Chris Froome retains yellow jersey as BMC Racing win team time trial by one second
Briton is 12 seconds ahead of his closest rival as the Tour takes a break on Monday
Chris Froome stayed firmly on track for the Tour de France title when he retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey after the ninth stage, a 28-kilometre team time trial won by the slimmest of margins by BMC Racing on Sunday.
Heading into Monday’s rest day, Froome has the edge over his main rivals, who were hoping to take advantage of the Briton’s supposed weaknesses in the tricky opening block of racing.
It’s definitely not for me to be attacking at the moment. Right now the biggest rival is Tejay van Garderen
The 2013 champion will now be keen to all but wrap up the race as it goes into the mountains – the Pyrenees in the second week and the Alps in the third.
On Sunday, BMC Racing clocked 32 minutes 15 seconds to beat Sky by one second and Froome now leads American Tejay van Garderen by 12 seconds overall.
“If you had told me I’d be in yellow at this point I would not have believed it,” Froome said.
“It’s definitely not for me to be attacking at the moment. Right now the biggest rival is Tejay van Garderen.”
