Froome queries Evans' power

Briton Chris Froome has questioned defending champion Cadel Evans' staying power after out-sprinting the Australian to victory in stage seven at the Tour de France.

Team Sky's Froome overpowered Evans in the final 200m of the 199-km stage from Tomblaine to the top of La Planche des Belles Filles in what was the race's first serious climb.

Tour favourite and team-mate Bradley Wiggins finished third during the stage, just behind Evans, and claimed the overall leader's yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara, with a 10-second gap to the Australian in second.

Wiggins was well-supported by team-mates, including Australians Richie Porte (13th) and Michael Rogers (14th), while Evans was left isolated from his BMC team, leading Froome to suggest there are chinks in his armour.

"Where the road kicked up there, Cadel came underneath me," Froome said.

"I thought 'Here we go, Cadel is going to make a very big attack'.

"But he didn't (attack) so I thought 'Why not put in an acceleration and see what happens, to see what the response is'.

"There was no real response.

"It says to me that he didn't have the legs to go. I think that was quite evident when I went because it wasn't a big acceleration that I put in.

"It was only for 50 metres or so.

"Hopefully, he's not holding anything back and he's not going to come out and surprise us in a couple of days."

Sky is regarded by many as the strongest team at the Tour with stage seven the first evidence of that.

Evans has so far praised his team for their support but was left isolated on the final climb as team-mates Tejay Van Garderen (46th), Marcus Berghardt (87th) and George Hincapie (88th) could not keep up with the hectic pace.

The Australian described Froome's final kick as 'incredible' and raised his first concerns about Wiggins' seemingly stronger support.

"He's got three guys with him (in the final) and I've got one or maybe (I'm) isolated already," Evans said.

"When you've got team-mates there, it's an advantage."