Chris Froome (Team Sky) suffered a surprise defeat on the Alta de Allanadas summit finish on stage 2 of the Ruta del Sol, but denied that the media storm surrounding his participation in the race was the reason.
Froome is competing in his first race since news broke in December of his adverse analytical finding for salbutamol at the 2017 Vuelta a España. He said he was "not on a great day" and that he had struggled somewhat as a result, getting dropped from the lead group with less than a kilometre to go.
The Briton did not crack completely, however, and crossed the line in seventh place, 27 seconds down on stage winner and teammate Wout Poels, and 25 seconds behind his best-placed rival, Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana).
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Although sweating from his exertion in the unexpectedly warm afternoon sunshine – as were many other riders – Froome pedalled smoothly across the finish line and continued to ride a little around the finish area. He then briefly responded to reporters' questions before riding down the 6km climb to his team bus.
"Wout's win is an amazing result for the team," Froome said. "I wasn't feeling super but I think for my first race of the season, I'm happy with at least being up there or thereabouts and there's definitely a lot more to come."
Froome had warned before the stage that he wasn't on a great day, and that the team could use other options. Although he stayed with the leaders for most of the climb, he was never looking to be on the front foot, and on a climb with segments of up to 17 per cent, Froome finally cracked three quarters of the way up.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/chris-froome-slips-behind-on-final-climb-at-ruta-del-sol
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