Overall leader Britain’s Christopher Froome celebrates wearing the yellow jersey on the podium at the end of the 172.5km eighteenth stage of the 100th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Gap and Alpe-d’Huez, French Alps.
L’ALPE D’HUEZ, France: Chris Froome showed rare signs of weakness yesterday despite extending his overall lead on the Tour de France in the 18th stage, won after two epic ascents of l’Alpe d’Huez by France’s Christophe Riblon.
The Briton cracked with less than five kilometres to go on the second trip up the mountain’s 21 hairpin bends but sent team-mate Richie Porte to fetch some food and the Australian nursed Froome to the finish 3:18 behind Riblon, who became the first Frenchman to win a stage in this year’s race.
“I was running low on sugars,” Froome told reporters.
“I am thankful to have Richie with me he did a super, super job.”
Froome and Porte were each given a 20-second penalty for illegal feeding as organisers said the riders were not allowed to take food or liquid from the team car during the final six km of the stage.
However, Froome still leads Alberto Contador by 5:11, after the Spaniard struggled to keep the pace in the final ascent following a bold but brief attack on the treacherous descent from the Col de Sarenne.
“I was not well. It was very hot and humid. It was a bad day,” Contador, Tour winner in 2007 and 2009, told reporters. “But I managed to limit the damage.”
Contador, who was 11th on the stage, 57 seconds behind Froome, heads Colombian Nairo Quintana by 21 seconds overall after the Movistar climber, targeting a podium finish in Paris, took fourth place.
“I’ve never been as happy as I am today - I’ve gone from sixth to third overall,” Quintana said.
Predictably, Contador attacked in the descent from the Col de Sarenne along with team-mate Roman Kreuziger, only for the pair to sit up after opening a gap of just 20 seconds over Froome and co.
Quintana’s Movistar team drilled it at the front of the favourites’ group as Contador changed bike because of a minor technical problem.
The Spaniard was left once again with no answer to Froome’s acceleration but the British rider also struggled by the end as Joaquim Rodriguez and Quintana sped away. REUTERS
