the top four and every second counts this year. It’s a fight for every second and it’s going to be a war.
“I’m not going to be safe until I reach Paris. As we’ve seen, each day has had its surprises.
“I was shocked to see the same kind of time gaps today as there were in the Pyrenees.
“I just didn’t have the legs when I lost the jersey a couple of days ago.
“But after two consecutive really hard days, I like to think it’s brought out the stage racer in me.”
Le Tour data revealed Froome was going 4.1mph faster than Aru over the last 500 yards. In cycling terms, that was like a Lamborghini showing a Nissan Micra the way home.
With only five more stages before next Saturday’s time trial in Marseille – where Froome, on form, will put the hammer down and distance his rivals again – perhaps the Peyragudes altiport was a blip, not the beginning of the end.
Aussie stage winner Michael Matthews, who pipped Olympic gold medallist Greg van Avermaet to the line, said: “Last time on this finish two years ago, I had four broken ribs and I was missing skin all over my body.
“To come back and win on the same finish is a dream come true.”