* Froome poised to win race
* Briton holds off brave attack by Quintana
* Frenchman Pinot wins on Alpe d'Huez
(Adds detail in para 3)
By Julien Pretot
L'ALPE D'HUEZ, France, July 25 (Reuters) - Chris Froome is
poised to win a second Tour de France title after being forced
to hang on desperately as Colombian Nairo Quintana attacked
relentlessly in Saturday's penultimate stage up the iconic Alpe
d'Huez.
In a gripping finale, Quintana powered clear of Froome and
sliced almost a minute and a half off the Briton's lead, but he
could not do quite enough to prevent the Team Sky rider from
almost certainly celebrating victory on Sunday.
With only the procession into Paris remaining, Froome, who
appeared to be spat at by a fan for the second day running,
leads Quintana by 1:12 after the Movistar rider attacked
repeatedly and pushed the 30-year-old to the limit in a
punishing ascent.
The day's laurels went to Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, who
salvaged an under-par Tour with victory on the race's 'Queen
Stage'.
Spain's Alejandro Valverde is third, 5:25 off the pace.
Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali of Italy is fourth while
twice Tour winner Alberto Contador, attempting a rare Giro
d'Italia/Tour double, is fifth after a below-par run in the
mountains.
Quintana was second in the 110-km stage from
Modane-Valfrejus, 18 seconds behind Pinot, with Canadian Ryder
Hesjedal taking third place 41 seconds adrift.
Froome, who could not respond when Quintana attacked less
than four kilometres into the 13.8-km ascent, ended the stage in
fifth place, 1:38 off the pace after being helped to the summit
by team mate Richie Porte.
"It was really difficult today but my team mates were
fantastic, especially Richie Porte. What can I say, it's a
dream," Froome told reporters.
Quintana rued losing 1:30 on the second stage after finding
himself on the wrong side of a bunch split.
"It was our last chance today, we tried in the col de la
Croix de Fer but failed, so we tried again in the final climb,"
he said. "I think I lost the Tour during the first week."
Froome, who claimed his first Tour title in 2013, was once
again booed by the crowd on the final climb.
He will become the first rider since Carlos Sastre in 2008
to win both the yellow and polka dot jerseys, although the
Spaniard only claimed the mountain classification after Austrian
Bernhard Kohl was stripped of the title following a retroactive
dope test.
The green jersey for the points classification will go to
Slovakian Peter Sagan and Quintana will don the white jersey for
the best Under-25 rider.
Froome, who lost 30 seconds to Quintana on Friday, spent
another tough day in the saddle.
Frenchman Alexandre Geniez attacked from the start and broke
away with three others but the FDJ rider went out on his own in
the climb to the Col de la Croix de Fer.
Among the group of favourites, Valverde attacked about five
kilometres from the top of the col de la Croix de Fer and was
quickly followed by Quintana.
Helped by Porte, Froome managed to catch Quintana at the top
and the group stayed together in the descent.
Pinot and Hesjedal then attacked and the Frenchman, who got
help on the way from his FDJ team mate Geniez, powered away six
kilometres from the finish, riding his way through hundreds of
flag-waving spectators.
The 25-year-old, third overall last year, snatched his
second Tour stage win after claiming his first on his debut in
2012.
(Editing by Toby Davis and Ed Osmond)