Chris Froome is looking forward to the penultimate stage of the 102nd Tour De France.
Stage twenty finished on Alpe D'Huez and Froome who lost time to Nairo Quintana but still has a good lead going in the stage before the finale in Paris, Froome told Team Sky.com: “It was a massive day out there and the racing was on from the word go.
“All-in-all it was a pretty good stage for us and we were able to tick another day off. We’ve got one day of serious racing left now. Quintana put in a real big attack there and I chose to ride at my own tempo, limit my losses, and stay within myself ahead of another big day tomorrow.
“It was a tough day for the team, and tough for Geraint losing a lot of time. He was feeling empty after doing such a great job to support me up until now. He’s been there every single day and it’s sad he’s lost his fourth place.
“It’s going to be full-on tomorrow up Alpe d’Huez but I’m actually looking forward to it – it’s the most iconic stage of this year’s Tour. It’s going to be epic out there. It would be a dream to take the stage win, but I’ll have to keep up with a little Colombian first.”
Froome was not happy about Vincenzo Nibali chosing to attack when he was having to deal with a stone stuck in his wheel and said: “Close to the summit of the Col du Glandon my back wheel locked up and a bit of tar or a small stone had locked itself between my brake calipers and my back wheel, so I had to stop, take the wheel backwards and get the stone out. Unfortunately, that was the moment Nibali had decided to make his move.”
Astana team manager Alexandre Vinokourov felt that his rider was innocent and said: "As for Froome's mechanical incident, the radio never said there was a problem and Vincenzo does not have eyes in the back of his head."
Alberto Contador felt that the day was a matter of survival and said: "It was a matter of survival today. I had bad legs from the start and bad cramps on the Croix de Fer and the rest of the day. I needed to save strength and I asked my team-mates to pull ahead to slow the pace. Nibali played it very well. For my part, I used my experience more than anything else to limit the damage in spite of my cramps."
Geraint Thomas has said that he felt like a cheap nail after stage nineteen of the 102nd Tour De France.
The Team Sky rider started the day fourth on General Classification but lost twenty two minutes on a day where Vincenzo Nibali took the win and Chris Froome lost time to Nairo Quintana.
Speaking after the stage, Thomas said: “I don't even know what happened, actually. I was just empty today. It was always going to happen, but I was hoping it was going to come on Monday. I just didn't have anything.
"As they say, sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail. I was a cheap little Ikea nail today. It was terrible.”
Source: DSG
