Slightly more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the end of Stage 9 from the Spanish town of Vielha to the ski resort of Arcalis in Andorra, the 33-year-old Spaniard stopped at the side of the road, hopped off his bike and got into the passenger seat of his team vehicle.
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Froome said: “It was a tough stage and the weather conditions made it even tougher”. “One minute we were pouring water over our heads and ice packs down our backs and the next minute there was ice falling from the sky”. “So it was from one extreme to another”.
“It definitely made it harder for us”.
Froome resumes his bid for a third title on today’s stage 10 to Revel with a 16 secs seconds lead over fellow Brit Adam Yates.
That’s what happened when a fan wearing the yellow shirt of Colombia’s national soccer team and a yellow wig got too close to Froome during Saturday’s eighth stage of the Tour de France.
It was great to see the English speaking riders lighting it up with Richie Porte, Dan Martin, Adam Yates and Chris Froome all taking major digs.
When Froome won the Tour in 2013 and 2015, he was not only suspected of doping, but also criticized for riding in an overly calculated manner with little creativity.
The Tour de France has had an eventful weekend, but Chris Froome has only strengthened his odds to win the championship.
Froome, however, is happy to be in the flawless position to sustain his bid for a third triumph in four years and he said: “I’m going into the first rest day in yellow, I’ve got a fantastic team around me and I couldn’t be in a better place right now”.
Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), who lost all hope of a decent overall finish in Paris on the first Pyrenean stage, snatched the polka dot jersey in the breakaway.
Yates has said he does not believe he can challenge in the general classification due to his time-trialling, but is happy to still be in the mix after the first week of the Tour.
“Last year was different because I was trying to get in the breakaway”, he said.
Speaking yesterday, he described his position as “a really good place to be tactically”. “It also looks like it will be a hot day, but this doesn’t bother me. I’ll rest up and see how the legs come out after”. Porte is 14th at 2:10, while other top contenders include Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), seventh at 44 seconds, American Tejay van Garderen (BMC), 11th at 1:01 and Italian Fabio Aru (Astana), 13th at 1:23.
Etixx QuickStep’s Martin sits 19 seconds back after losing two seconds on the line, but stayed ahead of fourth-placed Colombian Quintana, who will pleased to trail Froome by just 23 seconds heading into tomorrow’s rest day.
This tactic played out differently at the end of Stage 9, and the team might find itself regretting the decision, for it may have prevented Froome from gaining more time on his rivals. “But if nobody else is going to try and take control then we will”. Chris and Nairo are still the big favourites for the win. There are some pretty odd tactics going on. “I was close to giving in at this race after crashes in recent years”.
Quite apart from the defensive tactics needed on the road and the media obligations off it, carrying yellow has in the past meant for Froome a barrage of unsubstantiated allegations and rumours about doping – and he even had urine thrown at him during last year’s Tour.
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“I’d like to think he was on his limit but he just stuck to my wheel like glue”.
