Bagnères-de-Luchon, France – When Chris Froome took the yellow jersey with a brutal uphill attack in the 2015 Tour de France, he faced a barrage of doping insinuations but this year he seized control of the race in a descent and has been spared any controversy.
Britain’s Team Sky rider had humiliated his rivals with a stunning acceleration up to La Pierre Saint Martin last year, prompting a heated debate about his power data and the possible use of a hidden motor.
Saturday’s move in the final downhill section of the eighth stage, a 184-km ride from Pau, took his rivals by surprise, and probably Froome’s critics as well.
“No doubt people out there will be calculating my VAM (average descent speed) going down the last climb, and that it was off the charts,” the defending champion, who has always vigorously denied doping, said with a smile.
“I can’t be happier to be in yellow again, it’s an amazing feeling, I’m enjoying it.”
Froome, gunning for a third Tour title, attacked where his rivals were not expecting him to and gained 13 seconds on them, plus a 10-second time bonus for his stage win.
He leads fellow Briton Adam Yates (Orica-Bike Exchange) and Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) by 16 seconds ahead of Sunday’s uphill finish in Andorra Arcalis.
Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford praised his rider, saying it “took some balls” for Froome to take such risks in the descent as he reached a maximum speed of about 90km/h.
“I thought over the top let me just give it a go and see what I can do on the descent – I’ll see if I can catch someone out,” said Froome.
“It was real old school bike racing. Maybe I spent a little bit too much (energy). Let’s see, tomorrow is going to be a really hard day. Sixteen seconds is not a huge margin but I’ll take every second I can at this point.
“It’s just a really good feeling. The guys rode all day today so I felt like I owed something to them to really give it my all for the stage.”
– Reuters