Froome defies Contador to hold Dauphine lead
Chris Froome maintained his 12-second lead at the top of the Criterium du Dauphine standings after a tough fifth stage on Thursday.
Froome's Team Sky team-mates combined to ensure he reeled in closest rival Alberto Contador in a stage eventually won by Simon Spilak of the Katusha team.
Spilak shrugged off his rivals on the final descent, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman and England's Adam Yates, with Froome and Contador in a group of 24 riders who finished three seconds further back.
The result leaves Froome out in front while Kelderman has moved level with Contador in second place in the overall standings as a result of the six bonus seconds he earned at the line.
Froome told Team Sky's official website: "Sometimes it's the days that don't look so hard on paper that turn out to be the really tough ones and today was non-stop.
"It took 85km for the breakaway to form and then Contador went up the road to put us under pressure. I still had four team-mates at that point though which meant I could stay calm in the knowledge they would pull him back.
"I'm hugely proud of the guys today, they did such a massive job and it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward."
Friday's sixth stage sees the riders given a break from the mountains as they traverse the 178.5km stage from Grenoble to Poisy.