Cycling: Chris Froome expects attacks in the next Tour de France stages

Tour de France leader Chris Froome expects to be “attacked everywhere” in the next four stages, when the race reaches the Alps. The Team Sky rider holds a solid advantage over second-placed Nairo Quintana, 3 minutes and 10 seconds, but that gap could well be in danger on the upcoming four consecutive mountain stages. Three of those stages have summit finishes and Chris Froome expects to be attacked by all his rivals, including Alberto Contador, Quintana and Nibali.

Monday's stage 16 saw Froome lose about half a minute to Nibali but all the other general classification contenders were kept under control by the yellow jersey. He said after the stage: “We saw the general classification teams attack on the climb. Tinkoff-Saxo attacked and then Valverde and Nibali. We can expect the same in the four days left until we reach Paris. We expect to be attacked everywhere - on the flat, in crosswinds, in the climbs - but I'm confident we have the team to control the race and take the jersey back to Paris.”

It was a tough day for Team Sky as Geraint Thomas lost 38 seconds after crashing into a telegraph pole on the final descent. The accident looked serious on TV but Thomas got back on his bike and defended his sixth place in the general classification. Froome added: "It's never nice to hear that one of your team-mates crashed, especially when it's Geraint Thomas, who has given everything for me since the start of the race and is a GC contender in his own right. But he is OK, he is a tough cookie and he will be back in the next couple of days.”

The first Alpine stage will take place on Wednesday, here are the odds for the top five favourites for the stage win at Bet365:

Alejandro Valverde - 8.00 Vincenzo Nibali - 9.00 Chris Froome - 9.00 Joaquim Rodriguez - 16.00 Romain Bardet - 16.00