Chris Froome relishing Alps challenge as he retains Tour de France yellow jersey
The Team Sky ace rubbished claims he doesn't have any rivals, insisting he hasn't won the race yet
CHRIS FROOME has warned his rivals he is ready for an Alpine showdown to defend his Tour de France crown.
The two-time champ has his final rest day on Tuesday having kept his lead of one minute 47 seconds intact after Monday's stage 16 finish in Switzerland.
But Froome then faces four days of tough stages in the Alps if he wants to ride into Paris again on Sunday in the Yellow Jersey.
The Team Sky ace, 31, said: “I am looking forward to getting back into the mountains.
“Other teams have said they are going attack in in the Alps and I expect they will do.
“To say the Tour is won and I don’t have any rivals, well that’s rubbish.
“A lot can happen in four days in the mountains. All you need is one bad day and you can lose minutes.
“But I am motivated and the team is in fantastic shape.
“I don’t think we have ever been at this point of the race and still had nine riders left which is a great advantage for us.
“The guys are doing well and the morale is good. We have got the leader’s jersey so we have got a lot to fight for still.”
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Froome’s negotiated a tricky finish in Berne to come home in the main pack as Slovakia’s Peter Sagan bagged his third stage win.
The Slovakian’s late lunge at the end of 129.9miles edged out Norway’s Alexander Kristoff by an inch in another photo-finish.
World champ Sagan now leads Mark Cavendish by 114 points in the Green Jersey battle after the Brit found the hilly climax too tough.
Froome will resume leading Holland’s Bauke Mollema with fellow Brit Adam Yates two mins 45 secs back and Nairo Quintana 14 secs further adrift.
The Monaco-based rider added: “That was a sketchy finish with lots of road furniture so I was just glad to stay out of trouble.
“It will be nice to get out for a ride with the lads on the rest day and maybe stop for a coffee somewhere.”