The race may not be going the way he's accustomed to, but Chris Froome welcomed Mikel Landa's leap up the overall standings on stage 13 of the Tour de France, arguing that the Spaniard is a "great card" tactically, and going as far as saying his teammate is now a "real threat" for the title.
Landa's strength, contrasting with a moment of weakness from Froome, was laid bare on the Peyragudes runway on Thursday afternoon, where faint shades of Froome's own rivalry with Bradley Wiggins unfolded on the same mountain and Team Sky DS Nicolas Portal appeared to admonish Landa outside the bus.
The notion that Landa could become a contender for this Tour de France was enhanced on Friday's explosive mountain stage, as the Spaniard went up the road with Alberto Contador. Having started the day 10th overall at 2:55, he was just 20 seconds off the virtual race lead at one point.
ADVERTISEMENT
Froome, who attacked towards the top of the third and final climb, retained his leadership status in the team in the end, with the yellow jersey group finishing 1:49 down on Landa's group. Landa now sits fifth overall, 1:09 down on race leader Fabio Aru and 1:03 down on Froome.
"We saw yesterday that Mikel was feeling great so it was a great card for us to play today. I've got a lot of faith in Mikel and I think he showed that today," Froome told reporters outside the Team Sky bus in Foix.
"He's a real threat now for the overall title in Paris and it's a great card for us to play, especially when Astana don't have the numbers to control the race."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2t0dkYt
No comments:
Post a Comment