Froome’s wheely good in Wacky Races
THE Tour de France took a turn yesterday when Greg van Avermaet extended his overall lead in a stage won in spectacular fashion by Julian Alaphilippe.
All of which suited Team Sky. Bradley Wiggins suggested this week that it could cause problems if Geraint Thomas went for the Yellow Jersey too early – and he was right.
Sky want to shake off more contenders before making their bid for yellow and yesterday they did that efficiently.
After letting the break go, they rode hard over the last 30km to put General Classification contenders Bob Jungels and Rigoberto Uran in trouble, losing more time on Thomas and Chris Froome.
That late effort saw Froome move up to sixth overall despite a mechanical fault on the gravel section of Plateau des Glieres. “There was a bit of Wacky Races going on when I had a puncture on the dirt section and had to swap wheels,” said a relaxed Froome afterwards.
“When I got the spare I realised that it was also flat. But it was quite far from the finish and so I was able to get back in. Everyone was playing it conservatively with the upcoming two stages but I was happy with how we rode.”
With the GC contenders saving themselves for today’s mountain-top finish and another on Thursday at Alpe d’Huez, Van Avermaet took advantage. The Belgian joined in the early break and, although he could not stay with Alaphilippe he did enough to keep the Yellow Jersey, increasing his lead over Thomas to two minutes, 22 seconds.
Today’s stage is a short (108.5km) but brutal affair from Albertville to La Rosiere San Bernardo, with more than 48km of climbing, including the Montee de Bisanne and the Col du Pre, before a finish in La Rosiere, where the GC fight is expected to kick off in earnest.
Annemiek van Vleuten followed up on her recent Giro Rosa victory when she chased down Anna van der Breggen yesterday to win La Course, the one-day women’s race run in conjunction with the Tour de France.
Van Vleuten of Mitchelton Scott wrapped up the 10-day Tour of Italy on Sunday but showed no sign of fatigue as she fought back right at the death for a stunning win.