The Tour de France starts on Saturday but the build-up has given Team Sky and Chris Froome a lot to contend with, writes Sky Sports News reporter Lia Hervey…
Chris Froome should be zoning in on his performances, training and nutrition, but is instead giving interview after interview to the media.
On Thursday night, the team presentations should have been a celebration of a five-time Tour de France winning team, but instead the Team Sky riders were welcomed onto the stage in La Roche-sur-Yon to the sound of jeers from the crowds. Every other rider was applauded, cheered and welcomed to France.
Froome and his team-mates rode back to the hotel, unable to take pleasure in the event as every single Team Sky rider rode past the crowds to the sound of jeers.
What is the reason?
Last year, one of Froome’s drugs tests from the Vuelta a Espana revealed he had more than the allowed level of salbutamol in his urine. He is an asthmatic and has been since childhood and says he needed more puffs of his inhaler during the Vuelta as his condition got worse.
Froome claims he stayed within the allowed limit of puffs, and that scientific evidence proved that what you ingest does not necessarily match up with what is measured in your urine.
Salbutamol is not a banned substance and medical experts tell me puffing on an inhaler is unlikely to give a significant performance-enhancing effect but if injected it could. Froome’s urine did not show the huge levels expected with injection of the drug.
Last week, Froome was cleared by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The scientist who formulated the original test levels for salbutamol admitted the current test was flawed and was originally assessed around swimmers who react differently to cyclists. Sources tell us the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are now looking into how salbutamol is monitored.
Many fans don’t accept this and now Froome has to face a cloud of suspicion and anger.
But has Chris done something wrong?
The UCI and WADA ruled he hasn’t. Some fans just do not believe in cycling anymore as the sport’s past casts too much of a shadow.
Are the French fed up of the British dominance of cycling over the last six years? Well, the booing and jeering at the team presentation seemed to be more pantomime than sinister.
So what lies ahead?
The team are definitely nervous but you can’t win massive sporting events without a deep strength and resilience. The more experienced riders have seen it all before. If anything this could spur them on to be more aggressive, push harder and have more appetite to win. Chris Froome has said negativity gives him strength. He’s unlikely to crack.
On Friday, Froome penned a piece in Le Monde – a chance to explain to the French fans his perspective, born from his concern that most people haven’t looked past the headlines of ‘Chris Froome failed a drugs test’ (which wasn’t actually accurate. He had readings that needed explaining further).
Despite his quiet demeanour and polite manners, Froome’s cycling pedigree proves his mental strength, nurtured through personal adversity.
Brought up in Kenya, Froome’s family broke up and had serious financial difficulties when he was younger. His mother died of cancer at a young age and he had to get into the European cycling scene as a young African boy with little help and assistance.
Froome is more likely to internalise these feelings and channel them into winning, like so many successful athletes and people. Afterwards he will retreat to his family as he often does. He has a baby on the way imminently, and a toddler at home. He will be desperate to get his job done and make it home to his family.
Luke Rowe will be the key person to keep the team calm and help them feeling relaxed. He’s a natural leader and can bring a team together.
Many in the team are more worried about the younger riders. The Colombian, Egan Bernal, has never ridden a Grand Tour before. He’s not long out of South America, aged 21, and is about to take on one of the toughest events in the world in one of the biggest sporting teams in the world.
It is when the riders hit the mountains that the risk increases. Roads are narrow, there are no barriers, fans have access to sport stars like no other.
The culture of the Tour de France is for fans to park camper vans and tents for days and party night and day. Fans get up close and some chase the riders uphill on the toughest and most gruelling stages of the three-week race. After days in the sun, some fans get out of control. In the past, riders have had urine thrown on them, been physically assaulted and mocked with dressing-up outfits and props.
The appeal of cycling to many is its rawness and accessibility. Any incidents may mean that the future could be different. The access may be restricted, the riders may become more wary of fans and limit their interaction, and security could increase. Riders like Froome who came into the sport wide-eyed and eager to interact with everyone may just ride past, like he did on Thursday night. He may want to focus on his riding and live his life away from the fans. Chris Froome may have won his case with the cycling authorities, but winning in the court of public opinion may be more difficult.
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Sourse: skysports.com
