Chris Froome enjoying being aggressive at the Tour of the Alps
Chris Froome (Team Sky) again went on the offensive at the Tour of the Alps, testing his rivals with different attacks as he looks for a stage victory, fights for the overall classification and polishes his form for the rapidly approaching Giro d'Italia.
Froome missed Fabio Aru's attack on the Banneberg climb 15km from the finish in Lienz but Team Sky domestique Kenny Elissonde again stepped up to help to close down the move. Froome then made two attacks that split the front group of overall contenders and went again on the valley road towards the finish. Froome used his aggression on the descent to line-up a slingshot move and tried to time trial away from his rivals.
The elastic almost snapped as he opened a gap but eventual stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) manage to pull him back, with Aru forced to lead the chasers up to the trio.
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Froome eventually finished tenth with the other overall contenders but was smiling as he reached the Team Sky bus after another day of champagne cycling.
"This is great. It feels like going back a few years," Froome said with a smile.
"It's very short, sharp stages here, so it does lead to very aggressive racing. The GC is very right too; I think there are less than 20 seconds between the top four or five on GC. That makes it aggressive."
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