When Team Sky changed their jerseys from black to white for this year’s Tour de France, it was a fairly transparent attempt to rebrand themselves as good guys. A line of eight or nine riders in pitch-black uniforms stretching out at the front of the peloton day after day, squeezing the life out of the competition, was never a sympathetic look.
So now, as Chris Froome closes to within one 22.5km time trial around the sights of Marseille and one ceremonial parade into Paris of his fourth Tour win in five years, did it do the job? On an aesthetic level, perhaps it did. The Sky squad still rode on the front, all eight of them en bloc after an accident forced Geraint Thomas to withdraw, but the sight of that crushing might was less oppressive.
Related: How Stephen Roche ruled cycling in 1987 | Steven Pye
Related: Boasson Hagen breaks clear to win stage 19 as Froome tightens grip on Tour title
Related: Orica-Scott: 24 hours on the road with the Australian Tour de France team
Continue reading...