Chris Froome (Team Sky) all but conceded victory to Richie Porte (BMC) in this year’s Criterium du Dauphine after the Australian dropped him at the summit of Alpe d’Huez to extend his lead in the race with one stage to go. Froome was unable to follow when Porte, Fabio Aru and Alberto Contador lifted the pace in the closing stages of a gripping day’s racing, and although the Team Sky leader only lost 23 seconds to his main rival, he now sits second overall, 1:02 off Porte’s yellow jersey.
“Failing any massive drama out on the road tomorrow I think Richie has got this one wrapped up. I think he’s worked incredibly hard and he’s in fantastic condition. He deserves it. I’m happy for him,” Froome told Cyclingnews at the finish of stage 7.
“It’s going to be very hard,” he added when asked if the overall win was out of reach. “As I said earlier in the week Richie is in amazing form. He’s time trialling and climbing amazingly well so failing any big drama tomorrow he’ll have this one fairly wrapped up.”
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Froome has not yet reached his peak form, and was convincingly beaten into seventh place by Porte on the stage 4 time trial. Stage 6 saw the three-time Tour de France winner rally as he and Porte made the winning move alongside stage winner Jakob Fuglsang on the Mont du Chat. However, the slopes of the Col de Sarenne and the final ascent of Alpe d’Huez saw Porte once again display his current dominance with another sterling ride.
With the Tour de France less than three weeks away, Porte is the benchmark for all his rivals. Yet while Froome was put in difficulty towards the end of the stage, his teammate Peter Kennaugh secured the stage win for Team Sky after making it into the early break and then dropping Ben Swift on the final ascent.
“That was an amazing win for Pete. That was a killer day to be in the break for him and it was a big victory for the team. For me personally it was a tough day backing up after yesterday. I struggled a little bit in the final and lost a bit of time to the main GC guys. I paid for it on the last climb. I just didn’t have the legs,” Froome said.
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