Sky’s limit for teams
WHEN Chris Froome’s Tour de France rivals roll up to the start line in Dusseldorf tomorrow, they will be worrying not only about how to beat the Briton, but also his Sky team.
Sky has won four of the past five Tours and in each the team, as much as the victor (Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and Froome three times), have proved too strong for the opposition.
Never was that more evident than last year when it took a stranglehold from start to finish.
Froome only looked vulnerable twice, once after being knocked off his bicycle on Mont Ventoux by a motorcycle, and then after crashing on a wet and slippery descent on the 19th stage.
On that 19th stage, Dutchman Wout Poels remained alongside him to guide him safely to the finish.
On the 11th stage he had Welshman Geraint Thomas to thank for helping him latch on to an attack from Peter Sagan to take advantage of crosswinds and steal some time on his rivals.
Once again Sky look to be bringing a formidable force to the race, even if the injured Poels is not among them.
“Not having Wout here is a big change, he was a big part of my victory last year and certainly we’re going to miss him,” Froome said.
Former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, of Poland, will ride as a domestique for Froome while Thomas and Spaniard Mikel Landa will provide chief support in the mountains.
Alongside them, Froome will also be able to count on Spanish veteran Mikel Nieve and Colombian talent Sergio Henao to help him negotiate the toughest climbs.
“We have an extremely strong team in the mountains, if you look at the other GC teams, I definitely feel confident going into the climbs,” he said.
On the flat, former world time-trial champion Vasil Kiryienka, of Belarus, Briton Luke Rowe and German Christian Knees will supply the power to keep Froome out of trouble.
It is an imposing outfit that the French describe as a “steamroller”.
If Froome’s rivals are to have a chance, they need to first find a way to negate Sky, and that’s not something that has happened often these past five years. AFP