Not even ill fortune, it seems, can deny Chris Froome (Sky) final overall victory at the Tour de France, and though his crash on the rain-soaked descent of the Cote de Domancy on Friday was a timely reminder that the race isn’t quite over until he carries yellow safely to Paris, he appears inured to bad luck.
Froome rode up the final haul of Le Bettex on Geraint Thomas’ bike and with his yellow jersey bloodied and torn, and at times he seemed to be struggling to hold the wheel of teammate Wout Poels. Yet by day’s end, he had still extended his lead atop the overall standings, and he now lies 4:11 ahead of Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale), who moved up second by dint of winning the stage to Saint-Gervais.
Bardet, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) et al will doubtless watch Froome very vigilantly on the opening climb of the Col des Aravis on Saturday, searching for signals that his injuries are more serious than first thought, but the Briton’s buffer is so much, his team is so strong and the battle for the other podium places so tight that he would have to be flagging very obviously for anyone to even consider testing him.
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Froome skipped his press conference after stage 19 in order to have his injuries examined further, but there seemed to be confidence in the Sky camp that he would be fit for purpose for the final day in the Alps. “If he makes a good night, with the physio and everything, he should be ok,” Wout Poels said.
On the corresponding stage a year ago, of course, Froome faded dramatically and very suddenly on the road to Alpe d’Huez, but on that occasion, he was racing against a Quintana who was warming to the idea that he might be able to win the Tour. This time around, Froome races against men who have been resigned for some time to competing for the minor placings, and they may be unwilling to bring the fight to him now.
“I’m sure I’m going to be a bit stiff after today,” Froome said on Friday evening, but for more than a week, he has been competing in a race of his own. In the shadow of Mont Blanc, he effectively conceded a handicap to his rivals by racing on a teammate’s bike rather than his own, and still they could scarcely shake him. Froome remains the only man who can beat Froome.
Five in contention for the podium
No risks?
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