Tour de France: Chris Froome privileged to be back in yellow jersey
But Briton admits circumstances of reclaiming lead are not ideal
Last Updated: 10/07/15 6:13pm
Chris Froome described being back in the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey as a "privilege" but admitted Tony Martin crashing out was not the way he wanted to reclaim it.
Froome confirmed his return to the top of the general classification by finishing safely in the peloton on stage seven after previous leader Martin failed to take to the start line due to the broken collarbone he sustained in a fall on stage six.
Froome, who didn't wear the yellow jersey on Friday as he was not officially the leader, now heads second-placed Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) by five seconds overall and third-placed Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) by 13 seconds.
He told teamsky.com: "It's a huge privilege to be back in the yellow jersey again. Unfortunately these aren't the circumstances under which I wanted to get the yellow jersey, given that Tony Martin crashed out of the race the way he did yesterday.
“But I am happy to be back in yellow and there is a lot of bike racing still to go from here. We are just looking to get through these next few days into the team time trial as best we can and then we will re-evaluate from there.”
Martin was flown to Hamburg on Thursday night after his crash and underwent surgery on a compound fracture of his left collarbone on Friday morning.
In a statement released by his Etixx – Quick-Step team, the German said: “I would like to thank all the people involved in my transportation to the hospital and the medical staff in Hamburg.
“They were all amazing and they allowed me to undergo surgery in such a short time after the crash.
“I won a stage and wore the yellow jersey for the first time in my career. A dream came true during this Tour and now I’m already looking forward to coming back one day again and living the great emotions of this race.”
While Martin watched the race on television from his hospital bed, the peloton enjoyed the most sedate stage of the race so far.
Froome said: "Today was actually a much-needed, much more relaxed stage for everyone in the peloton. It seemed to be a lot more calm.
“We didn't have cross-winds today and the weather was good. It was just a good day on the bike and I think everyone's happy to get through safely."
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