Froome set for coronation
July 23, 2016For overall leader Chris Froome, Saturday's stage 20, a 146-kilometer (90 miles) up-and-down jaunt Megeve to Morzine, was all about survival. And having already fallen on slick roads yesterday, the Briton must have winced when he saw rain again.
With his colleagues from Team Sky ever mindful not to lose track of any of the competitors, Froome had a relatively relaxed ride and was content to let a group led by France's Julian Alaphilippe and Colombia's Jarlinson Pantano pull away from the peleton.
Spain's Jon Izagirre and Italy's Vicenzo Nibali caught up with Alaphilippe and Pantano 14 kilometers from the end, and the stage was decided by a hair-raising descent, in which Pantano very nearly slid off the road and down a bank.
Izagirre crossed the finish line first with a time of 4:06:45, 19 seconds ahead of Pantano and 42 seconds ahead of Nibali. Alaphilippe was fourth, a further seven seconds back.
Froome stayed on his bicycle and finished 4:18 behind the stage winner, but that result was more than enough for him to achieve his goal of defending the yellow jersey.
"I rode the climb and took it steady on the descent and we had Froome sit on me," said teammate Geraint Thomas. "It was fast but no risks at all."
Romain Bardet, second in the overall standings, cut the Briton's lead to 4:05, but with convention banning any attacks on the Tour's final stage, Froome needs only to finish it to win his third Tour and his second event in a row.
Nairo Quintana is set to finish third. Rafal Majka of Poland has sealed the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.
Stage 20 began with a minute of silence to honor those killed in the Munich shooting on Friday evening.