in Pragelato resulted in Froome taking the overall race lead, 40 seconds ahead of the 2017 Giro d'Italia victor, Tom Dumoulin. Taking the maximum number of points on all three of the remaining climbs on the stage (Finestre, Sestriere and the Jafferau), Froome also moved into the lead in the mountains classification. His solo attack was likened to famous historical performances such as Fausto Coppi to Pinerolo in 1949, Claudio Chiappucci to Sestriere in 1992, Marco Pantani on the Galibier in 1998, Floyd Landis's long-range attack to Morzine, and Michael Rasmussen to Tignes in 2007. Froome held on to the maglia rosa on the final 'true' day of racing for the GC, neutralizing several attacks by Dumoulin in the final kilometers before launching a counter-attack of his own, putting an additional 6 seconds into his rival at the finish line at Breuil-Cervinia. Froome took victory in the 2018 Giro d'Italia making him the first British rider to win the overall title, the first rider since 1983 to hold all three Grand Tour titles simultaneously, as well as becoming the seventh man to have completed the career Grand Tour grand slam. He then went into the 2018 Tour de France as one of the main favorites for victory despite the mostly negative reactions from some fans. Crashing twice on stages 1 and 9 as well as looking vulnerable on several other stages, Froome then shifted his focus on helping his friend and longtime teammate Geraint Thomas. Thanks to his performance in the penultimate day time trial to Espelette, Froome finished third overall behind Thomas. Despite being defending champion of the Vuelta, Froome decided to skip the 2018 edition having ridden four consecutive Grand Tours. He instead rode the 2018 Tour of Britain. It was the last race of his 2018 season, electing to skip the World Championships in Austria citing physical as well as mental fatigue to be the main reasons behind his decision. 2019: Crash and recovery On 1 January 2019, Froome announced that he would not be defending his title at the Giro d'Italia, instead focusing on the 2019 Tour de France with the aim of winning the race for the fifth time. He started his season at Tour Colombia in February, and also rode the Volta a Catalunya in support of Egan Bernal. He completed the Tour of the Alps and the Tour de Yorkshire prior to returning