by Our Sports Desk

CHRIS FROOME fought off attack after attack to preserve his commanding Tour de France lead after stage 17 to Pra Loup yesterday.

The 30-year-old Team Sky leader successfully countered attacks from nearest rival Nairo Quintana (Movistar) early and late on the 161km route from Digne-les-Bains as German Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin) won.

United States rider Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin) was second and Riogberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep) third but the more significant action took place in the Froome group.

Quintana tried to launch an early escape but Froome’s Team Sky squad hunted him down and when the Colombian climber twice accelerated on the concluding ascent to the small ski resort, Froome chased him down.

The Kenya-born Briton finished seven minutes 16 seconds behind Geschke on the same time as Quintana to preserve his advantage of 3mins 10secs, with four stages remaining ahead of Sunday’s conclusion in Paris.

This was the first of four stages in the Alps and today’s 186.5km stage from Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is sure to provide another test.

But it appears more and more likely that only Quintana stands between Froome and a second yellow jersey after his 2013 win.

Quintana’s teammate Alejandro Valverde is now third overall, 4:09 behind, after Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) was forced to abandon midway through the stage through illness.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) lost time with a crash on the final ascent and sits fifth, 6:40 adrift, one place and six seconds behind Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), who moved up a place to fourth after Van Garderen’s withdrawal.

“The best day of my life as a rider,” Geschke said after.

Thomas reflected on a “decent” race for him but a better one for Froome.

“I didn’t feel super but I managed to hang in there,” Thomas said after. “For me it’s decent and for Froomey it’s even better. At one point we thought about going for the stage but thought ‘hold on.’ The team is strong and we’re communicating really well.

“When you look at the GC, Vincenzo Nibali is not a major threat. But when it comes to the final climb [Chris] just has to watch Nairo or Valverde.”