Tour de France 2015: Chris Froome survives frantic day to keep Tour glory in reach

Froome has just one serious test remaining

Team Sky’s Chris Froome suffered a difficult day in the Tour de France yesterday but still takes a healthy lead into today’s critical ascent of Alpe d’Huez (AP)

The cycling gods frowned on Chris Froome in the Tour de France on Friday on a stage where he was attacked by a rival while dealing with a mechanical problem, got spat at by a spectator two kilometres from the finish line and – to cap it all – lost 30 seconds to his main rival Nairo Quintana.

On a difficult day for Team Sky, Geraint Thomas, previously fourth overall and an outside bet for finishing on the podium alongside Froome, was dropped early on and lost 22 minutes, plummeting to 15th in the general classification.

The ceremonial procession in Paris takes place on Sunday so Froome just has to cope with today’s tricky Alpe d’Huez climb to seal Tour de France glory, but he would have liked a less rocky road on his penultimate day of proper racing.

Froome’s problems began in earnest on the interminable ascent of the Croix de Fer yesterday. Just as he was having to stop at the side of the road, his Italian rival Vincenzo Nibali opted to make up for what has been a disastrous Tour so far, by looking over his shoulder, seeing Froome trying to remove a stone that was lodged in between his brake and his wheel, and trying to attack.

Froome’s problem cost him perhaps 30 seconds to resolve. But by the time he got back to the main group of favourites, the Italian Astana rider had gone clear. He would next be seen by Froome at the finishing podium after the stage, which Nibali won solo, finally having an impact on the race after a disastrous first two weeks in which he has been a shadow of the rider who won the Tour in 2014.

Furious with Nibali for what he viewed as unsportsmanlike behaviour, Froome said he had not minced his words after the stage, saying: “I just explained exactly what I thought of him.

“It seemed to me that Nibali had had the whole climb to attack but he chose the moment when I had a mechanical. I heard from other riders he turned and that he could see what was going on. That, in my opinion, is very unsportsmanlike, it is definitely not what this race is about.

Chris Froome, wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, climbs Croix de Fer pass during the 19th stage of the Tour de France (AP)

“I’m not going to repeat what he said, it’s too rude,” Nibali said later, “but I didn’t see there were any problems when I attacked. I wasn’t looking in his direction.”

Nibali has already had one run-in with Froome in this year’s Tour, after a stage to Le Havre when the Italian wrongly thought the Briton had caused a crash and later admitted his mistake. This time there was, in Nibali’s opinion, no such error, and it remains to be seen how the dispute will resolve itself.

Although Nibali, more than eight minutes down before the stage, could not be considered a major threat to his lead, Froome faced a more worrying challenge when the Colombian Nairo Quintana zipped off the front five kilometres from the stage finish at La Toussuire ski station.

Froome then put in one of his trademark high-speed accelerations to try to counter the Movistar rider’s move, spinning his gears furiously and shattering the chase group behind as he set off in lone pursuit. On the comparatively shallow upper slopes of La Toussuire, the gap inched out much more slowly, with Froome crossing the line in third place, half a minute behind the Colombian.

Froome now has a second Tour de France victory within reach as his overall lead on Quintana is a comfortable two minutes and 46 seconds. But Quintana regaining time on Froome is the first point since the Tour left Utrecht at which the Briton has seemed even slightly vulnerable.

Christopher Froome (L), wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, and Colombia's Nairo Quintana at the start of stage 19 (GETTY IMAGES)

Froome played down the attack, saying: “When he went, I didn’t stress out, I went into time-trial mode and chased him steadily. With tomorrow in mind, I couldn’t go too deep.”

Even if Froome losing the Tour outright so late in the game seems deeply improbable, Quintana’s attack will provide some timely added drama to today’s final mountain-top finish, on Alpe d’Huez. Memories are still fresh of how Froome lost over a minute there to the Colombian when the race last visited the Tour’s most iconic climb back in 2013.

Barely a week after he was doused with urine, yesterday Froome also had to deal with the issue of fan violence yet again after a member of the public spat at him two kilometres from the line. The Briton did not even see the fan, but as he said later: “People have to remember that first and foremost we’re human beings and then we’re sportsmen. It’s just not acceptable to come to a race for that reason and to do that.”

The question of crowd violence is a sensitive one, given that today the race will tackle the Alpe d’Huez, where spectators are notoriously rowdy. “Everyone in the peloton is always a little bit on their tiptoes on that climb, a bit nervous, but hopefully it won’t be any different to last time,” Froome said.

Sky’s tough day at the office was compounded by Thomas’s hard time on the third of four Alpine stages, with the Welshman losing time on the first climb and then cracking completely on the Croix de Fer.

“I was just empty today,” Thomas said. “It was always going to happen and it happened today.”

Having come through every mountain stage with flying colours until now, Thomas suffered badly, saying: “Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail. I was a cheap nail today. It was a tough start, when you’ve just got nothing in the legs, there’s nothing you can do.”

After he has provided key support to Froome on all the mountain stages so far, Thomas’s absence was not as critical as it might have been, with the Netherlands’ Wout Poels stepping up for the final two climbs. But the yellow jersey is Sky’s main concern they will be hoping for a smoother day on Saturday.