Relieved Froome hangs on despite Quintana surge

By Julien Pretot L'ALPE D'HUEZ, France (Reuters) - Chris Froome thought he might fall at the Tour de France's final hurdle when Nairo Quintana mounted an offensive in the 20th and penultimate stage to put the Briton on the ropes on Saturday. Froome hung on, however, and leads his Colombian rival by one minute 12 seconds going into Sunday's final procession to Paris. Quintana attacked on a climb before the midway point of the 110-km stage but the overall leader managed to control the situation. Four kilometres into the last climb to L'Alpe d'Huez, one of the Tour's iconic ascents, Movistar's Quintana powered away and Froome never looked like he would bridge the gap. "It was a moment when I thought this could go another way," Froome told a news conference. He still had Sky team mates Wout Pels and Richie Porte with him and they performed well to limit the damage. "It is a huge relief today," said the 30-year-old Froome who won his first Tour in 2013. "Nairo pushed me to the end. Nairo is going to be one of the guys who is going to continue giving me a hard time in the next few years on the Tour." Quintana also won the penultimate stage in 2013 on his way to a second-place finish overall. "It's difficult to compare, it feels as if this time I had to push to the limit," said Froome. "I did not come to the Semnoz on stage 20 (in 2013) feeling like I could lose the yellow jersey." Quintana said he did not lose the Tour in the mountains even though that was where Froome really laid down a marker. "I think I lost the Tour during the first week," said the Colombian who was 1:30 adrift of the Briton in a flat second stage in the Netherlands. Tour director Christian Prudhomme said: "Ironically this Tour between two great climbers was won on the flat". Froome's victory parade on Sunday will be especially sweet after he was booed and had urine thrown at him last week after a stage win in the Pyrenees raised doping suspicions in the French media. "It was a bit close in the end. After everything he has put up with in the last couple of weeks he's shown his mettle and shown what he's really about," said Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)