Chris Froome had an amazing ride in today's tough mountain stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Despite being dropped repeatedly, the Brit dug deep to constantly rejoin the main group and managed to finish the stage with all his key rivals.
Chris Froome displayed guts and determination in abundance to finish fifth on stage 11 at the Vuelta a Espana and move up to fourth overall.
The Brit repeatedly found himself in difficulties off the back of the lead group on the San Miguel de Aralar summit finish but dug deep to ride back into contention, finishing alongside his main rivals.
Froome sensationally worked his way back to the head of the race with two kilometres to go and was able to set the pace on the run into the finish as he continues his return to form.
The performance moved him back up to fourth overall, 1:20 behind race leader Alberto Contador but just 12 seconds off third-placed Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step).
Fabio Aru (Astana) emerged with the stage victory after his second acceleration saw him go clear under the flamme rouge to win by six seconds. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) sprinted for the line, finishing in that order, with a dogged Froome given the same finishing time.
Team Sky were active once again and the combination of Philip Deignan and Dario Cataldo set a fierce pace to thin out the lead group, with Froome looking like he might join the scores of dropped riders as he measured his efforts.
Froome didn't give any post-race comments but shared his views on a tough stage via his Twitter account.
"Words can't explain how tough that final climb was today, I'm very relieved to have finished where I did! The fight continues...," he wrote
11.11 - 17.11: Vuelta Ciclística al Ecuador |
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