Defending champion Chris Froome attacked on the descent of the Col de Peyresourde to win the eighth stage of the 2016 Tour de France to surge into the overall lead today.
The Team Sky leader surprised the favourites when he took the initiative as soon as the leaders crested the last climb of the day on the 184km stage from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon in the French Pyrenees.
“I thought I would give it a try,” Froome said about his attack on the downhill. “I had one or two goes on the climb but nothing that was really sticking.
“I thought over the top let’s give it a go and see what I can do on the descent and see if I can catch someone out. It was like old-school bike racing – just fun.
“Maybe I spent a little bit too much. Tomorrow is going to be a really hard day. Twenty seconds are not a huge margin but I’ll take every second I can get.”
Ireland’s Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quick-Step) finished 13 seconds behind Froome in second with Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) third in the same time.
Stage eight results
1. Christopher Froome (Team Sky) 4:57:33
2. Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) 0’13”
3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Team Katusha) 0’13”
4. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) 0’13”
5. Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff Team) 0’13”
6. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) 0’13”
7. Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) 0’13”
8. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) 0’13”
9. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) 0’13”
10. Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) 0’13”
Selected
13. Louis Meintjes (Lampre – Merida)
52. Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange)
107. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data)
General classification
1. Christopher Froome (Team Sky) 39:13:04
2. Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) 0’16”
3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Team Katusha) 0’16”
4. Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) 0’17”
5. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) 0’19”
6. Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) 0’23”
7. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) 0’23”
8. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) 0’23”
9. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) 0’23”
10. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) 0’23”
Selected
13. Louis Meintjes (Lampre – Merida)
44. Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange) 28’02”
109. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) 1:08:37
Points classification
1. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) 204 points
2. Marcel Kittel (Etixx – Quick-Step) 182
3. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Team) 177
King of the Mountains
1. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff Team) 31 points
2. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) 30
3. Christopher Froome (Team Sky) 22
See Tour de France for more news, results and photos.
