Chris Froome remains upbeat despite losing Criterium du Dauphine race lead

Chris Froome praises Alberto Contador's efforts on the penultimate Dauphine stage's final climb

Chris Froome, Criterium du Dauphine 2014

(Image credit: Gregor Brown)

One day after Sky's Chris Froome crashed, Alberto Contador rode away from his rival and into the race lead in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Team Tinkoff-Saxo's Spaniard shot free with around 1.5 kilometre to race up the Col de la Gueulaz and kept Froome at bay by 20 seconds, given him an eight-second lead with one day to race.

"I'm pretty knackered after yesterday," Froome said. "Obviously, I'm disappointed to lose the yellow jersey."

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.