Chris Froome finds energy to fight on

APPLAUD Alberto Contador for his fighting spirit. Applaud him for his determination to make this 100th Tour de France a race and not a procession.

APPLAUD Alberto Contador for his fighting spirit. Applaud him for his determination to make this 100th Tour de France a race and not a procession.

His intention has, indeed, been laudable, although yesterday was proof again that he is not as good as his word.

This epic race to Paris has been kept alive by the idea that no matter how many times you kill him off, Contador will always come back from the dead.

Froome, however, has coped with every resurrection and, on a famous mountainside heaving with noise and colour, he delivered such a telling blow that he was able to discuss Contador and his rivals afterwards as if they were competing for second place rather than for the yellow jersey.

Yesterday taught us that while Contador is not strong enough to beat Froome on his own, only a calamity of another kind can now be his undoing. With more than half an ascent of Alpe d'Huez still to run yesterday, Froome felt his energy reserves dwindling, exactly the kind of crisis that can spell disaster.

He was on the verge of what is known as a "bonk", when the power goes because there is no fuel left to drive it, and when a rider can lose minutes fast. Some quick thinking and some tidy rule-breaking was required to rescue him. However, he recognised the danger signs.

So did Contador, who looked here like a beaten man. With Roman Kreuziger, his teammate, Contador had attacked Froome on the dangerous descent of the Col de Sarenne and a game of chase ensued with the Saxo-Tinkoff duo pushing hard to distance themselves and with Froome and Team Sky working to keep them within reach.

It was Froome who got the best of that one. Contador never significantly distanced himself and when they were all back together at the foot of Alpe d'Huez climb for the second time, it appeared that he had already given too much. The last climb thus provided an amphitheatre for a gripping denouement to a stunning race stage. And danger too. Riding through crowded corridors of fans Froome was almost unseated when a child came across his path; Richie Porte almost came off, entangled with a flag.

Up ahead, a great finish was being fought out, rewarding the crammed roadsides with that most unusual of treats: a French winner. On the earlier, fraught descent of the Sarenne, the only notable casualty was Christophe Riblon, the 32-year-old from the AG2R La Mondiale team, who misjudged a corner and managed to limit the damage by riding on to a grassy verge.

He then set off in pursuit of the lead, which was held by Tejay van Garderen, the American, eventually tracking him down over the painful final hairpins, and then reeling him in with two kilometres to run.

Farther back, the brutal race for honours had already begun to unfold. With more than 11km to go, Froome attacked Contador. It took two efforts and required only the second to break him. If the attacking seemed early, Froome would pay later. He powered away from the Spaniard, with Nairo Quintana, the young Colombian, for company, soon pursued by Porte.

Porte caught his teammate, paced him uphill and then, when Froome felt the energy draining from him, it was Porte who went back to the car for some energy gels. This was a massive day for Froome's faithful lieutenant. Without Porte, he would have been in trouble; with his assistance, he was able to grind the entire way to the finish on Porte's wheel.

He did not hold back in his praise for Porte afterwards. Asked how good a rider Porte is, he replied: "Personally I think he is the second best GC rider in this race." However, the pair of them were forced to pay for Froome's bonk. The race rules declare that riders cannot take food from a team car within the last 6km. Because it was Porte who collected the energy gels and Froome who consumed them, they were both given a 20-second time penalty.

Froome had hoped that, because it was Porte who collected the food, Porte alone would be penalised. Nevertheless, he accepted the penalty. Contador rolled in 57 seconds behind him, a deficit reduced to 37sec. But the overall time gap is now 5min 11sec.

Even with two big mountain days to come, that is a considerable lead. Maybe more importantly, somewhere at the foot of the Alpe d'Huez, the concept of "Contador the comeback man" was finally laid to rest.

The Times