Bennett shines on steep test

George Bennett has climbed into ninth place as Chris Froome cracked during a gruelling climb to the finish and lost the overall lead in the Tour de France to Fabio Aru yesterday after a demanding stage won by Romain Bardet.

Froome’s Sky teammates had perfectly controlled the race until the final kilometre leading to the ski station of Peyragudes but the three-time champion was dropped in a final section that featured slopes with a 20 per cent gradient.

Bardet won Stage 12 ahead of Rigoberto Uran and Aru, who seized the race lead from Froome by six seconds. Bardet is third overall, 25 seconds off the pace.

Team Sky had dominated the stage until the final 350m, when Aru made his move. Froome was only able to follow his Italian rival for a few metres before he cracked, and crossed the line in seventh place, 22 seconds behind Bardet.

Bennett, riding for Team Lotto-NL-Jumbo, ended up eighth in the stage, 27 seconds behind Bardet, to move up to ninth overall, 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind Aru.

‘‘Today confirms for me that I can ride with these guys,’’ Bennett told teamlottojumbo.com.

‘‘I still made a few mistakes, but this is a good learning curve. The most important thing for me is to stay consistent.’’

Bennett attacked with 500m left and tried to grab the stage victory. However, he was quickly reined in.

‘‘I had really good legs. A good stage result here would have been nice. Against these guys it is not very realistic to win but you have got to try,’’ he said.

‘‘The year started pretty bad for me with glandular fever. After that, almost everything went well. I was always near the top-10 in the other races and I am hoping to build on it. There is no better place for that then here in the Tour de France.’’

Bidding to become the first Frenchman to win the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985, Bardet was the strongest in the brutal incline and described his third stage win on the Tour as ‘‘an immense joy’’. He said he had visited the ski station with his parents to scout out the final climb.

‘‘I knew it could suit me,’’ Bardet said. ‘‘I was patient. I made the difference on the final hill. There was not much to do before that with the wind and the Sky train.’’

Aru had trailed Froome by 18 seconds at the start of the stage. ‘‘It’s one of the most beautiful things that can happen to you in life, wearing the yellow jersey,’’ said Aru.

‘‘Today confirms for me that I can ride with these guys.’’ George Bennett