Bergerac (France): Cracks have appeared in the Team Sky armour during this edition of the Tour de France but defending champion Chris Froome remained on track to claim a fourth title after the opening block of racing.
The Briton survived a day in hell in Sunday’s ninth stage as big rival and long-time friend Richie Porte crashed out, but more importantly, Froome lost his lieutenant Geraint Thomas, who also exited the race after a fall.
Froome is now without his key support, he could not drop his main rivals in the last climb to the Mont du Chat, and was also distanced by last year’s runner-up Romain Bardet in the treacherous final descent.
In addition, Froome had to deal with controversy. Fabio Aru attacked him just as he was requesting assistance because of a mechanical problem on the Mont du Chat. Later Froome appeared to lean onto the Italian, who then almost crashed into the spectators lined up along the route.
Both Froome and Aru played down the incidents – the attack and the alleged retribution. To add to the off-bike worries, Sky found itself in the centre of a row over their time-trial skin suits at the Grand Depart in Germany.
Team principal Dave Brailsford has been snubbing the media since his opening news conference, though Froome and his teammates have been cooperative.
Though Froome picked up a four-second time bonus by finishing third Sunday, he has not yet hammered the opposition.
He leads Aru by 18 seconds and Bardet by 51 going into the second week with the GC battle set to resume in the Pyrenees and the Frenchman, a runner-up last year, promising ‘more battles will be fought’.
However, Froome has so far fought off his main rivals. “You need somebody on par with him and I don’t know if that’s the case. It’s a race that could be Chris Froome’s race,” three-time champion Greg LeMond told this agency.
With a 22-km time trial favouring the Briton on the penultimate day, the race is still Froome’s to lose.
