Froome lights up Tour de France Stage 17

Froome lights up Tour de France Stage 17

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Tour de France 2013 stage 17 | Embrun - Chorges (32km ITT)
Event: 17 July 2013
Report: Luke Webber

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Team Sky’s Chris Froome dealt what seemed to be the final blow to his general classification rivals on stage 17 of the Tour de France, with another dominating time trial performance.


Froome in full flight, during his winning time trial earlier in the Tour de France

Froome however, insisted his win came as a surprise on a stage he started with the intention of limiting his losses rather than winning.

"I was thinking about the days to come and I didn't see that coming at all" Froome said, after crossing the line.

On a course consisting of two climbs, the now familiar yellow skinsuit left the start house as the final rider on the road in an aerodynamic position, paying attention to both the physical and technical demands of the 32km test.

That included making a bike change mid-course, as the climbing gave way to sections more suited to a time trial specific machine.

It was at this stage Froome gained the essential advantage over nearest rival Alberto Contador who elected not to change bikes.

And Froome underlined his class by winning the stage facing wet sections of road, while Contador had an entirely dry run.

Overturning an eleven second deficit at the top of the final climb and turning it into a nine second advantage by the finish, Froome's lead on General Classification stretched to 4 minutes 34 seconds.

Analysing his performance, Froome acknowledged those elements contributed to the ride significantly.

"I didn't think the weather was going in my direction, the first descent had dried up by the time I got there so that was good. The bike change very well could have been the difference, I needed the bigger gearing, I established that in course training and for the race I made sure I had bigger gears."

Result - Stage 17

1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:51:33
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:51:42
3 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha 0:51:43
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:51:56
5 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:52:03
6 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:52:44
7 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:53:05
8 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:53:07
9 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:53:14
10 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:53:24

General Classification

1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 66:07:09
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 66:11:43
3 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 66:12:00
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 66:13:32
5 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 66:14:07
6 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha 66:14:30
7 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 66:15:32
8 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 66:16:05
9 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 66:18:19
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 66:19:59