Chris Froome recovered from a nasty crash on wet and slippery roads to retain the overall lead as France enjoyed their first win of this year’s Tour de France.
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Froome (Team Sky) slid off on the descent from the penultimate climb of the day and although he was able to continue, he had to struggle up to the summit finish at Saint-Gervais on a team-mate’s bike and crossed the line 36 seconds down on Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) in ninth place.
“The main thing for me now is staying safe”, Froome said.
“I am okay – I’m lucky nothing seriously injured”.
“This is the kind of day that I feel grateful I’ve got that four-minute advantage”.
“Today shows the Tour is never won until to get to Paris and I am grateful it was not more serious – it could have gone either way, but there’s never a quiet day on the Tour de France”.
Froome is a two-time victor of the race and the defending champion. “Wout in particular… all the guys”.
Bury’s Adam Yates dropped out of the provisional podium to fourth after rivals Bardet and Colombian Nairo Quintana attacked late on the stage, shedding the Briton.
Similarly, Bardet will not forget to enjoy the rest of the Tour that finishes on Sunday with the 21st stage from Chantilly to the Champs Élysées in Paris that will suit the sprinters. “But at the end of the day I had to have the legs to ride the equipment we chose”. “It might be an allergy from this area that I have and which has been affecting me the last few days”.
This short, sharp stage with four categorised climbs was designed for drama but it was when the weather closed in inside the final 50km that the race changed shape.
Yet Quintana, second overall to Froome in 2013 and past year, still believes there is hope, although not in terms of overall victory.
Froome stood only fifth at the first checkpoint, the top of the Cote de Domancy climb, but the British rider clearly saved energy for the second half of the stage, surging in front over the final miles.
Although Chris Froome has held yellow on this Tour since early last week, I fully expected him to face a bigger challenge to hold onto his overall lead when the race hit the mountains again this week. They included Welshman Geraint Thomas, who immediately gave Froome his bike when the Tour leader realised Froome’s was damaged in the spill.
Froome has been saying throughout this Tour that winning would be the “toughest challenge” of his career. “Right now I’m on a cloud”, the 25-year-old Frenchman said.
While a lot of riders used road bikes and started fast, Froome used a time trial bike and also tackled the course at an even pace.
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“Tomorrow [Saturday] is going to be really hard and I’m sure that I’m going to be a bit stiff after today”.
