London - Chris Froome defended his slender overall lead at the Tour de France as the riders dealt with plunging temperatures and hailstones on the final climb to Arcalis in Andorra.
He demonstrated his descending skills to win on Saturday and take the yellow jersey, and yesterday provided a test of Froome’s climbing ability. On what was billed as the hardest stage, with 4,640 metres of climbing over five mountains, the 2015 champion came under relentless attack on the first uphill finish of this year’s race.
And yet, surprisingly, it was not Nairo Quintana, Froome’s biggest rival, who put him under pressure, but Dan Martin, Bauke Mollema and Adam Yates, the 23-year-old from Bury who wears the white jersey of best young rider and sits second overall to Froome.
Martin, who was born in Birmingham but represents Ireland, moved up to third.And, while Yates can spend today’s rest day reflecting on an extraordinary week, yesterday was the end of the road for Alberto Contador, the two-time winner who quit the race through illness.
It was a Dutchman, Tom Dumoulin, who won the stage, attacking from the breakaway to take the last climb on his own.
But as Dumoulin was celebrating, the favourites were involved in a shootout further down the mountain. The touch paper was lit by Froome’s team-mate, Sergio Henao. Team Sky had controlled the pace but when they had all been dropped and only Henao and Froome were left, Henao jumped.
In the flurry of attacks that followed, Froome had a go himself, but Quintana was on him in a flash. The Colombian shadowed Froome all the way up.
The temperature went from 35°C to 10°C and hailstones the size of marbles came crashing down. ‘One minute we were pouring water over ourselves in the heat, the next minute we had hailstones falling on us,’ said Froome. ‘It was a fairly crazy change in temperature. You had to ride with your face down and that made it quite tough, quite challenging. There were a lot of attacks on that final climb and I was hoping to gain some more time as well, but in the end I just made sure to close any gaps and not lose any time.’
All the way up to Arcalis, Froome was glancing over his shoulder, bracing himself for an acceleration from Quintana, but it never came. ‘He seems to be going well but he’s not showing any more than anyone else,’ added Froome.
More likely Quintana is saving himself for the final week, and four exceptionally hard days in the Alps. In the two Tours he has won Froome has weakened in the final week, whereas Quintana - who has finished second on both occasions - has appeared to get stronger.
Daily Mail