After waiting six years to pull on the red jersey again at La Vuelta a Espana, Britain’s Chris Froome is determined not to relinquish it without a fight.
The four-time Tour de France champion finished third on Monday’s third stage behind Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, with home favourite David de la Cruz second.
But his efforts were still enough to elevate him into the overall race lead, holding a two-second advantage over De la Cruz, Nicolas Roche and Tejay van Garderen, with Nibali ten seconds back.
Froome made his move with 7.8km remaining of the stage and, while former winner and rival Nibali attacked in the final 400m, the Brit had done enough to move from ninth to first place.
It is the first time he has led the general classification since 2011, a fact not lost on the Team Sky rider.
“It has been a long time (since last wearing the red jersey). It feels amazing to put it back on and to be in this position,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve thought about for a long time. I’ve worked hard to be here after the Tour and I’m really happy to be in this position.
“[Keeping the jersey until the end] is going to be really hard, especially with all the time bonuses out there. There’s just two seconds until the next group of riders so it’s still really close. We can expect a big fight for the jersey.
“I don’t necessarily expect to keep it all the way, especially with it being so close. We’re just going to have to see one day at a time. Obviously we’re going to do everything we can to protect it now.”
Froome has finished second in the Vuelta three times but is aiming to become just the third man to double up by winning the Tour de France and Vuelta in the same year.
Although he was quick to stress that Monday’s success was about far more than just his own efforts.
“It’s the result of a lot of hard work today from my team-mates,” he explained. “We decided to take it on on the penultimate climb and the guys were just fantastic,” he added.
“They laid down a really hard tempo and did a fantastic job, especially a guy like Gianni Moscon – it’s his first Grand Tour with Team Sky.
“When he hit the front the race just blew to bits. He was great today, as were the rest of the guys. It was tough conditions out there – it was really hot today and tough climbs.
“I’ve lost the Vuelta before by 13 seconds so at this point I’m going to fight for every second I can at this point.”
Sportsbeat 2017