Staying in front has meant staying out of trouble so far for Chris Froome at the Tour de France.
After a crash-marred first week of the race, the 2013 champion is exactly in the position he wants to be — healthy and wearing the yellow jersey.
The British rider’s title defense ended early last year, when he fell three times in two days and, battered and bruised, went out of the Tour de France on stage 5. This year, he has avoided all three big crashes so far after making up his mind to push ahead of any potential dangers.
Photo: AP
“Given what happened last year, it was a big goal for me mentally rather than physically to arrive with the attitude that I’m here to ride at the front of the race,” Froome said after Friday’s seventh stage. “We’ve been proactive in doing more work than normal in order to try and stay safe.”
Mark Cavendish won a sprint finish on Friday for his 26th career Tour de France stage victory — his first since 2013 after also crashing out last year. He dedicated his win to his Etixx-Quick Step teammate Tony Martin, who broke a collarbone in a crash in Thursday’s sixth stage, forcing him to withdraw while wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey.
Froome inherited the lead, but did not wear the yellow jersey during stage 7 as a mark of respect for Martin.
“It wasn’t ideal to get the yellow in this way,” Froome said.
With the tough mountain stages still to come — starting with the Pyrenees next week — Froome is in a strong position. He leads two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador by 36 seconds, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali by 1 minute, 38 seconds and Nairo Quintana, the 2013 runner-up, by 1 minutes, 56 seconds.
US rider Tejay van Garderen, a strong climber with a best overall Tour de France finish of fifth place, is shaping up as a dangerous outsider.
Meanwhile, the race was hit by its first doping case, as Italian rider Luca Paolini was thrown out after testing positive for cocaine on Tuesday, the day of the fourth stage, cycling’s governing body said.
The Katusha rider can request a “B” sample to be tested. In accordance with International Cycling Union (UCI) anti-doping rules, Paolini has been provisionally suspended. In March, the one-day classics specialist posted his first victory in nearly two years to win Gent-Wevelgem.
On a roasting hot afternoon, Cavendish timed his attack to perfection to catch German sprinter Andre Greipel near the line. Only Eddy Merckx with 34 stage wins and Bernard Hinault with 28 have won more Tour de France stages than Cavendish.
Stage 7 started from Livarot — a town in Normandy — and ended 190.5km later in Fougeres, nestled in Brittany.
Saturday’s eighth stage, which stays in Brittany, is a mostly flat 181.5km trek starting from Rennes and finishing with a short climb up Mur de Bretagne.
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