THE LAST DANCE

WITH A NEW TEAM, SOME VETERAN TEAM-MATES AND A NEW COACH, THE BEST GRAND TOUR RIDER OF HIS GENERATION, CHRIS FROOME, BELIEVES HE CAN CONTEND FOR HIS BIGGEST GLORY YET BEFORE THE CLOCK RUNS OUT

- Peter Cossins

Among all of the qualities that have enabled Chris Froome to stand out as the greatest Grand Tour rider of his generation, arguably the most impressive has been his mental strength and resilience. There was no well-trodden path for a young bike rider from Kenya to ascend to the world’s elite. It required guile, determination, and a pinch of street smarts (Froome impersonated the Kenyan cycling federation president on email to gain a spot at the U23 World Championships in 2006) to create the opportunities that would lead him to sign for Barloworld in 2008. And to then move to Sky in 2010. Having taken a very unconventional route to the top, he maintained his place there for close to a decade, swatting away numerous rivals as he racked up seven Grand Tour victories.

Yet, the British rider now faces his biggest test. Still recovering from the career threatening injuries he sustained in a horrific high speed crash while checking out the time trial course at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, Froome believes he can add a fifth Tour de France title to his palmarès, and achieve this despite turning 36 in May and having swapped the well-proven potency of Ineos Grenadiers, where he spent 11 highly successful seasons, for the potential of Israel Start-Up Nation, a team with a mere two Grand Tour stage wins to its credit.

“He’s swapped the potency of Ineos for the potential of Israel Start-Up”