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news
Wiggins and Froome (pic Bettini Photo, courtesy Pinarello)Chris Froome says he and Bradley Wiggins have settled their differences
Chris Froome says that he and his predecessor as Tour de France champion, Sir Bradley Wiggins, have talked through their differences during Team Sky’s recent training camp on Mallorca – and that they “are in a good place now.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the 28-year-old who finished runner-up to Wiggins at the 2012 Tour then won the 100th edition this July, also acknowledged that he had made a miscalculation on the infamous stage of that first race where he appeared to attack his team mate and race leader.
“The fact is Brad and I have just been on a training camp together in Mallorca and we’ve had a talk about things,” Froome explained.
“It was very constructive and we are in a good place now. It was important we did that and it was important for the team, too.
“To be honest we should have done it a very long time ago, just to clear the air, but we are on good terms now.”
His remarks come a day after Wiggins, invested with his knighthood by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, he said he was happy to help Froome try and retain the yellow jersey next year, saying: “Chris is the current winner of the Tour de France and I think he has the right to defend that title next year.
“If I can play a support role, then I’d love to be back in a successful team and on the start line.”
Reflecting on how their relationship turned sour, Froome went on: “The incident in 2012 was at the root of it all,” a reference to Stage 11 of the race to La Toussuire he seemed to attack Wiggins, dropping back on former sports director Sean Yates’ orders via radio.
“I’m not sure it was that big a problem but it was all played out so much in the media, it was allowed to escalate,” added Froome, who has said he was trying to make up time on rival Vincenzo Nibali.
That escalation was in part prompted by a spat on Twitter between the two riders’ respective partners – Wiggins’ wife Cath, and Froome’s now fiancée, Michelle Cound – the moment the stage finished.
“Michelle got caught in the crossfire, too,” said Froome. “At the end of the day she has her opinions and they’re not necessarily my opinions. But she’s very passionate about supporting me when she sees negative things. She’s just being loyal to me.”
Still referring to that stage, he went on: “It was a huge misunderstanding where I thought I was reading the race right. I thought the race had evolved in such a way that opened the door for me to go.
“And I thought if something happens to Brad, like it had the previous year when he crashed, I want to be in the strongest possible position if I’m then asked to take over. It didn’t even cross my mind to attack Brad.
“People need to remember the Vuelta the year before, when Brad dropped off on the climbs and the team suddenly said, ‘Well, you go for GC.’ But I was too far behind by then and I lost the race, finishing second, by something like 11 seconds [ed – in fact it was 13].
“I accept that I read the situation wrong [during the 2012 Tour). I thought Brad was fine. But it very quickly became apparent that it was a problem and that I needed to stop and come back, which is what I did.”
Froome declined to speak about the row over Wiggins not paying him his share of his bonus money after that race, simply confirming that the matter had now been resolved.
Regarding his own style, he said: “I like to think I’m quite an instinctive racer. We always go into a stage with a plan but a race is such a delicate thing. It’s always evolving. It can just be about the moment. It’s as much a psychological battle as a physical one, about who gives in first.
“I’ve always recognised that the pain you suffer in that moment is temporary, and I always tell myself how much I will enjoy it afterwards if I can endure that pain.
He concluded by repeating a pledge he’s already made about demonstrating that cycling has moved on from a drug-tainted era, saying: “Part of what’s driving me is a desire to show, post-Armstrong, that it’s possible to have successive Tour victories clean.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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20 comments
His gravestone says 'I told you I was ill' in Gaelic as the cemetery trustees would not let it be in English.
Off topic, but I'm not sure that Spike Milligan was British. I seem to recall that he had been applying for citizenship for years but hadn't been granted it, somebody tried to give him an MBE/OBE/Knighthood, Spike then had to let them know that he couldn't accept it. Maybe the situation changed after that...
'Sir' Bob Geldof is another matter entirely....
Spike Milligan was born in India of English/Irish parentage. He claimed Irish nationality when he was declared stateless by the British, even though he had served in the British Army during WWII, as he would not swear an oath of allegiance to get his passport.
He was appointed CBE in 1992 and KBE in 2000, both honorary as he was an Irish citizen.
Bob Geldof is a knob and unfit to wipe the shoes of Spike Milligan.
Storm in a teacup
They get on, not get on, don't care as long as they are professional and RACE to win. Who cares where they are born as long as their alligence is right.... 2014... Froome wiggins Thomas who cares as long as British professional bike racing is on top.
This image will stay with me for along time, I was in Paris and was cheering like mad when this image of British cycling dominance appeared in front of me. My wife took the pic, not being particularly interested and realising what she had captured. Awesome.
I will be in Yorkshire, enjoying all of it.
image_208.jpg
Good timing given Froome lines up for Sports Personality of the Year this weekend. Does Brad hand the trophy over if he wins?
The fact that this kind of tittle tattle gets reported in the press these days is just symptomatic of the status that cycling has reached in the UK.
Personally, i can take it or leave it (two grown men don't get on...shocker!) but if people like to read this stuff then so be it.
I'm just enjoying the fact that we have lots of top notch British riders to support at the Tour and everywhere else, and a British team who really seem to get under the skin of all the traditional nations.
For those who bemoan the fact that Team Sky don't win 'in the right way', or that Froome isn't 100% British, or that Wiggins has his faults, remember how it used to be before we got good at this sport.
Not sure what is more of a surprise, the story or the positive team sky comments.
The usual 'bunch of dopers' etc was more what I thought I'd read.
Refreshing change.
Even when they sort it out people still try to find problems. Its the British disease - try and find fault with your champions instead of embracing their greatness.
Thankyou for saying this!
It's all very well for the couch surfer to come up with the crass remarks above but they weren't there at the training camp, not privy to the conversation. Instead they make 'witty' remarks about something they don't know about.
Team Sky has done a remarkable job in catapulting GB into the cycling scene. Until Wiggins and Frome won, there was nobody of worth since Yates, Boardman et al.
Give them a break, give Team Sky a break. Let them get on with winning.
Right on.
Now we just need to get them all talking to Cav again and we can have a super team
One was born in Kenya and the other in Ghent. Hardly British!
/sarcasm
oh dear. You are British if your passport says you are British. BW is thoroughly British. Has been British since birth and was brought up here. He most certainly isn't Belgian. Froome's mother was British though born in Kenya because her father was running a farm there when she was born. Froome's dad represented England at Hockey. Froome wasn't brought up in the UK so you might have something to say about that but he has a British mother and father and is a British citizen.
I responded to this because my son was born in Singapore. I had a contract there when he happened to be born. I'm not Singaporean and nor is he. My brother was born in Germany when my dad was in the army. My bother isn't German and nor is my dad.
Here's a list:
Boris Johnson is not an American (born in New York USA)
Eddie Izzard is not Yemeni (born in Colony of Aden)
Alan Whicker wasn't Egyptian (born Cairo Egypt)
Freddi Mercury is not Tanzanian (born Stone Town Zanzibar)
Cliff Richard is not Indian (born in Lucknow India)
Other thoroughly British people who also are not Indian are Spike Milligan, Joanna Lumley, Engelbert Humperdinck, Paddy Ashdown, Rudyard Kipling and George Orwell.
Did I mention my son not being Singaporean.......?
Whoosh.
We're in a good place now. Brad's in London and I'm in Majorca.
*Care factor activated*
Unfortunately your account balance is 0
You cannot give a F*** anymore about these two.
You also cannot top up your balance, you will not be giving a F*** about them in the future either
Now that was an original comment! Beautifully worded and crafted. So much passion and beauty dedicated to the disdain and resentment at having to read something that you really don't care about. I guess I would have been more impressed if you simply ignored the article, but I understand you. I couldn't help myself from commenting on your comment myself!
GKAM: You've always been consistent in your dislike of anything connected with the team - so why read it? Why waste your time and your energy in 1. reading, and 2. posting your contemptuous comment?
Bizarre. Plenty of other stuff to direct a bit of positive energy towards
You apathy is legendary; why you insist on telling us about it is another question.
You have a gift. Stop wasting it writing this crap.