Froome’s promise
I’m ready to help team-mate Thomas to title, says Sky star
A fascinating and increasingly tense Tour de France will begin its final push for home today with Chris Froome insisting he is prepared to sacrifice his own chances of winning a record-equalling fifth title to help Geraint Thomas win his first.
Speaking at a packed press conference outside their Campanile hotel in Carcassonne on the Tour’s final rest day yesterday, Froome simply said “yes” when asked whether he might risk his own yellow-jersey ambitions to help the Welshman. He added that he would not expect Thomas to come back to help him if he was in trouble on one of the three mountain stages over the next four days.
“As long as there’s a Team Sky rider on the top step of that podium in Paris, I’m happy,” said Froome, who lies second overall, 1min 39sec behind his team-mate. “All this talk of attacking or not attacking … we’re in an amazing position. We’re one and two. It’s not up to us to be attacking. It’s for all the other riders in the peloton to make up time on us and dislodge us from the position we’re in.”
Thomas, sitting next to him, remained cool. The body language between the two riders, who have been team-mates since their days at Barloworld 10 years ago, was almost as interesting as what they said.
As this race has evolved, there have been lots of parallels drawn with the 2012 Tour when Sir Bradley Wiggins and Froome were first and second heading into the final week. The relationship between them threatened to implode with trust a major issue.
Team Sky were always clear in what they were doing, however. As Wiggins was ahead in the race and as he was team leader, Team Sky could justifiably put all their eggs in his basket.
The way things stand this time – with Thomas, their “plan B” ahead of the four-time champion by 99 seconds – it is more like the 2011 Vuelta a Espana, when Sky found themselves with Froome in front of their leader Wiggins and were unsure how to go about things.
Team Sky contrived to lose that race to Spain’s Juan Jose Cobo, with Froome finishing second and Wiggins third, and Team Sky have been racking their brains in recent days trying to work out how best not to stuff this one up. Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin is lurking menacingly 11 seconds behind Froome, with Slo- venia’s Primoz Roglic a further 48 seconds back.
Sky’s chances have not been helped by the loss of Gianni Moscon, their young Italian domestique, who was thrown off the race on Sunday night after punching another rider.
They had better hope that Wout Poels, who has been largely rested up until now, is prepared to step up.
It promises to be a fascinating week. And a fiery one, with Brailsford’s decision to criticise French fans – calling their booing and spitting and physical intimidation of his team “a French thing” – potentially backfiring. The authorities confirmed yesterday that smoke flares had been banned, with French police now empowered to arrest anyone who sets one off.
between Thomas and Froome is less of a concern. Thomas described Froome as a “good mate” yesterday and there is no reason to doubt him. Froome was a guest at his wedding in 2015 – Thomas’s wife Sara was in Carcassonne yesterday watching the press conference – and there is no animosity between them.
Froome is the more ruthless character on the bike. But he is also mindful of the bigger picture. Attacking Thomas and taking the yellow jersey off him would be suicidal in PR terms. He must instead look to put time into Dumoulin and Roglic, and be ready if Thomas tumbles out of contention.
If Thomas continues to ride strongly, Froome may decide it would make more sense to help the Welshman. The respect he would get if he did pull for his team-mate would arguably be worth as much as a fifth title to him.
Today’s stage from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-luchon features five categorised climbs, including the Col du Portillon, from which the riders will descend 10km to the finish line.
“I won two mountain stages back to back,” Thomas reflected when asked whether not winning from here would be crushing. “That’s nuts, for me. Obviously the closer you get the more you want to stay on the podium.
“Winning is still not something I’m really thinking about. Coming here, the dream was to be in with a shot of finishing on the podium, which is still on the cards.”