Britain’s Chris Froome consolidted his overall lead when he won stage 18 of the Tour de France, a 17km mountain time-trial, between Sallanches and Megève today.
Britain’s Christopher Froome time-trialed his way to victory in the shortest stage of the 2016 Tour de France. Photo: SuperSport
The Team Sky rider set a time of 30:43 to beat Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) by 21 seconds and Italian climber Fabio Aru (Astana) by 33.
The defending champion said he did not expect to beat Dumoulin, who is a specialist in the discipline against the clock.
“I think that the key to the race was about pacing so I started off the first half steady with control and then in the second half I gave it everything that I had.”
With three stages to go, Froome leads Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) by 3:52 and the Brit Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) by 4:17.
Tomorrow’s stage covers 146km from Albertville to Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc.
Stage 18 results
1. Christopher Froome (Sky) 30:43
2. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) +21
3. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro) +33
4. Richie Porte (BMC Racing) +33
5. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) +42
6. Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) +1:02
7. Jon Izaguirre (Movistar) +1:03
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) +1:05
9. Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida) +1:08
10. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +1:10
Selected
37. Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange) +2:29
152. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data) +5:23
General classification
1. Christopher Froome (Sky) 77:55:53
2. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) +3:52
3. Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) +4:17
4. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +4:37
5. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) +4:58
6. Richie Porte (BMC Racing) +5:00
7. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro) +6:08
8. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +6:37
9. Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida) +7:15
10. Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quick-Step) +7:18
Selected
42. Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange) +1:32:09
109. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data) +2:55:48
Points classification
1. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) 425 points
2. Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quick-Step) 228
3. Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) 156
King of the Mountains
1. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) 173 points
2. Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) 90
3. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) 78
See Tour de France for more news, results and photos.
