As Tadej Pogacar arrived in Barcelona seeking a record-equalling fifth Tour de France ***** le, the man he currently shares four such ***** les with quietly faded out of the sport.
Chris Froome rarely got the plaudits Pogacar has received, but won seven Grand Tours, including four yellow jerseys, in a stunning period of dominance that in many ways paved the way for the Slovenian.
It was followed by a rather grimmer second act. Froome was never really the same following his horror crash in 2019, his body irreparably altered by smashing into a wall at 54kmph; then came another sickening crash last year, which had near-fatal consequences. As he conceded in a low-key interview with Belgian broadcaster Sporza, "That was not the way I wanted it to end. But even then, I knew it was over."
It was a muted, sad finish to a starry career. Froome's successor as the dominant Grand Tour rider of his generation – increasingly, of all time – has burned far brighter, but the cautionary tale the Brit offers is that this sort of success can vanish all too quickly. And in cycling, as in any sport, upsets can still happen – few would have predicted that Jannik Sinner, the most overwhelming favourite at the French Open since Rafael Nadal in 2009, would utterly implode.
Cycling has moved on since Froome's era. Visma-Lease a Bike, and latterly UAE Team Emirates-XRG, have taken the "Sky train" model of churning through domestiques, and have run with it, creating an unstoppable monster that controls stages from start to finish – and hoovers up every promising young talent from smaller teams, like the Manchester City of cycling.
Chris Froome rarely got the plaudits Pogacar has received, but won seven Grand Tours, including four yellow jerseys, in a stunning period of dominance that in many ways paved the way for the Slovenian.
It was followed by a rather grimmer second act. Froome was never really the same following his horror crash in 2019, his body irreparably altered by smashing into a wall at 54kmph; then came another sickening crash last year, which had near-fatal consequences. As he conceded in a low-key interview with Belgian broadcaster Sporza, "That was not the way I wanted it to end. But even then, I knew it was over."
It was a muted, sad finish to a starry career. Froome's successor as the dominant Grand Tour rider of his generation – increasingly, of all time – has burned far brighter, but the cautionary tale the Brit offers is that this sort of success can vanish all too quickly. And in cycling, as in any sport, upsets can still happen – few would have predicted that Jannik Sinner, the most overwhelming favourite at the French Open since Rafael Nadal in 2009, would utterly implode.
Cycling has moved on since Froome's era. Visma-Lease a Bike, and latterly UAE Team Emirates-XRG, have taken the "Sky train" model of churning through domestiques, and have run with it, creating an unstoppable monster that controls stages from start to finish – and hoovers up every promising young talent from smaller teams, like the Manchester City of cycling.
4 months ago
