CHOLET, France - Chris Froome was booed by a section of the public on the starting ramp but otherwise enjoyed a great day in the Tour de France team time-trial on Monday where his Team Sky were edged by four seconds by winners BMC.
Belgian team Quick Step came third at seven seconds but because Fernando Gaviria was dropped along the route he failed to reclaim the race leader's yellow jersey, which was instead claimed by BMC's Olympic road race champion Greg van Avermaet.
"It's a great feeling and very good for the team. I have my chances to win tomorrow too and also at the Roubaix," said Van Avermaet. The Belgian fans were quick to point out that one of their riders would be wearing the Tour de France yellow jersey on the day their team play France in football's World Cup semi-finals.
It was also a very satisfying day for Froome, the Kenyan-born Briton ignoring some booing at the start line and working with his team to make up some of the valuable time he lost on Saturday's first stage.
Defending champion Froome lost four seconds to Richie Porte, but took five seconds off British rival Adam Yates, eight seconds off world champion Tom Dumoulin of Sunweb, 50 seconds off Colombia's Nairo Quintana and was a less-than-expected 1min 11sec quicker than French hope Romain Bardet.
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— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2018