Chris Froome admitted extending his overall lead of the Tour de France on stage 13’s individual time trial had been overshadowed by the terror attack in Nice.
Advertisement
Froome was involved in truly farcical scenes 1km from the finish of stage 12 yesterday, when a collision involving a television motorbike, Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema wrecked his bicycle and saw him tackle a portion of the infamous, but shortened, Mont Ventoux climb on foot.
Dumoulin clocked 50 minutes and 15 seconds in the first time trial of the Tour to claim an emphatic win, sending a message to his rivals ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio next month. Froome’s main rival in the mountains, Colombian climber Nairo Quintana, was lagging by 2:59, and the first alpine stage was not until Sunday.
Froome, a Monaco resident, had little interest in discussing his extended lead after the time trial, choosing instead to make a statement about the Nice attacks and then end his press conference.
A spectator holds a board reading: ” Froome, we find your bike”, during the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 208.5 kilometers (129.2 miles) with start in Montelimar and finish in Villars-les-Dombes, France, Saturday, July 16, 2016.
Overall race leader Froome was the closest to the Dutchman at the close of the stage, the Briton completing the course in a time of 51:18 to finish second.
It was the 25-year-old’s second stage victory of the Tour but the big victor was Briton Froome.
“I’m happy with how that went, but really, everyone’s thoughts here are with those affected down in Nice”.
World time trial champion Vasil Kiryienka, in the rainbow skinsuit, was six minutes in arrears, meanwhile – evidently saving his efforts to support Chris Froome in the coming stages.
A Frenchman of Tunisian descent drove a truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day along Nice’s beachfront, killing at least 84 people, many of them children.
“I went out of focus this morning, which is normal I guess, when you hear about these awful things happening just a few hundred kilometers away from you”, Dumoulin said.
There was also a moment of silence at the start, several hours’ drive from Nice, and Tour director Christian Prudhomme wore a black armband around his blue shirt. “We are thinking about the families, we offer our condolences to everyone who has been affected, who has lost a loved one”.
“Time-trialling isn’t my forte, so I expected to lose more time to the favourites”. To everyone who is injured, in flesh and in their being.
“With what is happening in France, it gives a different perspective about the race”. “The next minute, I went straight over the top of the motorbike”. I did a good time.
“I’m expecting a very testing week, probably tougher than any of the stages we’ve had up until now, and if Nairo’s history is anything to go by in the third week, he was very strong previous year and really put me under a lot of pressure”.
Advertisement
“I paced it alright I think, it’s just that real fight at the end, when you’ve got exhausted legs anyway, it’s tough going”, said Thomas.
