Froome leads as Tour rests

Even if climbs take toll, time trial will offer chance to win.

With Colombian climbing specialist Nairo Quintana and seven-time Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador dropping out of contention, it seems there’s only a handful of riders remaining who can still challenge overall leader Chris Froome for the Tour de France title in Paris on July 23.

Chris Froome probably hoped he had a bigger lead than his 18-second advantage over Fabio Aru on the Tour de France’s first rest day.

At least he’s still in one piece.

Richie Porte, Froome’s most feared opponent, and Geraint Thomas, Froome’s most loyal support rider at Team Sky, both crashed out of the race Sunday.

With Colombian climbing specialist Nairo Quintana and seven-time Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador dropping out of contention, it seems there’s only a handful of riders remaining who can still challenge Great Britain’s Froome for the title in Paris on July 23.

Aru, the Italian champion and 2015 Spanish Vuelta winner, leads the list, followed closely by last year’s runner-up, Romain Bardet, a Frenchman who is third overall, 51 seconds back. Rigoberto Uran, a Colombian who was a two-time runner-up in the Giro d’Italia, is fourth at 55 seconds and Aru’s Astana teammate, Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark, is fifth at 1:37.

The only other rider within two minutes of Froome is Dan Martin, an Irish cyclist who excels on the shorter, steeper climbs so prevalent in this year’s race.

Froome and the other 181 riders still in the three-week race flew across the country late Sunday to southwestern France, where after Monday’s rest day the race resumes with two flat stages suited for sprinters. They are the race’s 10th and 11th stages.

The overall battle probably won’t see any changes until the race enters the Pyrenees on Thursday and Friday, with 16 percent slopes to the Peyragudes ski station and 18 percent stretches on the Mur de Peguere.

After some milder climbing in the Massif Central, the Tour returns to the Alps for the so-called Queen stage — an unprecedented mountaintop finish at the Col d’Izoard.

The hostile terrain of sunand snow-scorched rocks and the thinning mountain air on the long climb to an altitude of 7,742 feet could make the Izoard, at the end of stage 18, the scene of the last major contest between the remaining favorites.

Aiming to secure his fourth title in five years, Froome likely needs only the slimmest of margins — or even a small deficit — entering the 14-mile time trial in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille on the penultimate stage 20.

Froome, a superb time trial rider, should be able to take time on all of his rivals in the race against the clock — just like he did in Stage 1.

Whoever wears yellow at the end of the day in Marseille likely will cruise around the Champs-Elysees in the mostly ceremonial final leg a day later and pick up the trophy.

Monday, though, it was all about recovery for Froome and the other leaders after Sunday’s punishing mountain leg. Rest days, however, are not just for resting.

Almost every rider planned to go out and train for an hour or two Monday just to keep his body from shutting down.

“The pure science would say, ‘Stay in bed all day and don’t move.’ But that doesn’t work,” Cannondale-Drapac manager Jonathan Vaughters said. “It’s the same as turning the engine off. You just can’t get it started again.

“It’s like studying hard for exams. You’re fine, fine, fine. Then you take the exam and get home from the exam and then the next day you have the flu,” Vaughters said. “You’re like, ‘Now I can rest.’ And then boom, you’re sick.”

CHRIS GRAYTHEN / GETTY IMAGES Chris Froome (left) talks to teammate Geraint Thomas during Sunday’s stage. Thomas later crashed out of the race, meaning Froome lost a top ally in his pursuit of a fourth Tour de France title in five years.