Froome shrugs off Alpine challenge to inch closer to glory
THIS was supposed to be a dangerous stage for Chris Froome, and not just because of the challenge posed by Nairo Quintana on the final climb and a potentially treacherous descent prior to that.
There was also a threat to Froome’s safety, with one French cycling fan vowing on Facebook to attack the Briton in yellow on the road that rises to Pra Loup.
Team Sky reminded the race organisers of their concerns on the eve of this first Alpine stage, and, fortunately for Froome, a cup of urine thrown by a spectator remains the worst he has had to endure.
But the Sky rider still had plenty to contend with here yesterday, with Quintana twice trying to break him inside the closing three kilometres.
That Froome responded as he did, closing down his rival on both occasions, would suggest the 3min 10sec lead the Briton has going into the final few days is one the second-placed Colombian climber cannot close. Quintana tried to pull away, but to no avail. Froome shows no signs of cracking.
Before this race there was talk of how uncomfortable Froome can be on descents, and few are more difficult than the series of hairpins on the descent from Col d’Allos.
But the sight of Froome following Vincenzo Nibali, the defending champion and a rider considered a specialist at riding a bike scarily fast downhill, ended that debate, even if Froome was sensible enough to recce the descent once or twice with Nicolas Roche before the Tour.
Froome rode superbly, underlining his mental strength when other riders might have been affected by sections of the French media who have suggested that he might be doping. He said he would remain focused on the racing and yesterday he did just that.
Behind him was more drama. The withdrawal of his American challenger Tejay van Garderen with 70km to go was a crushing blow for those hoping to see an American on the podium for the first time since Lance Armstrong. The BMC rider was sitting third, having ridden brilliantly thus far. But, struck by illness, he was unable to continue, breaking down on the side of the road.
With Van Garderen out and Alberto Contador losing time after crashing on the final descent, Geraint Thomas moved from sixth to fourth overall.
A place on the podium still looks beyond the Welshman, with Alejandro Valverde almost two-anda-half minutes ahead, but it remains some achievement when all his energy has gone into working for Froome. After a stage won by a German, Simon Geschke (left), Froome claimed Quintana had tested him.
‘I was definitely pushed to my limits today by the attacks and I can expect more these next few days,’ he said.
The debate over Froome’s performance data on the first mountain stage continued, with the doctor of physiology who made the allegations on French television responding to criticism he received from Team Sky.
Sky exposed Dr Pierre Sallet’s figures as ‘ wildly wrong’ — even though they are now being accused of drawing comparisons between different sections of Froome’s ride — and Sallet is calling for the British team to prove that their star rider is ‘unique’.
Sallet, who is head of the organisation Athletes for Transparency, told the BBC: ‘I’d be happy if he (Froome) is unique but we need more information. I don’t say Froome is a doping athlete. If we have more detail, we can easily say it is a unique profile or doping.
‘It could be a unique profile, classical doping, using haematological drugs, like EPO, or mechanical doping — using a motor in your bike. People need to know.’
Froome said last night: ‘If people want to truly understand what I’m capable of doing on a bike they’d have to have all my power data, all my training files, all my racing files. But for Team Sky that’s our competitive advantage. That intellectual property would mean giving away our training programmes.’