MINDER COULD BE SO GOOD
CHRIS FROOME will be shadowed by a bodyguard on the Tour de France amid renewed concern for the safety of Team Sky riders.
Today’s Grand Depart will be an acid test of public hostility – or indifference – towards Froome as he launches his bid for a recordequalling fifth Yellow Jersey.
Cleared five days ago by anti-doping authorities, after a nine-month investigation into a raised level of asthma medication salbutamol in his system, Froome was booed at the traditional pre-race parade of the teams in La Roche-sur-Yon on Thursday.
And when the peloton sets off from Noirmoutier-en-L’Ile, Froome will discover if a burly personal minder will be enough to protect him from the long arm of the Loire. He believes the French are “a fair people” and that 12 million fans at the roadside will reflect “the true heart of France”. But in recent