Froome plea for peace as cauldron of hate awaits
Perhaps Chris Froome truly believed there would be no hostility at this Tour de France. ‘You would think if there were any problems we would have seen that at the Giro d’Italia, but there weren’t any,’ he said when asked about security fears.
perhaps he knew full well the reaction would be frosty but was blocking it out as he prepares to go after a recordequalling fifth yellow jersey.
Whatever the Briton’s reasons for talking down concerns about how he might be treated by the French crowds, if the booing and jeering that was aimed at him at the official team presentation were any indication, then Froome could face a cauldron of hate as he tackles more than 3,000km of French roads.
so, Team sky’s pr machine went even further into overdrive than it had done earlier this week, when the race organisers tried to block Froome from riding and a day later when the UCI cleared him of doping after a ninemonth investigation.
The result was that yesterday morning Le Monde’s website carried a letter pleading for peace, penned by a certain Mr C Froome.
he explained how a sample he gave at last year’s Vuelta a espana far exceeded the permitted level of the asthma drug salbutamol and finished by writing: ‘I meant it when I stood on the podium on the Champs-elysees and said I would never dishonour the yellow jersey and my results would stand the test of time.
‘I won’t — and they will. I love this sport. I am passionate about the Tour. To win any race based on a lie would for me be a personal defeat. I could never let that happen.
‘I can’t wait to compete again on cycling’s most beautiful stage in front of its most passionate fans.’
however, David Lappartient, president of the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, said Team sky’s wealth helped them to fight Froome’s case in a way other teams couldn’t have afforded and added: ‘Maybe it’s a shame for Froome to receive these bad feelings from the fans but it’s true that when you don’t have clear answers, that’s always difficult.’
Yesterday, Froome was still giving one-on-one interviews to national newspapers in a bid to ‘draw a line’ under his case, to borrow his new favourite phrase.
Froome had a cup of urine thrown at him during the 2015 Tour and if things turn ugly, particularly in the mountains where the riders are at their most vulnerable, it may not just be him who gets caught up in it.
Mark Cavendish, who was sprayed with urine and abused in 2013, said: ‘I hope it is OK, I hope we are treated like humans, not animals.’
richie porte, a former sky team-mate of Froome, said: ‘I guess the hostilities were there before but now this is another level this year. I would hate to see anything happen to anyone but Chris is a friend, he has got a wife and a little boy as well, so there’s a human side to it as well.
‘It’s not the place to spit and punch people. It is a real fear that something might happen. None of us wants to see anyone get hurt. Of course it is going to play on Chris’s mind.’
Today, Froome will have to stop it from doing so. For when he rides off the start line this morning on the island of Noirmoutier, near Nantes, he is trying to make history. he can become only the fifth man to win five Tours and the first in 20 years — since Marco pantani — to do the GiroTour double.
he is the overwhelming favourite and his team of riders are formidable but he said: ‘I think this year’s race is going to be the biggest challenge of my career. It is a massive goal to target a fifth Tour de France victory and fourth Grand Tour consecutively on the back of a Giro tour. This is a complete unknown for me.’