Status quo was restored in the Tour de France on Saturday as Chris Froome (Team Sky) found himself back in the yellow jersey in what should have been a pretty innocuous uphill sprint in Rodez on Saturday, just two days after he stumbled in Pyrenees and loaned the jersey to Fabio Aru (Astana).
The three-time champion had faltered on the steep final ramp in Peyragudes on Thursday, but had superior teammates, attention and positioning going into the final 500-metre kick to the line in Rodez, ending the day on the right side of some significant splits in the peloton.
Aru, however, was caught out and shipped 24 seconds and the maillot jaune to Froome, while Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) lost 21. Rigoberto Uran (Canondale-Drapac) and Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) were the only GC riders to finish on the same time as Froome, with third-placed Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and white jersey Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) finishing four seconds down. Landa, himself, lost 14 seconds.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I am absolutely shocked to see the same times gaps today as in the Pyrenees, where I had that tough day," said Froome in his yellow jersey press conference, which was limited to just three questions.
Shocked at the scale of the gaps, but not shocked by the gaps themselves. Froome was well aware that the route of this year's Tour – with just three summit finishes and 36.5 time trial kilometres – would make for a tight race, and that every second would count.
Indeed, the kind of scraps he picked up last year with those attacks on the Peyresourde descent and in the Montpellier crosswinds, which were ultimately largely irrelevant in view of the huge time trial gains, might be of much more significance this time around.
Bouncing back
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2tsScJX
No comments:
Post a Comment