Froome could maintain his 18-second advantage over Aru before Thursday's mountain stage that is expected to have more impact on the results. Bardet sat on third with 51 seconds adrift Froome.

"In stages like today and yesterday, it's difficult to say if I'm in the shape I want to or not because it's just about cruising in the bunch.

"Tomorrow, I'll know more in the mountains. I'm hoping to hit the last week in the best shape I've ever been," commented Froome.

Marco Marcato was the first man out of the 180 riders right after the gun, before he was soon rejoined by Maciej Bodnar and Frederik Backaert. The leading trio built a maximum advantage of 4 minutes and 44 seconds at 44km into the race.

With 30km remaining, the peloton has cut their deficit to 30 seconds. Bodnar went solo two kilometers later, but he finally got reeled into the final 300 meters.

Local rider Warren Barguil maintained the polka-dot jersey representing the "king of mountains". British promising Simon Yates had no clue of falling down on the best young rider honor. Team Sky sat comfortably with a lead of more than seven minutes on overall team standings.

Starting in Pau, Thursday's 12th stage will finish in Peyragudes, and the 214.5km stage is set to be much tougher with one top-level HC climb and two first-category climbs.

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