Team Sky leader Froome, who has held the race lead since winning atop Ax-Trois-Domaines on stage eight, claimed his third stage win of the 100th edition with victory in the stage 17 time trial on Wednesday.
Having also won on stage 15 to Mont Ventoux, he has a virtually unassailable lead on Spanish rival Alberto Contador, who finished second at 9secs adrift to move up to second but is now 4min 34sec off the pace.
With Dutchman Bauke Mollema dropping to fourth place at 6:23, it is now essentially a duel from here to the race finish in Paris on Sunday.
Contador says he will continue to fight, but on Wednesday he admitted: "Froome is impressive, he is the best both on the climbs and in the time-trials. I did what I could."
But while there is no doubt about Froome's superiority, Saxo have promised to test his ability to weather the storm -- quite literally -- during three tough days in the Alps.
"Tomorrow and the next days we will continue our plan and follow our objective, which is to win Tour de France," said Saxo sporting director Fabrizio Guidi.
Thursday's 18th stage features six climbs, including two ascensions of the Alpe d'Huez. Normally it would hold no fear for Froome, but the heavy rain predicted could play into his rivals' favour.
The descent from the Col de Sarenne, the fifth on Thursday's menu, is technical and would be made even more treacherous in wet conditions.
Froome, who almost crashed into Contador on Tuesday when the Spaniard came off his bike during a fast and technical descent into Gap, said organisers should consider making changes.
"It would be sad not to do the planned parcours (course), it being the 100th Tour de France and with two climbs up to Alpe d'Huez," he said.
"But safety comes first and if it's raining like that I would hope that the organisers would make a decision... just in terms of the safety of the riders."
Organisers are fully aware of the threat but despite reports claiming the race could be shortened, no official statement had been made by Wednesday evening.
After the events of Tuesday, Contador and Saxo would arguably be hoping for no changes.
Froome was visibly shaken up by nearly crashing into Contador as the Spaniard raced aggressively on the descent into Gap and later complained his rival had deliberately tried to make him crash.
On Wednesday Saxo team owner Bjarne Riis, the disgraced 1996 winner of the race, said the Briton had a simple solution if he wanted to avoid crashing into his team leader.
"He should use his brakes more if he's afraid on the descents," said Riis.
When confronted with the Dane's statement, Froome replied: "Fair enough, I can completely understand that but all the riders are going to be in the same conditions.
"It is a really dangerous descent and the surface is not in great condition."
During the next three stages, the key to his maiden Tour title may lie more on his, and Sky's, ability to handle quick and treacherous descents and less on his ability to climb.
Despite his considerable advantage, Froome -- who has already admitted he has everything to lose -- knows the race is far from over.
"Even though I've got quite a good buffer, that's still being challenged every day and these next three days are going to be the hardest of the Tour so far," he added.
"I think it's evident that the Spanish guys are not going to stop racing, neither are the Dutch guys. It's going to be a race all the way to Paris."
Riis warned: "We are going to attack everywhere, whether it is going uphill or downhill."