Chris Froome slipped to second overall at the Tour de France after a gruelling finish to stage 12.
An elite 10-man group hit the final 2.4km climb up to Peyragudes and the attacks began on the savagely steep run to the line, where the gradients hit 20%.
Froome fell back as Fabio Aru (Astana) took it up, before Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) burst through to win the stage ahead of Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac). Froome finished seventh, 22 seconds back on Bardet, while Aru claimed third and four bonus seconds to move into the yellow jersey by six seconds.
“It was certainly a tough day for me in the final. My team-mates did such an amazing job today, but I didn’t have the legs at the end to finish it off. Simple as that. No excuses. I just didn’t have the legs on the final kick.
“It was brutal – ramps of over 20%. That’s a really, really hard finish. I can only say congratulations to Romain Bardet for winning the stage and Fabio Aru for taking the yellow jersey. The race is certainly on now.”
