Britain rider reinforces grip on yellow jersey after winning 15th stage of Tour de France
Britain’s Chris Froome took another step towards yellow jersey triumph on the Tour de France with a second mountaintop victory of the 100th edition at Mont Ventouxu00a0yesterday.
Race leader Christopher Froome celebrates before crossing the finish line at the end of the 242.5 km fifteenth stage of the 100th edition of the Tour de France between Givors and Mont Ventoux yesterday. PIC/AFP
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Team Sky leader Froome finished just ahead of Colombian Nairo Quintana of Movistar after attacking a small group of rivals 7.2km from the summit finish of the 20.8km climb to the ‘Giant of Provence’.
Spain’s former two-time winner Alberto Contador (Saxo) was unable to respond when Froome spun away from a small group of riders having seen many of them drop off the pace following a strong relay from Australian teammate Richie Porte.
Having started the 242.5km 15th stage 2min 48secs down on Froome, Contador finished in sixth at 1:40 to drop to 4:25 behind the leader and 11secs adrift of second-placed Dutchman Bauke Mollema.
Fourth career win
It is Froome’s fourth career stage win on the race and second of the 100th edition after his victory atop Ax-Trois-Domaines in the Pyrenees on last Sunday's eighth stage.
“It’s a mythic climb. It’s the biggest win of my career,” said Froome, who added that he needed oxygen at the finish to help him breathe. u00a0“It was my aim today to take as much time as possible for the GC (general classification).”
On what was the longest stage of the race, expectations were high that Froome’s Sky team, having lost two key riders in recent days, would come under attack from a number of teams chasing various goals in the race.
Sky, however, put the setback of losing Vasili Kiryienka and Edvald Boasson Hagen behind them on their way towards placing Froome in the perfect position thanks to a long spell of fast pace-setting early on the final climb.
A nine-man breakaway had escaped earlier in the day and as none were a threat to the yellow jersey, they were allowed to build a lead of seven minutes on the chasing bunch.
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