Chris Froome praised the strength of his team-mates after Team Sky finished second on the Tour de France stage-three time trial in Cholet, before warning that rival team BMC are their strongest opposition.
BMC, the American team led by Froome’s rival Richie Porte, claimed the stage after finishing the 35.5km route four seconds quicker than Team Sky, and despite missing out on the win, Froome was satisfied with a successful performance which moved him up the general classification standings following his crash on stage one.
“The last two days have been really nervous, not necessarily mentally but more physically,” said Froome after the stage. “The rest of the guys did a really good ride today. We’ve got a great team here and today confirmed that.
“BMC are the favourites at the moment, but we were just four seconds off them so we can be pretty happy about that.”
Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford was also pleased with a more predictable ride after the crashes and chaos of the opening two days.
“I think that was a great performance,” Brailsford said. “It’s always nice to win the stage but I think we can be very satisfied. After the first day it was a bit of a setback but we’ve made back some of that time.”
Froome’s team-mate Geraint Thomas fell just short of grabbing hold of the yellow jersey, and will begin Tuesday’s stage four third overall, three seconds behind BMC’s race leader Greg van Avermaet.
"I’m a bit disappointed not to win [the stage] but it was a technical race because of the wind, changes of direction, up and down as well,” said the Welsh rider. “We did well as a team but we’re disappointed not to take the win. We were so close.
"To be honest I didn’t even think about it (the yellow jersey), it was just about winning the stage. Close but not quite quick enough.”
