TOUR de HATE
Froome and Co may be targets again after a turbulent year for Team Sky
THE sight of Chris Froome riding away from his rivals towards the summit at La Pierre St Martin was all it took to spark some of the ugliest scenes in Tour de France history two years ago.
En route to his second Tour victory, Froome was showered with spittle and urine, certain members of the crowd seemingly offended by the British team’s US Postal-style dominance and a perceived arrogance, expressing their displeasure in a distasteful manner.
Richie Porte, now Froome’s chief rival but then his super-domestique at Sky, was punched and had to be persuaded by police to ride on when the Australian was tempted to climb off and belt the guy back.
It led to heightened levels of security, the situation not helped, Froome reflected near his home in Monaco this week, by a section of the French media that responded to his devastating ascent towards a ski resort in the Pyrenees with more than a hint of suspicion.
The performance by the Kenyanborn rider was being described as super human, with Sir Dave Brailsford subsequently ‘ambushed’ in a France 2 television studio by panellists — among them ex-professional cyclists — armed with scientific data they claimed raised serious concerns about Froome.
Was another Tour victory about to be tarnished by doping? They were certainly suggesting as much.
Froome handled himself with great dignity during that race, and later challenged the France 2 power numbers by publishing data of his own that suggested he was rather more normal than the likes of Laurent Jalabert would have continental cycling fans believe.
By the time the 2016 edition unfolded, the tension had subsided somewhat. The same huge crowds lined the road — this year the organisers at A SO estimate between 10 million and 12m will turn out to cheer on the peloton over the three weeks — but Froome went some way to charming even his critics when he briefly turned the Tour into a running race.
Froome looked back at 2015 this week. ‘My ride on that first summit finish to La Pierre St Martin seemed to spark quite a reaction,’ he recalled.
‘I do think the French media had a big influence in the way they were sensationalising the race, which was unfortunate.
‘But at last year’s Tour I certainly felt there was a big shift. I didn’t feel nearly the same hostility, and I’ve been really impressed with the crowds so far this year. I like to think I’ve done a lot, in trying to be more open, to try to gain trust.’
That might be true but over the past nine or 10 months his team have armed the sceptics with some proper ammunition, and more than enough evidence to accuse Team Sky, at the very least, of hypocrisy.
It was Brailsford’s inference that Sky would stand alone in winning the Tour clean that so antagonised people in the sport.
But in the wake of the Sir Bradley Wiggins medical exemption and Jiffy Bag controversies, their credibility has been severely damaged. They have been heavily criticised by the UK Anti-Doping authorities and a parliamentary select committee, not least for poor medical record keeping and a consequent failure to prove what was in the package delivered to Wiggins in June 2011.
Even now we wait for the documents that confirm testosterone patches were sent in error by a pharmaceutical company to the headquarters they share in Manchester with British Cycling. The bulk orders of the corticosteroid used by Wiggins before he secured that first Tour win for Sky in 2012 have not yet been fully explained.
Until now it’s fair to say that it has been a bigger story here in the UK than across continental Europe, but with the Tour fast approaching that may be about to change.
ARD, the national German television channel that has led the way in exposing corruption and doping in athletics, is planning to broadcast a programme on Team Sky’s year of turbulence. There is concern inside Team Sky that the press conference ahead of Saturday’s Grand Depart in Dusseldorf will be dominated by questions on the scandals from foreign journalists who, until now, have not had an opportunity to grill Brailsford and his riders. It may be prudent for Brailsford to avoid appearing before the media.
Several European cycling publications are planning pieces on Sky ahead of the Tour, with much of their interest focused on Brailsford’s ill-conceived handling of the Jiffy Bag allegations.
‘Our programme will look at the Wiggins TUEs ( therapeutic use exemptions) but for me the Jiffy Bag is the most interesting part,’ said ARD’s Tom Mustroph. ‘It’s just this idea that a medical package was delivered to their star rider and nobody (Dr Richard Freeman aside) can remember what it was.’
In Germany there is a real intolerance of doping in cycling. Their broadcasters stopped covering the Tour in the wake of a 2006 scandal involving their own superstar, Jan Ullrich, German cameras only returning to the race in 2015.
Mustroph said it is difficult to tell how European cycling fans will respond to Team Sky. ‘In Germany they are divided into three groups,’ he said. ‘Those who see the Sky train like the US Postal train and think they have been vindicated, those who are just fans, and those who now apply a bit of scepticism to what they are watching. We will have to see who is on the roadside.’
It could be that the continental cycling fans who prefer to accept doping as part of the sport will warm to Team Sky now that their mask has slipped a little.
But like 2015, it may be determined by coverage in the foreign media, and whether anyone, in particular in France, has the appetite to go on the attack again.