Chris Froome relieved to retain Tour de France lead after Lilian Calmejane's stage win
Froome veered off track at one point but recovered to retain the lead going into stage nine
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Your support makes all the difference.Chris Froome survived a brief off-road excursion to retain the yellow jersey as Frenchman Lilian Calmejane overcame cramp to win stage eight of the Tour de France.
Froome admitted he saw his Tour hopes flash before his eyes as he and Geraint Thomas went wide on a descent 45 kilometres from the end of the 187.5km stage from Dole to Station des Rousses, with Froome going into the grass and gravel while Thomas collided with a hay bale.
Froome stayed upright and carried on his way, while Thomas was able to get back in after dusting himself off, with neither losing any time as Froome continues to lead the race by 12 seconds from his Sky team-mate. Italian national champion Fabio Aru is a further two seconds back in third.
“That's just a little bit of a reminder of how quickly things can change in the Tour,” Froome said. “One minute everything is going well, the next you're in the ditch with your team-mate over the barrier lying next to you.
“That's the nature of the race. It's really scary. You think about all the things that could happen in the race. You never foresee anything like that popping up. It's just one corner that twisted back on itself more than you expected and it could be the moment that ends your race.”
Thomas went straight over a hay bale before picking himself up and pacing his way back in.
“The boys went into the corner a bit hot and I was just looking to my side for a split-second so I was late braking,” he said. “I went into the gravel and still had a bit too much speed so it was either go off down into the woods or into a hay bale. I chose the hay bale. But I'm fine. I front-flipped over and landed on my back.”
The Welshman, who had previously hit the tarmac in crashes on stages two and four, added: “It took off the scab from the other day so it looks worse than it is.”
Direct Energie's Calmejane attacked out of the remnants of a large breakaway on the final climb of the day, the category one Montee de la Combe de Laisia Les Molunes, which crested a little under 12km from the finish line.
He got over the top with a 29-second lead over Robert Gesink of LottoNL-Jumbo but then suffered a scare of his own when he slowed dramatically on a short uphill section around five kilometres from home, stretching out his right hamstring.
Gesink closed in before Calmejane re-found himself and pulled away to win the stage by 37 seconds, his first victory in the Tour as he makes his debut in the race.
“I'm a bit of a practical joker in the team and I told everyone earlier this morning that I was going to win this stage, but it was really a joke, so the fact that I have come here and won is unbelievable,” the 24-year-old said.
“I had a few problems on the last climb. There was a lot of attacking and at the end I had to be strong - I suddenly found myself missing some energy. I knew to put a smaller gear on. If I had stayed with the bigger gear, I probably would have had to have stopped.”
There was dramatic racing from the very start of the day on a stage ideally suited to a breakaway, with attacks and counter-attacks right from the gun.
A large 50-man group got away midway through the stage, and was gradually given more and more leeway by the Team Sky-controlled peloton as riders dropped out of the back.
Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet of BMC had begun the day as one of the favourites for the stage but after looking strong in the break, he blew up early on the final climb and went backwards.
Team Dimension Data's Steve Cummings had also been tipped to have a go but the veteran Briton remained in the peloton to the finish.
Froome's Welsh road captain Luke Rowe was dropped early and came home with the stragglers, leaving him second last on the general classification - 10 minutes clear of FDJ's Olivier Le Gac, who carries the lanterne rouge as last man in the Tour.
Stage nine from Nantua to Chambery now looms large, with three hors categorie climbs including the feared Mont du Chat late in the day.
“Tomorrow is going to be a monster stage,” Froome said. “We could see the general classification blown to pieces.”
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