BRAIL STORM
Sky boss Sir Dave lets rip at cycling chief and looks to put Thomas in the Yellow Jersey today
SIR DAVE BRAILSFORD has accused cycling chief David Lappartient of bias and running the sport like a municipal French mayor.
And just to put the entente cordiale under more strain, one of Brailsford’s riders, Geraint Thomas, could move into the Yellow Jersey on the Tour de France after today’s team time trial.
Nothing spices up Le Tour like deep-seated grudges about Sky dominating the fabled maillot jaune – as they did for 19 out of 21 stages last year.
Britain’s Chris Froome was booed again on stage two by fans after world governing body UCI president Lappartient (inset) claimed the four-time champion was only cleared in his salbutamol case because Sky assembled an expensive legal artillery to defend him.
Froome is still more than a minute off the lead after crashing into a field in Saturday’s Grand Depart.
He rolled home safely enough on the 113-mile second stage from Mouilleron-SaintGermain to La Roche-sur-Yon, avoiding the late pile-up just over a mile from the finish.
But Thomas, who spent four days in yellow before he crashed out in 2017, is only 15secs off the pace.
And Brailsford would love it – absolutely love it – if one of his riders was waving at Lappartient from the leader’s podium after the 22-mile team charge against the clock around Cholet, where Team Sky are one of the favourites.
Brailsford suspects local hostility towards Froome has been fostered by Lappartient’s comments.
He said: “You look at the reaction of some elements of the French public, and for someone who is innocent that was pretty difficult to take on board.
“I gave Lappartient the benefit of the doubt when he started. I thought, ‘OK, he’s new to the job and obviously he doesn’t understand the responsibility of a presidential role’. “He should protect the international community with no bias. But I think maybe he has still got the kind of local French mayor mentality.” If Brailsford’s stinging reference to Lappartient’s previous incarnation as mayor of Sarzeau, where stage four happens to finish tomorrow, does not ring any bells, there is nobody home in the UCI belfry.
Britain’s sprint legend Mark Cavendish is still stuck on 30 stage wins after being held up by the smash on a tight bend just over a mile from home.
The Manx missile missed out on another chance to chip away at Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 stage wins.
World champion Peter Sagan – the man whose stray elbow knocked him out of last year’s race – pipped Italian Sonny Colbrelli on the line.