On a flat stage all but designed for a bunch sprint finish, Froome and Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas tore up the script when they bolted after World Champion Peter Sagan in a late breakaway.
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Then the British rider used the wind to his advantage and slipped into a four-man breakaway Wednesday to gain more time on his direct rivals as he attempts to secure a third Tour de France title in four years. “It just happens. With this wind it was unsafe every moment in the stage”.
It means Froome now leads fellow Briton Adam Yates by 28sec, with Dan Martin of Ireland third at 31sec.
“I was expecting an attack from him (on Sunday) and was keeping something in reserve, and in the back of my mind just waiting for his big move”.
Froome was the stage victor when the Tour last scaled Ventoux’s barren, 1,909-meter (6,263-foot) peak in 2013.
Thursday’s 12th stage, which takes place on Bastille Day, was due to scale the iconic Mont Ventoux summit to just under 2,000 meters but has been shortened because of forecast high winds.
“Hats off to Froome and Sagan for what they have done”, Yates said.
Stage 11 should have been a relaxing stage for the GC rivals as the sprinters’ teams contested the finish. “Today, the guys positioned me to perfection, that’s how I could go after Sagan”.
Stage 12 is one for the climbers and could have a huge bearing on the final outcome of the race as the riders tackle the ferocious slopes of Mont Ventoux.
“Again it was just another one of those spur of the moment kind of things”, Froome said.
“Froomey and Geraint came with us and I said “We are too strong they are never going to catch us”.
“I would have liked to let Bodnar win the stage but Froome wanted to take a maximum of seconds so I to go for the stage win because that’s what we had worked for”.
He took his time before resuming on a new bike, finishing well back in the field, more than five minutes behind Slovakian stage victor Peter Sagan.
“If I can take any seconds in this point, I will”. But it was the kind of lightning blow that will rattle even the most formidable of opponents and mentally wear them down. The flat stage normally would have ended with a mad dash to the line between sprint specialists. There was a level of stress and tension that probably made it the most hard stage of the whole Tour.
For Unzué, there were mixed emotions as he was forced to square the disappointment of losing an element of the parcours that played to his rider’s strengths, with seeing the race ogranisation take the sort of action he would have like to have seen on stage 11. Quintana, on the other hand, has been very conservative so far and was expected to make his first big move at the Ventoux.
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In 2013, Froome hammered his rivals to win on Ventoux ahead of Colombian Nairo Quintana, with both riders requiring oxygen support at the top.
