Tour de France: Froome defeats them all

CHRIS FROOME became a double Tour de France champion on a sodden Champs-Élysées in Paris tonight, overcoming obstacles both on and off the road in a gruelling three-week campaign.

On the road, Froome ultimately finished in a total official time of 81 hours, 56 minutes and 33 seconds - 1'12" ahead of his closest rival, Colombian Nairo Quintana.

Moreover, Froome became the first man since the legendary Belgian Eddy Merckx in 1970 to win the general classification and the King of the Mountains prize in the same year.

Notably, this was also Team Sky's third overall victory in the last four years after Sir Bradley Wiggins' win in 2012 and Froome's first in 2013. However, success for Team Sky and Froome, in particular, has come at a cost.

For, in the past three weeks, the Kenya-born Briton has been subject to some of the most vile abuse in the Tour's 112-year history.

Some members of the crowd have spat at him and, in one particularly nasty incident, a cup of urine was chucked at him by a man accusing him of being a doper.

The assaults became so bad that Tour race director Christian Prudhomme demanded that the French public show respect to all of the competitors and especially the yellow jersey. Meanwhile, Froome began a stage in Mende surrounded by gendarmes.

Unsurprisingly, just as he did two years ago, the 30-year-old also went to some lengths to deny the accusations of his detractors.

But, as Team Sky general manager Sir Dave Brailsford has said, it is difficult to "prove" a negative.

That has not stopped Sky trying their best to end the rumours - and, in an unprecedented move, the team published some of Froome's performance data before calling on others to do the same.

Nevertheless, even the equivalent of a Formula One team allowing its rivals to look at its technical data has clearly not been enough to satisfy some critics - and Froome is aware that they are unlikely ever to be convinced.

Perhaps the most obvious explanation for the French hatred of Froome is petty jealousy - for, while he has won their race twice since 2013, it is now 30 years since France last toasted a home-grown success.

Of course, public opinion rarely suddenly springs from absolutely nowhere, and Team Sky has angrily made its position quite clear on some of the disreputable reporting by host broadcaster France 2.

It has not helped either that the likes of serial doper Lance Armstrong and accused cheat Laurent Jalabert have cast their own doubts.

Banned Armstrong even had the audacity to turn up and ride part of this year's Tour route, albeit in a private capacity for charity purposes.

Overall, though, Armstrong's presence anywhere near the race casts a shadow which it is still struggling to shrug off - and which, in turn, gives false credence to Froome's accusers.

After all, it only took one phenomenal performance from him - on Bastille Day - for them all to crawl out of the woodwork.

The Tour, which this year had began in the Netherlands for the sixth time in its history, had made its way across the north of France via several crashes caused by difficult crosswinds.

Froome had briefly worn yellow after the third day before German sprinter Tony Martin enjoyed the flat stages out in front prior to crashing out.

Then, on 14 July, Froome made his move. Up the Col de Soudet on the way into La Pierre Saint-Martin, high in the Pyrenees, he destroyed the field and finished the day with a lead of nigh on three minutes.

It was a brilliant performance by Froome, one which matched his attack on Mont Ventoux which all but won him the race in 2013, and none of his rivals for the yellow jersey - Quintana, reigning champ Vincent Nibali or Alberto Contador - got anywhere near his pace.

Suddenly, it was all about countering rumours and protecting the lead for Team Sky, although Froome did actually extend his advantage further on stage 14 on the Côte de la Croix Neuve.

That stage also saw Merseysider Steve Cummings win in the Tour de France for the first time ever, while Manx Missile Mark Cavendish had earlier won his 26th individual stage in a sprint to Fougères.

For Froome, however, success or failure would ultimately be decided in the Alps - and, on stage 19, Nibali and Quintana had nibbled into his lead a little.

Inevitably then, it would all come down to the climb up the Alpe d'Huez on the penultimate day yesterday, in what is very much the blue ribbon event of the Tour de France in general.

This time, Froome was in defensive mode, ready to shut down any attacks by his closest rival Quintana but not willing to expend potentially needed energy by attacking from the front.

For a while, Froome had the situation under control - but, aware he was running out of opportunities, Quintana was relentless in his approach and eventually opened up a gap of around 30 seconds.

The Colombian then stretched his lead and Froome - with his Sky team-mates Richie Porte and Wouter Poels - had to work hard to limit any losses.

They knew, however, if they could do this that victory would be theirs. This was, after all, Quintana's very last chance.

Amid a lot of tension, Froome - emotionally and physically exhausted - did indeed succeed in his task on the Alpe, and Quintana eventually was only able to take 86 seconds out of the Briton's lead of 2'38".

All that was left for Froome to do this evening was to make the short ride into the damp streets of Paris while sipping the sweet taste of champagne and the even sweeter taste of success.

For, let there be no doubt about it - this victory, for Froome and for Team Sky, was particularly sweet.

DAY-BY-DAY

		Route	Dist	Winner	Yellow jersey	Lead
01	04-Jul	Utrecht (time-trial)	13.8km	Rohan Dennis	Rohan Dennis	+5"
02	05-Jul	Utrecht to Zeeland	166km	André Griepel	Fabian Cancellara	+3"
03	06-Jul	Antwerp to Huy	159.5km	Joaquim Rodríguez	Chris Froome	+1"
04	07-Jul	Seraing to Cambrai	223.5km	Tony Martin	Tony Martin	+12"
05	08-Jul	Arras to Amiens	189.5km	André Griepel	Tony Martin	+12"
06	09-Jul	Abbeville to Le Harve	191.5km	Zdeněk Štybar	Tony Martin	+12"
07	10-Jul	Livarot to Fougères	190.5km	Mark Cavendish	Chris Froome	+11"
08	11-Jul	Rennes to Mûr-de-Bretagne	181.5km	Alexis Vuillermoz	Chris Froome	+11"
09	12-Jul	Vannes to Plumelec (team time-trial)	28km	BMC Racing	Chris Froome	+12"
Rest	13-Jul	Pau	-
10	14-Jul	Tarbes to La Pierre Saint-Martin	167km	Chris Froome	Chris Froome	+2'52"
11	15-Jul	Pau to Cauterets	188km	Rafał Majka	Chris Froome	+2'52"
12	16-Jul	Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille	195km	Joaquim Rodríguez	Chris Froome	+2'52"
13	17-Jul	Muret to Rodez	198.5km	Greg Van Avermaet	Chris Froome	+2'52"
14	18-Jul	Rodez to Mende	178.5km	Steve Cummings	Chris Froome	+3'10"
15	19-Jul	Mende to Valence	183km	André Griepel	Chris Froome	+3'10"
16	20-Jul	Bourg-de-Péage to Gap	201km	Rubén Plaza	Chris Froome	+3'10"
Rest	21-Jul	Gap	-
17	22-Jul	Digne-les-Bains to Pra Loup	161km	Simon Geschke	Chris Froome	+3'10"
18	23-Jul	Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne	186.5km	Romain Bardet	Chris Froome	+3'10"
19	24-Jul	Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Les Sybelles	138km	Vincenzo Nibali	Chris Froome	+2'38"
20	25-Jul	Modane to Alpe d'Huez	110.5km	Thibaut Pinot	Chris Froome	+1'12"
21	26-Jul	Sèvres to Paris	109.5km	André Griepel	Chris Froome	+1'12"

FINAL STANDINGS
General classification Yellow jersey

Pos		Team	Time
(1)	Chris FROOME (GBR)	Team Sky	81h 56'33"
(2)	Nairo QUINTANA (COL)	Movistar	+1'12"
(3)	Alejandro VALVERDE (ESP)	Movistar	+5'25"
(4)	Vincenzo NIBALI (ITA)	Astana	+8'36"
(5)	Alberto CONTANDOR (ESP)	Tinkoff-Saxo	+9'48"

Points classification Green jersey

Pos		Team	Points
(1)	Peter SAGAN (SVK)	Tinkoff-Saxo	432
(2)	André GRIEPEL (GER)	Lotto-Soudal	366
(3)	John DEGENKOLB (GER)	Giant-Alpecin	298
(4)	Mark CAVENDISH (GBR)	Etixx-Quick Step	206
(5)	Bryan COQUARD (FRA)	Team Europcar	152

Mountains classification Red polka-dot jersey

Pos		Team	Points
(1)	Chris FROOME (GBR)	Team Sky	119
(2)	Nairo QUINTANA (COL)	Movistar	108
(3)	Romain BARDET (FRA)	AG2R La Mondiale	90
(4)	Thibaut PINOT (FRA)	FDJ	82
(5)	Joaquim RODRIGUEZ (ESP)	Katusha	78

Young riders classification White jersey

Pos		Team	Time
(1)	Nairo QUINTANA (COL)	Movistar	81h 57'45"
(2)	Romain BARDET (FRA)	AG2R La Mondiale	+14'48"
(3)	Warren BARGUIL (FRA)	Giant-Alpecin	+30'03"
(4)	Thibaut PINOT (FRA)	FDJ	+37'40"
(5)	Bob JUNGELS (NED)	Trek Factory	+1h 32'09"

Froome for another

CHRIS FROOME kept the Tour de France title in British hands after the traditional victory procession for the leader through Paris brought the 100th edition of the race to a close.

Froome saw off his closest rivals for the maillot jaune - Colombian Nairo Quintana and Spaniard Joaquim Rodríguez - by 4:20" and 5:04" respectively.

Meanwhile, another Spanish contender, two-time winner Alberto Contador finished fourth in the general classification, 6:27" off the pace over the 21 stages.

This was as convincing a win as it was going to get for the Kenya-born cyclist who went mountain biking as a teenager in the rural highlands, north of the capital Nairobi.

And that early training would prove absolutely vital for the toughest Tour route in living memory, without doubt a more difficult route than Sir Bradley Wiggins faced last year.

Of course, that fact should in no way denigrate Wiggins' achievement of becoming the first British cyclist to win the Tour last year, before he went on to win gold at the London Olympics.

Rather, it is an accurate assessment of the difficulties which Froome faced in his efforts to ensure that the very British cliché about London buses rang true.

Britain had waited 98 years for a winner of the Le Tour; now there has been two in a row.

Starting on the island of Corsica for the first time in history, the race got off to an inauspicious start for Froome when he crashed in the neutral zone before the race started in Porto-Vecchio.

Thankfully, no serious damage was done - and, following Sky's third place in the team time trial in Nice on day four, Froome was already well-placed in seventh overall, with support from Australian team-mate Richie Porte.

On stage eight, the first in the Pyrenees, Froome launched his first major attack of the Tour on the climb to the summit finish at Ax 3 Domaines.

It worked. The offensive strategy was a significant early success, and a devastating blow to the confidence of his rivals, none of whom could match his pace.

But, just as quickly as Froome had built his advantage, it was almost lost as Team Sky riders dropped like flies early on the following day.

Froome was suddenly horribly exposed and 23-year-old Quintana, in particular, proved a menace by continuously attacking with his team Movistar.

However, Froome - entirely against the odds - chased Quintana down to hold on, and he ultimately extended his lead in the General Classification after his team-mate Porte's terrible day in the saddle.

It was a brilliant defensive ride by the leader, arguably more important than his stage win 24 hours earlier, and at least there was a rest day to recover immediately afterwards.

On the resumption, Froome's next big day came in stage 11 - an individual time-trial to Mont-Saint-Michel in which he excelled, finishing second behind German Tony Martin to extend his overall lead past three minutes.

But, on flat stage 13, that was cut by 69 seconds as crosswinds split the peloton, and Bauke Mollema and Contador gained vital time, with an ailing Team Sky unable to respond.

Nevertheless, there was still some British success to celebrate heading into Saint-Amand-Montrond as Mark Cavendish chalked up his 25th stage win since 2008.

Otherwise, though, the Manx Missile will not look back on the last three weeks with particular fondness.

Stage 13 would ultimately be his only win and, on stage 11, he had to contend with being booed while, disgustingly, he also had urine thrown at him by a spectator.

Back to Froome - and the pressure was now on, his lead having been cut as the riders lined up for a race-defining stage up Mont Ventoux on Bastille Day.

Froome was brilliant and attacked up the exposed peak, overtaking Quintana in the run-in to win the stage by 29 seconds and stretch his overall lead back over four minutes.

The ascent of Mont Ventoux achieved notoriety, 46 years earlier on 13 July 1967, when it claimed the life of Britain's first world road race champion Tommy Simpson.

Simpson died close to the summit after taking a cocktail of amphetamines and alcohol - and there is a permanent memorial near to where he perished.

Such was Froome's dominance that it was perhaps inevitable awkward questions would be asked. Could his success - and that of Team Sky, led by Team GB performance director Sir Dave Brailsford, actually be attributed to doping?

The response was unequivocal and understandably angry.

Following Mont Ventoux, Brailsford said: "We have a great performance and I jump for joy and 10 minutes later I guarantee I will be answering these allegations and questions about doping for the next few days.”

Meanwhile, Froome added: "I just think it's quite sad that we're sitting here the day after the biggest victory of my life, a historic win, talking about doping.

"My team-mates and I have been away from home for months training together and working our arses off to get here, and here I am accused of being a cheat and a liar."

But, if Froome had been angered by the ongoing insinuations, he would prove over the final few days that they had not shaken him. 

On stage 17, an unusual mountain time trial, Froome took his third stage win of the Tour thanks to a combination of powerful riding and canny strategy.

Trailing his rival Contador throughout, an inspired swap to a time trial bike before the second of two category two climbs was probably the difference and he secured a nine-second win to put his overall advantage at 4:34".

For his rivals, Froome was still just about in reach, particularly as the centrepiece stage of the Tour was still to come.

The famous Alpe d'Huez would be climbed not once - but twice - to celebrate the 100th edition. It was, as one commentator described it, 42 hairpins of hell.

Froome, however, coped generally well - and, despite a 20-second penalty for taking on food in the final 5km of the stage, he still extended his lead by 37 seconds.

Some considered Froome's energy bar consumption as a rare sign of weakness but, in reality, it was probably another example of a shrewd tactical mind.

Without the extra energy, it was very possible that he would have lost more time than the penalty which was deducted from him. As it was, he was now in a formidable position with a lead of over five minutes.

Two more days in the Alps and, despite Quintana's win in stage 20, Froome's third-place finish meant that there was no significant bite into his advantage.

All he had to do tonight was remain upright on the cobbles of the Champs-Elysées, while sipping on champagne.

Mission accomplished. From Wiggins's super-domestique - and a second-placed finish - in 2012 to the maillot jaune champion of 2013. 

As the French say themselves, "Chapeau! à M. Froome".


OVERALL CLASSIFICATION Maillot Jaune

1	Chris FROOME (Gbr)	Team Sky	83 hours 56 minutes 40 seconds
2	Nairo QUINTANA (Col)	Movistar	+4:20
3	Joaquim RODRIGUEZ (Esp)	Katusha	+5:04
4	Alberto CONTADOR (Esp)	Saxo-Tinkoff	+6:27
5	Roman KRUEZIGER (Cze)	Saxo-Tinkoff	+7:27

STAGE-BY-STAGE Tour de France 2013

(1)	29 June	Porto-Vecchio - Bastia	213km	Marcel Kittel (Ger)	Kittel
(2)	30 June	Bastia - Ajaccio	156km	Jan Bakelants (Bel)	Bakelants
(3)	1 July	Ajaccio - Calvi	146km	Simon Gerrans (Aus)	Bakelants
(4)	2 July	Nice - Nice (team TT)	25km	Orica-GreenEDGE	Gerrans
(5)	3 July	Cagnes-sur-Mer - Marseille	229km	Mark Cavendish (Gbr)	Gerrans
(6)	4 July	Aix-en-Provence - Montpellier	177km	Andre Greipel (Ger)	Impey
(7)	5 July	Montpellier - Albi	206km	Peter Sagan (Svk)	Impey
(8)	6 July	Castres - Ax 3 Domaines	195km	Chris Froome (Gbr)	Froome
(9)	7 July	Saint Girons - Bagneres-de-Bigorre	169km	Daniel Martin (Ire)	Froome
(10)	9 July	Saint Gildas-des-Bois - Saint Malo	197km	Marcel Kittel (Ger)	Froome
(11)	10 July	Avranches - Mont Saint-Michel (TT)	33km	Tony Martin (Ger)	Froome
(12)	11 July	Fougeres - Tours	218km	Marcel Kittel (Ger)	Froome
(13)	12 July	Tours - Saint-Amand-Montrond	173km	Mark Cavendish (Gbr)	Froome
(14)	13 July	Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule - Lyon	191km	Matteo Trentin (Ita)	Froome
(15)	14 July	Givors - Mont Ventoux	243km	Chris Froome (Gbr)	Froome
(16)	16 July	Vaison-La-Romaine - Gap	168km	Rui Costa (Por)	Froome
(17)	17 July	Embrun - Chorges (TT)	32km	Chris Froome (Gbr)	Froome
(18)	18 July	Gap - Alpe d'Huez	173km	Christophe Riblon (Fra)	Froome
(19)	19 July	Le Bourg-d'Oisans - Le Grand-Bornand	205km	Rui Costa (Por)	Froome
(20)	20 July	Annecy - Mont Semnoz	125km	Nairo Quintana (Col)	Froome
(21)	21 July	Versailles - Paris	134km	Marcel Kittel (Ger)	Froome

JERSEY WEARERS The winners

Yellow	General Classification	Chris FROOME (Gbr)
Green	Points Classification	Peter SAGAN (Svk)
Red polka dot	Mountains Classification	Nairo QUINTANA (Col)
White	Young Rider (under-26) Classification	Nairo QUINTANA (Col)
Black-on-yellow number	Team Classification	Team SAXO-TINKOFF (Den)
White-on-red number	Combativity Award	Christophe RIBLON (Fra)

Retired Cooke lances the boil

CYCLIST cheat Lance Armstrong choked back crocodile tears last night as he admitted for the first time that he used banned drugs and blood doping to win all seven of his Tour de France titles.

The 41-year-old Texan made the confession to television host Oprah Winfrey on her OWN network in a two-and-a-half-hour interview which was also streamed worldwide through her website.

"I view this situation as one big lie I repeated a lot of times. I made those decisions, they were my mistake and I'm here to say sorry," Armstrong said.

However, Armstrong also revealed that he had considered doping as simply part of the process required to win Le Tour, comparing it to having "air in our tyres or water in our bottles".

Moreover, when asked by Winfrey if he considered what he was doing was "wrong" or "cheating", Armstrong answered that he did not, adding: "The definition of a cheat is to gain an advantage on a rival or foe.

"I didn't view it that way. I viewed it as a level playing field. I didn't understand the magnitude of that. The important thing is that I'm beginning to understand it."

In fairness to Armstrong for a moment, it is easy to see why he was forced into thinking like that, given the context of the times.

He won his seven Tour de France titles consecutively between 1999 and 2005, and the first of those triumphs came just a year after the Festina affair when a huge haul of doping products was found in a car of the Festina cycling team.

The 1998 scandal had huge implications for Festina and its riders, team soigneur Willy Voet and doctor Eric Rijkaert were ejected from the race and arrested. Seven of the riders admitted doping, and they were suspended and fined.

Meanwhile, some of the other teams threatened to withdraw from the race, protesting the decision to treat the riders as criminals - but the move did little more than to cast suspicion upon themselves. Basically, it seemed like everyone was at it.

Ultimately, though, it was not just a level playing field which Armstrong had hoped to achieve. Indeed, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused him and the US Postal Service team of operating "the most sophisticated, professional and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".

But it was not difficult to see why Armstrong was willing to push the doping boundaries so hard. In 1996, he  had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had also spread to his brain and his lungs.

Following brain surgery and extensive chemotherapy, he was given the all-clear in February 1997, and the narrative of his life made his victories all the more extraordinary, cultivating an image of him winning brilliantly against all the odds.

Furthermore, Armstrong used his powerful positive message to set up the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which has raised $325m (£203m) through the sale of its yellow Livestrong bracelets.

That is all well and good outside of the sport - but, within it, the American had gained the reputation as a bully with an almost dictatorial cult of personality within his team.

And, while he denied his fellow team-mates were forced to comply with the doping programme, he did admit last night that the strength of his personality could have implied that.

He said: "Yes, I was a bully. I was a bully in the sense that I tried to control the narrative and if I didn't like what someone said I turned on them. We felt like we had our backs against the wall and I was a fighter."

Most relevantly, Armstrong continually strenuously denied using performance-enhancing drugs to anyone who dared suggested that he had, and even went as far as reversing his 2005 retirement decision to return to the sport between 2008 and 2011.

He backed up his denials with a crack team of lawyers who would come down hard on accusers in the courts, suing - among many others - the Sunday Times.

The newspaper paid £1m damages in its settlement outside of court but it has now counter-sued, and is just one of a whole slew of interested parties which Armstrong's lawyers will have to deal with.

Former team-mate Floyd Landis - who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping - has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit accusing Armstrong of defrauding the US Postal Service, which paid more than £18.7m to sponsor the team Armstrong competed for.

And the US Department of Justice is reportedly considering whether to join the lawsuit against him

Finally, having lied under oath in 2005, Armstrong could also face criminal charges of perjury - and he surely cannot expect all of this to go away because of a cosy chat show apology to Oprah.

Certainly, USADA would have much preferred him to have made his admission under oath, and it may yet still force him to do so.

For, rather than the sponsors and the newspapers, Armstrong has done most damage to the sport itself and its competitors.

That much was clear earlier this week when British Olympic gold medallist Nicole Cooke announced her retirement.

Cooke bowed out with a parting shot, saying she had been "robbed" of more success by drugs cheats, and the Beijing Olympics road race champion clearly had little sympathy for Armstrong.

She said: "When Lance cries on Oprah later this week and she passes him the tissue, spare a thought for all those genuine people who walked away with no rewards - just shattered dreams. Each one of them is worth a thousand Lances."

Indeed, and it is fair to say that this dark episode in the sport of cycling will never be forgotten. After all, the official Tour de France record simply now states: 1999-2005 - no winner.

See also: Lance Armstrong & Oprah Winfrey - the transcript.