Contador survives late scare

Alberto Contador made light of a late mechanical fault to retain the overall lead at the Criterium du Dauphine as an audacious late attack from Fabio Aru was awarded with victory on stage three.

Astana’s Aru attacked alone with 12km to go after Tony Martin (Etixx-quickstep) had already launched an escape attempt before being reeled in to form an eight-man group.

Italy’s Aru, who had also attacked on the category two Cote de Secheras, kept his slim margin and held off the charging sprinters’ teams to win.

Norway’s Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was two seconds behind while Briton Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished in the bunch in 23rd place.

Contador (Tinkoff) had to make a late bike change before returning to the peloton and finished in 39th place to maintain his six second lead over Australia’s Richie Porte (BMC), with Froome third, seven seconds further back.