Froome Here to Eternity! Centenary Joy for Chris on the Champs-Elysees as Team Sky Complete Consecutive Victories in Paris
I'd Give Anything for my Mum to Have Seen This, Admits Tour Winner Chris
Daily Mail UK 21 July 2013
Chris Froome has been crowned champion of the 100th Tour de France after finishing the ceremonial final Stage of the race. Holding a five minute lead heading into the final day, Froome, as is tradition, was not challenged by the other riders as the procession made its way through the streets of Versailles and Paris. The Kenyan-born rider even had time to puff on a cigar and drink the ceremonial flute of champagne.
Chris Froome is an unlikely history-maker, but on the Champs-Elysees last night, as dusk began to fall over the City of Light, that is what he became.
The second British winner of the Tour de France, and the first African-born champion, was as impassive and inscrutable as he has been throughout as he rode into the French capital, following tradition by sipping champagne on the approach from Versailles, then following his six surviving Sky team-mates as they led the Tour across the Place de la Concorde before swinging over to be absorbed by the peloton as Mark Cavendish and his fellow sprinters scrapped for the stage.
For the last three weeks Froome has given little away, conceding mere seconds to his rivals and offering little more to the world’s media, though always with a polite smile. The easy charm remained — though only just, perhaps — even as he was accused almost daily, in this first Tour since the fall of Lance Armstrong, of doping.
Winning moment: Chris Froome crosses the finish line with his Team Sky team-mates to win the 100th Tour de France
Victorious: Froome celebrates his win on the podium
Light show: The Arc de Triomphe was lit up to mark the 100th anniversary of the race
Froome dealt with all that his rivals could throw at him in what was, despite his clear superiority, a thrilling Tour, full of twists. And he handled the relentless suspicion with grace, good manners and by repeatedly and coolly asserting: ‘I know my results will stand the test of time.’
He repeated that mantra late on Saturday night, after a celebratory pizza on the eve of the final, processional stage. It was after 10pm when the 28-year-old appeared in a small room in the hotel in Annecy in which he and his team were staying.
Wearing a T-shirt that might have been a loose-fit on a size-zero model, his arms a mass of bulging veins, the emaciated-looking Tour champion held a wine glass. Champagne? Nope, water.
He doesn’t expect his success to change his life, he said, and confirmed as much by immediately saying that he wants to ‘stay on it, to try to see the season through and not just switch off after this Tour.’
Celebration time: Chris Froome takes the traditional flute of champagne on the final stage of the tour
A toast: Froome clinks glasses with his team car
Ceremonial: Team Sky and Chris Froome lead the peleton past the Louvre and onto the Champs Elysee
Sealed with a kiss: Froome embraces his girlfriend Michelle Cound
Hard labour: Froome smiles through the grime
And he reels off races in the US, Canada and Italy that he wants to target in the coming weeks, chief among them the World Championships in Florence in September, on a hilly course that should suit his abilities.
So, no rest — and no celebrating with vodka and tonic, as Bradley Wiggins did last year, after following his Tour victory with Olympic gold.
‘I’d love to just fly home and switch off for a few months,’ says Froome, unconvincingly, ‘but the opportunities for a climbing World Championships don’t come around very often so I’ve got to make the most of that. But I’ll definitely relax this next two weeks with the criteriums.’
These are the lucrative races, in Holland, Belgium and France, that follow the Tour — exhibition races, mainly, but hardly most people’s idea of relaxation.
‘I’ll let my hair down a bit and have a bit of a mental break,’ says Froome. ‘But then after that I’d like to get back and really start focusing on the worlds.’
Who is the real Chris Froome? Off the bike he is mild-mannered and polite; on it, he is a killer, seemingly compelled not merely to win, but to crush his rivals, attacking them to steal more time and inflict more pain, even when his legs cannot sustain the effort — as on Saturday’s final climb when he jumped clear with 8km left, but was reeled back.
Spectacular: Riders go around the Arc de Triomph
Just as their personalities are so different, Froome’s manner of victory offered a stark contrast to Wiggins’ measured, controlled success last year. Sir Dave Brailsford, the Team Sky principal, advises caution in any portrait of Froome that paints him as mild-mannered and easy-going.
‘Underneath,’ says Brailsford, ‘there’s a fighter, and because he’s got this fantastic polite sheen, when it comes out, you just don’t expect it.
‘He doesn’t explode,’ Brailsford continues. ‘But if you push him too hard, he’ll just say “No. I’m not going to do that.”’
Brailsford suggests that Froome’s politeness comes from his ‘good family background’, and Froome mentions this, too, especially his mother Jane, who died in 2008, two weeks before he rode his first Tour.
Sprint champion: Marcel Kittel won the final stage ahead of Mark Cavendish who won had won in Paris the previous four years
Colourful: Chris Froome looks resplendent in yellow, alongside second placed best young rider and King of the Mountain Nairo Quintana (second left) and winner of the Green Jersey Points Classification Peter Sagan (right)
Quick chat: Froome talks to Team Sky GM Sir David Brailsford
Froome had been racing in Spain when he heard the news. ‘I flew back for the funeral and the ceremony with the family back in Kenya only to get a call 10 days before the Tour saying, “Chris we’re putting you in the Tour team”.
‘In a way, I couldn’t think of anything worse than trying to get ready for the Tour. But it did kick start me back into the swing of things and forced me back into seeing that life goes on; that this is part of life.’
He added: ‘But ever since then, she’s been a huge inspiration to me, a huge motivation for me to become as successful as I can on the bike.'
Last night, after his greatest success, he returned to the theme, saying: ‘I’d like to dedicate this win to my mother. Without her encouragement to follow my dreams I would probably be at home watching this event on the TV.
‘It’s a great shame she never got to come and see the Tour. But I’m sure she would be extremely proud if she was here tonight. This amazing journey would not be possible without the support I’ve received on and off the bike. I’d like to thank my team-mates who have buried themselves day in-day out, throughout this Tour to keep this yellow jersey on my shoulders.
Entering Paris: Riders along the banks of the Seine, with the Eiffel Tower in the background
Have you got a light? Quintana tries to light a cigar for Joaquim Rodriguez
‘And the Team Sky management, for believing in my ability and building this team around me.
‘Finally I’d like to thank my close friends and family, who have been there for me every step of the way — especially my fiancee Michelle. This is a beautiful country, with the finest annual sporting event on the planet.
‘To win the 100th edition is an honour beyond any I’ve dreamed. This is one yellow jersey that will stand the test of time.’
Froome says he wants to carry on for ‘as long as I’m hungry for it and have the motivation and physical ability,’ and at 28, that could be five or six years. But already it has been a remarkable journey for this Kenya-born, South African-educated, Monaco-domiciled British cyclist, who confesses to feeling ‘divided’ on the issue of where to call home.
‘When I return to any of these places it feels like home in a way,’ he said on Saturday evening. ‘But one thing that really does make me smile is when I go back to Kenya. Even going through customs control, they grin with their big smiles, and that always makes me really happy.’
He was entitled to feel a sense of overwhelming happiness in Paris last night, too, and maybe even to indulge in something a little stronger than water. All that was missing was the woman who had encouraged him.
‘Oh, I mean, I’d give anything just to see her smile with me coming into Paris,’ said Froome. ‘I know she’d be chuffed to bits.’
Good in green: Slovakian sprinter Peter Sagan added a bit of green dye and a wig to celebrate his points victory
Mentor: David Kinjah (centre) introduced Froome to cycling in the mountains of Nairobi
Spectacular: Spectators gather outside the Chateau de Versailles
Support: Fans on Froome arrived in Paris early
Revelation: Nairo Quintana has been brilliant in this year's race. He won the Polka-Dot and White jersey and finishing second overall
Celebrations: Quintana and Froome share a well deserved cigar with Joaquim Rodriguez at the start of the race
.