Cycle of whispers

27 July 2015 - 09:33 By TOM CARY, ©The Daily Telegraph

Chris Froome became the first Briton to win two Tour de France titles when he arrived in Paris yesterday; an absolutely phenomenal achievement. But the Kenyan-born rider remains unloved. During this year's Tour he faced countless accusations, was spat at and had urine thrown at him. Why does he remain so underappreciated?Doping allegationsIt is inevitable in the post-Lance Armstrong world that scepticism should be the default position when it comes to the Tour. And it is natural that most of that scepticism should concentrate on the most successful riders.What is less fair - without solid evidence anyway - is the continued whispering campaign against Froome. What we are left with is speculation, mostly based on performance data. It would be unfair to deny Froome his moment based on speculation.Team Sky's reputationTeam Sky struggle with a reputation for arrogance. The charges are thus: that they arrived in the sport five years ago, said they were going to win the Tour in five years, initially struggled then started to win. Big time.Team Sky also have more money, better cars, smarter kit.France's "30 years of hurt"The xenophobia card has been overplayed in this Tour.The long wait for a first French Tour champion since Bernard Hinault in 1985 goes on. Again, hardly Froome's fault .Style of ridingThis is exacerbated by the French yearning for "panache". The French love a rider like Thomas Voeckler, who sets off on bold solo attacks, most of which are doomed to failure, but some of which yield famous victories.What they do not like is riding to a playbook, to the numbers.Image issuesFroome is introverted. He is mild-mannered. He does not know a huge amount about cycling's past. He is ungainly as a rider, but his meek exterior belies an uncompromising core. ..

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