Barring catastrophe, Chris Froome will be crowned Tour de France champion in Paris on Sunday after surviving his final test in the leader’s yellow jersey, finishing third at the Alpine ski resort of Semnoz.
All that remains is the processional ride into Paris, before Mark Cavendish and the other sprinters battle it out on the Champs-Élysées, but Froome’s victory is all but guaranteed, and with it the honour of becoming the second British Tour de France winner — only a year after the first.
Although Froome’s overall lead was commanding coming into the third of three tough days in the Alps, he and his Sky team were taking nothing for granted. They controlled the race until the lower slopes of the final 10km climb to Semnoz, when the attacks started and Froome took over.
He seemed to have no difficulty following his rivals Nairo Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez, with his only moment of stress coming when some over-excited roadside spectators crowded him out and his fist shot out, catching one of them clean in the face.
Froome even tried a couple of attacks himself, most seriously 8km from the summit, but he was reeled in by Quintana and Rodriguez, and it was Quintanta, the little Colombian climber, who took off in the final 2km to win the stage. Rodriguez distanced Froome for second, with Froome admitting that for the final 3km he had been at his limit.
Source:Daily Mail
