IT’S WHEEL SCARE FOR FROOME
CHRIS FROOME was booed in Yellow Jersey rival Romain Bardet’s backyard – but made a stunning fightback to preserve his Tour de France lead.
Froome looked like he would lose the leader’s maillot jaune when he suffered a broken spoke around 25 miles from home, moments after Bardet launched an attack.
But Froome’s Polish wingman, Michal Kwiatkowski (below), saved the day by stopping to help change his back wheel in barely 30 seconds.
Then Britain’s three-times champion had to run the gauntlet of boozy fans on the Col de Peyra Taillade giving him the bird, and caught Bardet before he could reach the summit, after a lung-bursting effort where he learned “a lot of new words” from the galleries.
Froome crossed the line with his overnight 18-second lead unscathed, a stupendous effort. And he had no complaints about his roadside reception, insisting it goes with the territory.
However Froome still expects the battle for the Yellow Jersey to go right down to Saturday’s time trial in Marseille, with the top four separated by just 29 seconds.
Shattered Froome said: “There’s never a dull moment on this Tour – I had to change my back wheel and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
“I’m just grateful that Michal stopped to give me his back wheel and my team-mates all dropped back to help pace me back to the group containing my main rivals.
“But that was extremely stressful and chaotic – panic stations. I’m just happy to have got through it without any major losses, but I’m going to pass out tonight. I’m knackered!”
Froome, who lost the Yellow Jersey to Fabio Aru last Thursday but regained it 48 hours later, shrugged off his hostile reception.
He said: “This was Bardet’s home stage and it is only to be expected the crowds would get behind him.
“The reception has been fantastic this year and the French riders have animated the race. It’s great that the fans are getting so involved, and they are teaching me a lot of new words!”