Chris Froome has signed up for membership to a very exclusive club.
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And he is also the first to successfully defend his Tour title since Miguel Indurain in 1995. “I think he can win many more Tours. Kellan, I dedicate this victory to you”, Froome said from the winner’s podium.
But while his credentials are beyond question, Froome remains the unlikeliest member of the rarefied company he now keeps.
He will take part in the road race and time trial events at Rio 2016, and is hoping to find success in Brazil.
It could be that fatherhood has changed his perspective, or it could be the benefit of experience.
“We all love the Tour de France because it’s unpredictable but we love the Tour more for what stays the same; the passion from the fans from every nation along the roadside, the beauty of the French countryside, and the bonds of friendship”.
“It’s like the first time”. Then it was just like, ‘Wow, what is all of this?’. “I’ve done a lot in terms of offering up my physiological data and trying to be open to people as much as I can while protecting a competitive advantage at the same time”.
The atmosphere around the race has surely helped too. Froome’s victories in 2013 and 2015, set against the backdrop of Lance Armstrong’s unravelling lies, were plagued by constant speculation about doping being directed at Froome and Sky.
Froome became Britain’s first three-time victor when he crossed the line, arm-in-arm with his teammates, to complete the three-week race.
As a result, Froome maintained his overall Tour lead.
Froome has always been known for his unorthodox and, quite frankly, ugly if effective style of going uphill, but it was his shocking style on the downhill which caught everyone’s attention on stage eight as he aped the maverick Briton Graeme Obree.
Thomas told United Kingdom broadcaster ITV4 Sunday that the spirit and focus exemplified by such charitable acts were key to Team Sky and Froome’s success.
“I think if anything it shows my will to win, how badly I wanted it”, he said.
Sir Bradley Wiggins has hailed Chris Froome as the best Tour de France rider of the modern era.
“It gets a bit risky when you start putting a number: five, or six, or seven”. Those odds went from 200/1 before the Tour to around 33/1 now on him doing the double.
In a way it has been unlike any other Tour; this year there was certainly some iconic sights, most notably Froome running up Mont Ventoux in just his cleats, and then Adam Yates was on the wrong end of the flame rouge collapsing, but at the end of the day that’s the way the Tour is, it ebbs and flows.
A crash on the Belgian cobbles ended his hopes of victory in 2014, but a determined Froome was not to be denied a year ago as his sensational climbing ability helped him brush off his rivals – and some unwanted attention from the spectators – to seal his second GC win, this time by just over one minute.
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On a flat stage that was buffeted by strong winds Froome followed Peter Sagan’s attack and they were joined by a team-mate each to prove a strong foursome. When the best is simply superior, he nearly always wins.
