Mark de Triom phe ...but Chris won’t set any future Tour target
CHRIS FROOME refused to set limits on his Tour de France ambitions on Monday as he reflected on asurreal victory and the moment he ran up Mont Ventoux and left his team-mates laughing all the way to Paris.
The 31-year-old Team Sky rider won his third Tour title in three years – 2014 the only blot on the record when he crashed out – on Sunday.
Only four riders in 103 editions have more yellow jerseys, but Froome is taking nothing for granted when the 2017 race route in announced in October.
“Three is incredible,” said the Briton. “It gets a bit dangerous when you start putting anumber: five, or six, or seven. I’ll take it one at atime and if I can win the Tour again that would be unreal.”
Froome moved to within two overall wins of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, who each won five Tours, while the disgraced Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven for doping.
The defining image of the 2016 race will be of Froome striding out on Mont Ventoux on July 14 in his cleats after a multi-bike pile-up. The chaos might have cost him his third Tour title, until the race jury intervened.
Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: “We do alot of planning, but Chris running up the Ventoux in the yellow jersey, without abike, wasn’t something we had in mind.
“Most athletes would’ve stayed by the side of the road, thrown their bike away and got angry.
“But Chris was only thinking about crossing the finish line. That winning instinct is what is inside him.”