Froome sees red
CHRIS FROOME became the new leader of the Vuelta a Espana yesterday after finishing third in the mountainous stage three as Italian Vincenzo Nibali snatched the stage win in the final 400m of the race in the Pyrenees in Andorra.
Froome, who is bidding to become the first rider to do a double of the Tour de France and the Vuelta in 39 years, took the red jersey after setting the stage alight with a vicious pace on the final climb of the 158.5km stage.
He was chaperoned by team-mate Gianni Moscon, although he was eventually caught on the descent. He takes a two-second lead in the general classification over Spaniard David de la Cruz, Irishman Nicolas Roche and American Tejay van Garderen.
Nibali, who won the Vuelta in 2010, is fifth.
“It’s the result of a lot of hard work from my team-mates as well,” said Froome.
“They did a fantastic job on the final climb, especially Gianni Moscon – it’s his first Grand Tour with Team Sky. He was great, as were the rest of the guys.”