FROOME IN TRIBUTE TO TOM LEGACY

ON a bleak mountain, half of France away, hundreds of cycling fans will today pay their respects on the 50th anniversary of tragic Tom Simpson’s death.

And 335 miles from a poignant ceremony, Chris Froome plans to unfurl his own tribute to Britain’s Tour de France martyr on the Col de Peyresourde.

Simpson (inset), the first Briton to don the hallowed Yellow Jersey Froome currently wears with pride – and the first cyclist to win BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year – died aged 29 on the brutal lunar landscape of Mont Ventoux in 1967.

Dehydrated and exhausted, the son of a Durham coal miner was barely half a mile from the summit of Ventoux when he collapsed – one of only three riders to die in cycling’s most unforgiving race.

Froome pulled off arguably his greatest stage win on Le Tour in 2013, after he attacked near the memorial (above) marking the spot where Simpson fell.

And he said: “Tom Simpson left a huge legacy and I would like to believe a lot of British riders in the Tour de France have built on it.” As well as remembering Simpson today, Froome will concentrate on defending his 18-second lead on stage 12, a 136-mile slog from Pau to Peyragudes.

He said: “We finish on an uphill airstrip – it’s a 20 per cent gradient, pretty savage. My lead over Fabio Aru is only 18 seconds and I will need to stick to him like glue.”

On the 126-mile stage 11 from Eymet to Pau, three of Froome’s Yellow Jersey challengers – Jakob Fuglsang, Romain Bardet and Alberto Contador – all crashed while Marcel Kittel nabbed his fifth stage win this Tour.