FROOME SO NIFTY AT 50
Sky leader clocks up half century of days in yellow
CHRIS FROOME clocked up 50 days in the Yellow Jersey – and Team Sky chief Sir Dave Brailsford warned they would defend it with the clinical mentality of an “assassin”.
Froome is halfway to Paris on the Tour de France after defending his 18-second lead comfortably on stage 10, an incident-free trundle from Perigueux to Bergerac.
And now only three men – Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain and Bernard Hinault – have spent longer in the leader’s colours than Britain’s three-time champion.
Brailsford said: “As a team, the first time we ever wore the Yellow Jersey was on La Planche des Belles Filles in 2012. That felt like a massive moment, so for Chris to wear it 50 days on his own since feels miraculous.
“It’s a tribute to his temperament – as we saw the other day, when there are crashes and everything is going off around him, Chris is so calm and resilient.
“He has become a fantastic leader and is already up there with the greats in terms of what he’s achieved.”
British riders have now worn the fabled maillot jaune on 69 of the last 115 days on the Tour – all but one of them in Team Sky colours.
Bradley Wiggins (14 days), Geraint Thomas ( four) and Mark Cavendish (one) complete the set, and Brailsford added: “If you take a dispassionate view of the facts, they speak for themselves.
“But we work hard at it, we pay special attention to this race, to the architecture of the team and the attributes we need to compete.
“Before this race we spoke about the mentality we needed: Hard, cold, disciplined, clinical, an assassin’s frame of mind. Don’t panic under pressure and the strength of the team will show through.”
Froome, who only opened his Yellow Jersey account 1,080 days ago on Ax 3 Domaines, was happy to raise his bat on his half-century.
But he admitted the achievement would be diminished if he did not go on to complete a fourth Tour win along the Champs Elysees on July 23.
He said: “It would be sweeter if I could keep it all the way to Paris, but this is my 50th day in the Yellow Jersey and it’s a huge honour.”
Today’s flat stage from Eymet to Pau could be visited by crosswinds, and Froome added: “Talk of crosswinds makes everyone nervous, so we need to be ready for war again.”
In a supine finish in Bergerac, German Marcel Kittel eased to his fourth stage win on Le Tour.