INTERVIEW: CHRIS FROOME
Controversial off the bike and dramatic on it: Chris Froome describes 2018 as a rollercoaster year. Here, the Giro winner discusses how his confidence in WADA has been knocked, clashing with Bernard Hinault and his Giro-winning Finestre raid
The Giro winner on salbutamol, the Finestre, Geraint Thomas and chasing a fifth Tour win
How will you remember the 2018 season? It’s certainly been a rollercoaster. Obviously I’ve got pretty fond memories of the Giro and how that panned out – and also the Tour, even though it didn’t quite go to plan personally. Having just won three grand tours in a row, it was still a special experience to be up on the podium with G [Geraint Thomas] in Paris. That was a pretty cool way to end the serious racing of the season. It was also an absolute whirlwind of a time with the [salbutamol] case going on. I think at the time, while it was going on, I didn’t really want to admit to myself that it was affecting me. I was trying to block everything out – put the blinkers on and keep my head down and stay as focused as I could. But I can admit now it would have taken a toll on me frustration-wise, and would have taken my focus a bit, given the severity of the situation. No. But I’ve always been really passionate about my training and almost the first thing I do when I get back from a ride is upload the data and spend a good few minutes going through it. This past year it just hasn’t been like that for me. I’d still do the training, but it’d be lucky if it got uploaded at all. I’d walk in the door and the first thing I’d do is check the phone and the emails for any update in the case. I’m extremely grateful we got to the bottom of it. Very early on in the case we learned there were massive flaws in the test and the way it is calculated. Even back then, we already had some of the people who established the test coming out and saying it basically wasn’t set up for the right reasons and that the thresholds weren’t what they’re meant to be. So from very early on, that gave me a certain degree of confidence that we would get to the bottom of it. But having said that, it was horrendous while it was going on because even though we would submit a lot of scientific evidence on why the procedure was wrong and why the levels weren’t extraordinary, we kept on just getting almost stonewalled. It really felt as if it was a losing battle... It was only in the last week or so before I was eventually cleared that it looked as things were turning. Being in my position and being tested the amount I am – I mean, I think one year I was tested over 80 times – you start thinking… With all these tests and being exposed to travelling all around the world, there is a certain risk of something popping up that shouldn’t be there, whether that comes from food or contamination or whatever. For every clean rider it’s their biggest nightmare and it’s always been a concern of mine. There’s nothing that can properly describe the feeling when I first got that phone call from the lawyer at the UCI. Initially in those first few seconds you think this is one of my mates having a laugh, and then it’s for real and it’s no laughing matter. I think my confidence has certainly taken a big hit through this case. And not just for my own case, but because I’ve also learned so much about a lot of very similar cases and other athletes who have had their reputations tarnished by similar instances. Up until more recently, I’ve gone out of my way to be an
Can you quantify just how much of an impact it made? When did you feel momentum in the case was on your side? “I think my con idence in WADA has certainly taken a big hit through this case... I’ve gone out of my way to be an advocate for what they’ve been doing, but since then it’s been shaken a bit” How much thought had you given to what would amount to a false positive? How bad was the reality? Do you have confidence in WADA?
advocate for what they’ve been doing, but since then, it’s been shaken a bit.
The rules governing salbutamol use are unchanged in the 2019 WADA Code…
I’ve certainly not heard of anything being changed, which is just nuts because if they finally gave the ruling on my case that the level of salbutamol they detected corresponded with a therapeutic dose – but if a therapeutic dose could produce a reading over the threshold as mine was – then why is that threshold still in place? Why has it not changed? My case obviously did make it public, but there are certainly others out there. It’s not a random one-off. It’s very surprising.
Turning to racing, you said in 2016 you had “no desire” to go back to the Zoncolan after the 2010 Giro. How do you view the climb now?
It was a stage that I feared going into this year’s Giro because of my experience up it the last time, back in 2010. I can remember it was a horrendous stage. I was in pain, I was riding around with an injury and I remember thinking I probably wouldn’t have got to the top if it hadn’t been for the tifosi on the side of the road giving me a push. That was one of the reasons I went out and reconned it this year and actually did a race effort up there. It obviously changed my perspective having won on it in the Giro this year. I’ve got some pretty cool memories.
Where does your performance on the Finestre rank among your other climbing exploits?
I think in terms of originality, it’s definitely got to top the list because I don’t think anyone in recent history has won a grand tour in that kind of fashion. It really was an all-or-nothing kind of attempt and it could have gone either way. A whole combination of factors came together... Obviously it was a risk because if a few guys had got together and formed a chase, I would have had nothing left on the last climb and they’d have steamed past. I was also in a position where I was far enough down that it wasn’t really going to change my race if I waited to the last climb. Even if I’d gained a minute it wouldn’t have won me the race. But at the moment I attacked, I didn’t know which way it would go.
Did you start the rest period before the Tour worse than anticipated?
I don’t think it’s necessarily what the racing takes out of you, but I think it’s a whole different
stimulus to your body. Generally during the Giro period we’re focusing on being ready for the Tour, by being up on Tenerife where you feel as if you’re building your body up to a certain level in a very measured and controlled way. Racing the Giro is an all-out effort and you’re not really building up to anything, you’re just slightly destroying yourself. It’s not so much the fatigue, it’s the periodisation of when the Giro falls before the Tour. What it is actually optimal to be doing five or six weeks out from the Tour is not smashing yourself around Italy.
Is it important that a pecking order is established prior to next year’s Tour with you and Thomas?
The media would love to see a soap opera developing, similar to myself and Bradley Wiggins, but it simply doesn’t exist with G. We do a lot of our training together, we hang out a lot – that kind of rivalry doesn’t exist. If anything, it just puts us in a stronger position again. I’m pretty sure that it will be as it was this year: it’s going to be pretty clear who’s stronger and who’s got the better chance of winning. That’s who the team is going to back.
Bernard Hinault made some inflammatory remarks about you when your salbutamol case was ongoing. Have you spoken to him?
No, I haven’t really seen him apart from at the Tour presentation. I passed him and said hello, but we didn’t really have the chance to speak. I’m not waiting for an apology. I know from the comments he made, he didn’t understand the situation. So be it. Everyone had an opinion and his was obviously not very supportive of me. That’s his right to have an opinion.
Is there any concern not having a Vuelta in the legs this year?
Typically doing the Vuelta does help in terms of going into the off-season in better shape and maintaining that level of fitness for longer, but this year I definitely needed that break from grand tour racing. I’d done four in a row at a high level. It was a welcome break from grand tours and especially with the addition of Katie [his daughter was born after the Tour] to the family, it was nice to spend the time at home. If anything, though I’ve got into training much faster than I have when I’ve raced the Vuelta previously. I feel as if I’m coming into the new season motivated and in relatively decent shape.
On your recent trip to Colombia to ride Rigoberto Urán’s gran fondo, you visited Mauricio Soler, who you raced with in Barloworld...
It was pretty humbling to see him again and a massive reminder how privileged we are to be doing what we still love. [In the 2011 Tour de Suisse, Soler was almost killed after colliding with a spectator. The crash forced his retirement.] It was a reminder that it can all be taken away from you, as it was with him.
How was he?
He’s doing a lot better than he was initially. He’s able to ride a bike again. He was told he would never ride again, so to see him on the bike and see he’s happy and with his family in Colombia was nice to see.
What did you talk about? What did he make of how far you’d come?
He said he’d been following my career since our time at Barloworld and that he was proud to have had me as a team-mate. I’d ridden for him for a couple of years and done everything I could for him while I was a neo-pro.
And you’re starting your 2019 season in Colombia...
Before going to Colombia I didn’t know what to expect – I’m not Colombian and can barely speak Spanish. If anything, I expected a little bit of reservation given that half the time I’m racing Quintana or Rigoberto, who are national heroes, so I could understand if they hold a bit of a grudge against me. But there was no hint of that at all. They were extremely welcoming, which was amazing.