Froome eyes fifth Tour win, posing dilemma for Sky

Geraint Thomas’s Tour de France victory has not dented Chris Froome’s hopes of a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey, Sky chief Dave Brailsford says.

“He wants to win a fifth Tour, no doubt. He’ll be back.”

Froome, a four-time winner, was hoping to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain on an elite list of five-time winners on Sunday.

Victory on the Champs Elysees would also have seen the Kenyan-born Briton claim a seventh Grand Tour title and become the first cyclist since deceased Italian Marco Pantani, in 1998, to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same calendar year.

Yet Froome’s efforts in winning the Giro d’Italia last May, and his implication in a longrunning anti-doping probe, appeared to become key factors as the 33-year-old’s bid went from bad to worse.

Froome was only cleared to race by the International Cycling Union days before the Tour, but nearly 10 months after an “adverse analytical finding” for salbutamol during his 2017 Tour of Spain victory.

Froome's Grand Tour success has invited detractors and fans alike from a sport known for scandal and disgrace.

And when Sky were booed on the podium at the teams’ presentation, it set the tone for the rest of a race in which the British outfit were targeted by the haters.

Froome crashed twice in the opening nine stages, losing precious time to Thomas that, when it came to deciding Sky's leadership strategy ahead of key stages in the Pyrenees, would prove decisive.

Brailsford admitted Froome had come to win and “not to podium”.

Post-Tour Sky could have a dilemma. Froome still has another two years on his contract while Thomas has yet to resign with the British outfit.

Adding spice is the fact Sky already boast a potential future Tour champion in 21-year-old Colombian Egan Bernal.