BBC Sports Personality of the Year voting, and Sky corporate changes, could lead to Froome’s inhalation of salbutamol proving a puff too farChris Froome is an opportunist. All great riders have to be. It’s the faculty that allows them to spot the moment at which to strike. The first time we saw that in Froome was when he sensed a weakness in Bradley Wiggins on the ascent of La Toussuire during the Tour de France five years ago, and had to be ordered to cease his attack on his own team leader.When Froome joined Team Sky, he was simply taking another opportunity. Born in Kenya to British-born parents and educated in South Africa, eight years ago he left behind the...
Chris Froome is only the third man to complete the double after managing to hold his form for 12 weeks after coming into the Tour slightly undercookedAs Chris Froome flew south from Asturias to Madrid for a final, ceremonial Vuelta stage in the Spanish capital on Sunday morning, Bernard Hinault was standing with his gun on the edge of a maize field in Brittany, waiting for wild boar to emerge from cover. The last man to win the double of Tour of Spain and Tour de France in the same year, back in 1978, the “Badger” said he believes that Froome, who was set to emulate him after 39 years, should go on next year to attempt a grand slam...
No one has won Tour de France and Vuelta in same year since it switched dates and Chris Froome is taking nothing for granted in race that he calls brutalIt is 22 years since the Vuelta a España was shifted from its late April slot in the calendar to its current position after the Tour de France with the world championships on the horizon. The notion then – propounded by the architect of the move, the late Hein Verbruggen – was that the race would be a post-Tour revenge match, where the riders who had slipped up in France could try to salvage their seasons.It has taken a while but that is now how the Vuelta looks, partly because Team...
Team Sky’s champion never looked dominant in the 2017 race despite a lack of seasoned contenders and, at 32, he cannot go on defying the yearsWith no disrespect to Chris Froome immediately after his fourth Tour de France win I do not believe the Team Sky leader will make it five and thus join the ranks of the immortals: Indurain, Merckx, Hinault and Anquetil – not next year and probably not the year after. I appreciate that accusations that I am indulging in anti-Team Sky, anti-Froome wishful thinking will flood in but I would like to think the judgment is based on logical analysis as well as emotion. That is not emotion in the tear‑your‑hair‑out sense but on the feeling you get...
Race management, team support and the lack of a serious rival were all significant factors on the three-week journey to ParisChris Froome, apart from his 200 metres of weakness at Peyragudes, managed this Tour brilliantly, fighting for every second, never ceding an inch, hanging on to the advantage he gained in the opening time trial, all the while believing firmly he would gain time in the final contre la montre. He also did enough in the mountains – on the Mur de Péguère, on the Izoard – to make his opponents believe that he could climb with the best. The best and perhaps most important example of his unremitting ability to keep concentrating day to day was the uphill finish at...