Froome seizes yellow jersey with solo win in Pyrenees
BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON, France — Defending champion Chris Froome took his rivals by surprise with a daring downhill attack that earned him the race leader’s yellow jersey at the eighth stage of the Tour de France on Saturday.
Leading at the top of the final climb of the Tour’s second Pyrenean stage, a tough 114-mile ride from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon, he attacked when least expected on the grueling Col de Peyresourde.
In his two wins at cycling’s biggest event, in 2013 and 2015, the 31-year-old Team Sky leader had asserted his authority on the race in the first mountaintop finish.
Given that track record, the other leading contenders didn’t expect Froome to make a move before Sunday’s stage to the ski resort of Andorre-Arcalis.
Crouched over his handlebars for extra aerodynamics, he opened a 20-second lead and used his time trial qualities to resist the chase, posting a sixth career stage win on the Tour.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme was also among those praising Froome’s unexpected move, lauding “his great panache.”
The British outfit set the pace at the front and prevented Froome’s challengers from trying their luck in hot temperatures, and increased the tempo on the final climb.
Froome gritted his teeth as he crossed the line, raising both arms in celebration and then pumping his right fist emphatically.
After losing more than three minutes to the main contenders in Friday’s first Pyrenean stage, Frenchman Thibaut Pinot attacked at the foothill of the mountain pass.
Pinot stepped up the pace in the final kilometer of climbing, cheered by fans lining the road, but was dropped in the Col de Val Louron-Azet.
Former Tour winner Alberto Contador’s struggles continued and the Spaniard lost 1:41 to Froome, dropping to 20th overall, 3:12 back.
Scaling five mountain passes, the 115-mile route concludes with a “beyond category” uphill finish in the Alpine principality of Andorra.