ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Miracle man Froome targets FIFTH Tour

CHRIS FROOME is already dreaming of a fifth Tour de France crown after cementing his place in greatness.

When Va Va Froome rolled over the finish line in Madrid, as only the third cyclist to win Le Tour and its brutal Spanish brother La Vuelta in the same season, he completed one of the most outstanding feats in British sporting history.

Only the most mean-spirited and churlish minds would question Froome’s installation as second favourite for Sports Personality of the Year behind world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

In fact, SPOTY owes him one. Last year, when he won his fourth Yellow Jersey on the Champs Elysees, he did not even make the shortlist.

Only Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault, 39 years ago, have done the Tour-vuelta double before.

But Froome, 32, has not finished milking the plaudits yet.

Next week, he could add a rainbow jersey to his collection in the time trials at the UCI World Championships in Bergen.

And a fifth maillot jaune in 2018 would elevate him from greatness to cycling immortality alongside Eddy Merckx, Hinault, Anquetil and Miguel Indurain.

Froome (below, with Vicenzo Nibali and Ilnur Zakarin) said: “There is a good reason why no one has won the Tour and then gone on to win the Vuelta a month later – because it’s a huge challenge, a huge undertaking.

“This is my greatest achievement – and I also have to say this is probably the toughest Grand Tour I have ever ridden.

“I could only have dreamed of being in a position to make history as the first

British rider to win the

Vuelta and the first

British rider to win the

Tour and the

Vuelta in the same year.

“This feels like sealing my place in the history of the sport. It’s special, very special.”

Think of the great doubles in sport and Froome’s durability stands the test against any of them, from Andy Murray winning Wimbledon and Olympic gold last year to Mo Farah’s long-distance doubles in London and Rio.

Froome’s march to Madrid was not all plain sailing – he crashed twice on stage 12, which left him with a gash on his right knee – but he is one of the toughest competitors in sport.

Off the bike he is softly-spoken with the brashness of a librarian, but in the saddle he is a winner with the steely-eyed squint of a spaghetti western gunslinger waiting for the bad guys to blink first.

He said: “I’ve had good days and then I’ve been lying on the ground, bleeding, fearing my race was over. It’s been a rollercoaster, absolutely relentless – from 40 degrees and baking hot to finishing in 10 degrees and grim conditions up a mountain.

“The team have been incredible over the last few months and it’s meant so much to me, the way they have supported me.

“And I’m still motivated to win more big races. The Tour is the biggest prize for a pro cyclist, it’s the biggest event we have on the calendar. A fifth Yellow Jersey would be amazing.”