Stars of the Tour

Sky

ccording to Chris Froome, he is no longer the favourite to win the Tour de France. He personally deferred that honour to Richie Porte (BMC Racing) after the Australian beat him in the Critérium du Dauphiné at the beginning of this month. Admittedly, Porte has been on something of a rampage this year, recording a very impressive Tour build-up with two stage race wins. Froome, on the other hand, has been soundly beaten by Porte both times they’ve met and has yet to net a win of any sort in 2017, so you may surmise that the Brit has every reason to hand the burdensome ‘favourite’ tag to his former team-mate.

However, such a move is a well-used psychological gambit and whether Froome believes it or not, it transfers the pressure from his own shoulders to those of Porte.

That the pressure began to tell on the BMC leader in the Dauphiné, despite his high finish, didn’t go unnoticed by Froome, who suggested Porte fell into the trap of believing “the whole world is against you” when his rivals subjected him to a series of attacks on the final stage. It may well be that the Brit recognises a weakness in Porte and is attempting to exploit it. There are, of course, concerns for Froome that extend well beyond Richie Porte — Nairo Quintana (Movistar) being the most obvious, plus Quintana’s teammate Alejandro Valverde, Frenchman Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Alberto Contador (Trek-segafredo).

But Froome’s nemesis at the Tour may turn out to come from within. His form looks lacking, and while he maintained after the Dauphiné that “at least I’m heading in the right direction”, it looked like he’d left himself with a lot of work to do to top the podium in Paris.