AX-TROIS-DOMAINES - Britain's Chris Froome secured the Tour de France yellow jersey after a "dream" stage eight win on the first day in the mountains which proved costly for his rivals Saturday. Sky team leader Froome launched an audacious solo attack 5km from the race's first summit finish at Ax-Trois-Domaines and crossed the finish 51sec ahead of teammate Richie Porte to underline his overall victory credentials. Spain's former two-time winner Alberto Contador finished 1min 45sec behind while the victory hopes of 2011 champion Cadel Evans all but faded when the Australian trailed home 4:13 in arrears. Froome, last year's runner-up behind teammate Bradley Wiggins, now leads the race with a 51sec lead over Porte, with Spain's Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in third at 1min 25sec. Contador (Saxo) is 1:51 off the pace while Australian Evans (BMC) is 23rd overall at 4:36. "The objective for us today was to go for the stage and go for the jersey, but to finish one-two is just fantastic," said Froome, who took the race lead from South African Darly Impey. "This is really a dream come true." Froome, remarkably, now appears to have only one real rival for the race, which does not end until July 21, in Contador. –AFP