Three years ago, when he won his first title on Le Tour, Froome went into the leader’s fabled maillot jaune on the same weekend that Andy Murray won Wimbledon.
Advertisement
Chris Froome retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey as he controlled his nearest rivals on the 10 kilometre ascent to Arcalis.
Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin won the ninth leg with a solo breakaway in a hailstorm on the uphill finish, a beyond-category climb.
Adam Yates is second overall, just ahead of Martin, with Colombia’s Nairo Quintana fourth.
Froome is primarily concerned with Movistar’s Nairo Quintana. I thought I would give it [attacking downhill] a try. But it never came. If I can get some time and win a stage like this, it’s worth so much more. It was a tough day out there. “He stayed glued on my wheel”.
Froome is right to be wary.
He finished 14th in the ninth stage today to put himself 19 seconds off the lead in the General Classification.
There had been little sign of Contador suffering early on a stage which started in his home nation, and he briefly attacked on the first categorised climb of the day, the Port de la Bonaigua.
Porte came through to have a dig, as did Martin, but the top five all finished together as Italy s Fabio Aru, Romain Bardet of France and American Tejay Van Garderen lost time.
The incident appeared to motivate Froome, who left Quintana and the other leading contenders behind on the way down from the Col de Peyresourde.
With Froome in yellow, Yates is on the same time as third-placed Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha. “It’s not easy to ride away from everyone this year”. The level is higher.
“After the crash in the first day, I really didn’t feel well and it pushed me to make this decision”.
“I can’t be happier to be in yellow again, it’s an fantastic feeling, I’m enjoying it”.
“I’m a time triallist and it’s hard to close on me”. “In the valley, the heat was suffocating”.
Four times on Sunday, Contador was seen dropping back from the peloton to speak to his team vehicle.
Ireland’s Dan Martin is up to third place overall at the Tour de France after an aggressive weekend’s racing in the Pyrenees saw him finish second to defending champion Chris Froome of Sky on Saturday’s tough mountain stage to Bagneres-du-Luchon and 14th on yesterday’s summit finish to Andorra.
“It was quite a surprise to hear on the radio that he was in the auto”, Froome said. It would have made the Tour even more exciting than it already is.
Advertisement
The Dutchman tackled the final climb on his own after spending the bulk of the day as part of a large breakaway. George Bennett of New Zealand knocked down a fan blocking his way while coming around a tight turn.
