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Chris Froome loses yellow jersey on epic final climb to finish Stage 12

Fabio Aru takes GC lead as Dan Martin finishes a battling sixth.

Le Tour De France / YouTube

CHRIS FROOME CRACKED inside the final kilometre of an epic climb to Peyragudes, allowing Italyโ€™s Fabio Aru to take control of the yellow jersey for the first time at this yearโ€™s Tour de France.

At the end of a gruelling marathon stage that was largely controlled by Froomeโ€™s Team Sky, Romain Bardet had the most left in his legs, beating Rigoberto Uran and Aru by two seconds.

Irelandโ€™s Dan Martin was right in contention for stage victory but couldnโ€™t stick with the leadersโ€™ final push, and finished in a battling sixth, 13 seconds back.

But for Froome, the dayโ€™s good work was undone in the space of a few hundred metres as he finished seventh, 20 seconds behind Aru, surrendering his general classification lead and the yellow jersey to his Italian rival.

Aru, winner of the Vuelta a Espana in 2015, now leads the GC by six seconds from Froome, with Bardet 25 seconds off the lead in third. Martinโ€™s fine showing on Thursdayโ€™s stage saw him move up one place to fifth overall, 1:41 off the lead.

Irelandโ€™s other rider, Nicolas Roche, finished a rough day in 70th place, just under 20 minutes behind Bardet.

โ€“ An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Fabio Aru won the 2015 Giro dโ€™Italia; he won the 2015 Vuelta a Espana.

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