TOUR DE
BRIT CROWNED TODAY
Before take-off in Germany, Chris Froome warned that you couldn’t win the Tour de France in the prologue time trial, but you could lose it – and he was right. Romain Bardet (39sec) and Rigoberto Uran (51sec) had every cause to rue the time they dropped against the clock three weeks ago.
Froome survived a treacherous day which wiped out Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas and key rival Richie Porte, and even managed to nick bonus seconds by finishing third in a thrilling sprint finish among the climbers. To widespread surprise, Froome lost the Yellow Jersey to Fabio Aru on the steep ramp of a Pyrenees altiport where Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies was shot on location. It was his only serious slip in 2,100 miles of cycling.
This time, it was Aru who found the tank on empty on a steep climb to the finish, and Froome snatched back the leader’s maillot jaune, vowing to wage “war” to defend it all the way. Rescued by fellow Sky rider Michal Kwiatkowski’s highspeed wheel change when he broke a spoke and Bardet was speeding up the decisive climb, Froome pulled off a miraculous escape when team-mates helped him to bridge the 45-second gap in a five-mile chase. Kwiatkowski and Froome To make it official, all he has to do is stay upright and roll up to the Arc de Triomphe. Froome is 54 seconds ahead of nearest challenger Rigoberto Uran and set for his third Tour triumph in a row, and fourth in five years, to put him up there with Britain’s all-time sporting greats. Yes, he was born in Kenya and went to boarding school in South Africa, but both his parents were British. And he belongs in the top bracket of Brits. Don’t fall for the line that Froome is only the seventh man in Le Tour’s history to take the Yellow Jersey without winning a stage. The course this year was designed to stop him, or any other mountain goat, running away with it. And for Team Sky, under siege for months amid tales of jiffy bags and alleged tactical use of needles which broke no rules but drove a horse and cart through their ‘clean team’ manifesto, a fifth Yellow Jersey for them in six years is a triumph in adversity.
Froome said: “It’s an amazing feeling – I just spoke to my wife, she’s heading off to Paris with our son Kellan and I can’t wait to get there now.
“It’s been the closest and most hard-fought Tour de France I’ve won, and I’ve a newfound appreciation of the guys who have won it five times because it doesn’t get any easier.
“No matter how you win, you know you are going to suffer, and it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment at all that I didn’t win a stage this year.
“Given the nature of the course, we had to treat it as a three-week race and not go out there trying to blow the race apart in one day. It was a case of chipping away.”
Marseille’s Stade Velodrome was the gladiatorial backdrop to Froome’s killer blow yesterday, with the 14-mile time-trial course starting and finishing in the arena.
Last man down the ramp, Froome’s reception was in stark contrast to the deafening roar which had greeted his nearest challenger Romain Bardet.
He almost humiliated the Frenchman, only 23 seconds behind the leader overnight. They started two minutes apart, but Froome was breathing down Bardet’s neck as they returned to the stadium. “I didn’t mind the booing,” said Froome. “It’s perfectly normal, when a Frenchman is so close to me.”
Another Brit, Simon Yates, has emulated his twin brother Adam’s achievement last year by winning the peloton’s White Jersey for the best young rider. ushered CHRIS FROOME rightly paid tribute to the Team Sky minders who him to an extraordinary triumph. Here we look at his supporting cast: after spending four GERAINT THOMAS: Crashed out in stage nine, but only days in the Yellow Jersey after stunning time-trial triumph in Dusseldorf. as chief bodyguard. MICHAL KWIATKOWSKI: Polish all-rounder was revelation personal MIKEL LANDA: Possible podium material who sacrificed glory to stay the course with Froome over brutal Alpine stages. stages. LUKE ROWE: Valuable input as Sky’s road captain on flat climbs. VASIL KIRIYIENKA: Invariably led the peloton over first MIKEL NIEVE: Helped draw the sting from Froome’s rivals. needed. CHRISTIAN KNEES: German powerhouse delivered when asset. SERGIO HENAO: Workhorse’s experience was always an
It’s an amazing feeling... but winning doesn’t get any easier