FROOME ON…

…PRO CYCLING

‘People think, “You do what you love, you just ride your bike for fun.” You definitely see a lot of amazing places in the world but you don’t necessarily get to experience them. As a professional bike rider you have got to spend as much time as possible off your legs, just resting and recovering, so it’s not like you get to walk around like a tourist.’

…HIS OBE

‘There was a whole mix of emotions. Pride at the recognition for what I’ve done, but it was also humbling to be in the company of some really inspirational people – like the aid workers during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. I also spoke with the Duke of Cambridge about the United for Wildlife charity as it is a cause we both care passionately about.’

…BRITISH FANS

‘If you look at what’s happened to cycling in Britain, from the inception of Team Sky in 2010 to where we are now, the change is phenomenal. The number of people who have started cycling and who support us is incredible. I was looking at the fans at the Tour de Yorkshire [in 2016] and it looked like the London 2012 Olympics all over again.’

…TEAM SKY

‘The Tour really is the Holy Grail for our sport and this is the race everyone wants to win. But with the team being more successful we’ve taken on stronger riders and stronger squads and we’ve invested more in nutritionists and coaches. We didn’t start off like this. We had to work hard to get to this point and it feels special to have been a part of that.’

…CELEBRATIONS

‘I think the criticism [about Team Sky not celebrating] came after the 2012 Tour when we didn’t have much of a party, but bear in mind the Olympics in London were just a week after. We’ve got a lot better at celebrating. A lot of people are seeing their family for the first time in a month but we have a good night out and when we win we celebrate.’