Chris Froome: 'Pressure is on rivals'

Race leader Chris Froome has admitted that he is in a "fantastic position" ahead of the first mountain stage of the Tour de France.

The 30-year-old is currently 12 seconds ahead of nearest challenger Tejay van Garderen after nine stages of this year's race.

"It's for the other guys to try to get the jersey from me now," BBC Sport quotes Froome as saying.

"This next phase of the race the pressure's certainly not on my shoulders to be making the race and to be having to try to take time back from anyone.

"It's one thing not to lose any time to your rivals, but to actually gain quite substantial amounts of time on quite a lot of contenders has really put us in a fantastic position."

Froome won the Tour de France in 2013.