The EPIC Rise & Fall of Chris Froome

Chris Froome is one of the best Grand Tour riders in recent times his impressive Ford Tour de France win showcases this but after controversial salbutamo scandal in 2017 and a crash in June 2019 he just hasn't been himself to understand why this happened we need to go back to where it all started the early years Chris Froome was born in Kenya Froome lived his first 14 years in Kenya before he moved to South Africa to attend high school he liked growing up in Africa even though his family was poor and his mother worked multiple jobs to survive at age 13 his mother took him to his first bike race where he met professional cyclist David kinya David took Froome under his wing and taught him everything about cycling Chris was an ambitious kid but didn't know too much about being a cyclist was introduced to me by his mother who wanted to have Chris learning about fixing a bike taking care of flat tires and how to be safe on the road and that was really the beginning the first time Froome was in the Limelight was that the 2006 Commonwealth game time trial he competed for Kenya as their only Rider he did a good time trial considering he used very poor equipment finishing 17th out of 69 competitors David brailsford former British cycling manager said at the time the performance he did on the equipment he was on that takes some doing we always thought he was a bit of a diamond in the rough someone who had huge potential it was a sign of things to come the rise to fame in 2007 Chris turned professional he was signed by baller world and there he started to rise up the ranks he made his debut in the Tour de France of 2008 where he showed himself in some breakaways which caught the attention of brailsford again they're chasing Chris froo they are indeed chasing Chris room number 57 Chris fruit seems to be still in contact with the leaders on this day and the end of 2009 Froome got signed by team Sky a newly established team which at one ambitious goal to win the Tour de France Froome had potential and David brailsford knew this as he'd seen it years before but froon did not impress during 2010. he had issues with an illness the first year which made him unable to perform at a high level it turned out to be a rare blood disease which ate his own red blood cells which is devastating for an endurance athlete but in 2011 Froome was finally healthy and ready to race after a few top 10 places throughout the season Frome got the chance to be Bradley wigan's second-hand man in the world of spania he was supposed to support Wiggins in the mountains when the going got tough but on stage 10 during the Welter Froome beat Wiggins in the time trial which made Froome get the red jersey this wasn't supposed to happen and it came as a shock to both team sky and Froome what do you expect for now today had the chance to think [Music] of to go that I am in red but even though Froome was leading the race on stage 11 team Sky carried on with Bradley as the leader Froome was even during domestic duties in the red jersey quite a strange sight to see in the end Freon came second Juan Jose Kobo came first and Bradley third eventually Froome did get the 2011 Welter title a few years later as Kobo tested positive for drugs but still he never stood at the top of the podium many believe Froome was robbed of the title because if team Sky just wrote for him when he had the Jersey who could have won it there and then but this was the start of the complicated relationship between Wiggins and Froome Wiggins was a better overall Rider according to brailsford but through him climbed better the whole of Team sky was built around Wiggins as well but they now faced the issue of having two potential Grand Tour leaders Dale brailsford had Wiggins as his number one Captain even after froome's performance the battle for number one spot wouldn't end there it would all come to a climax in the Tour de France the coming year the battle for Supremacy with Bradley Wiggins in 2012 Bradley Wiggins was a massive favorite for the Tour de France he had won plenty of warm-up races and many believed him and team Sky would dominate the tour however some people hadn't opened their eyes fully to Froome the Tour de France started well for Wiggins he was sat second in the general classification when the mountains came around however on stage seven obla plans de Buffy signs of froome's ability to climb came to fruuration with about a kilometer to go he started to drop Rider after Rider until there were four left Wiggins Evans Nibley and Froome for up the last deep part Froome attacked and dropped the rest winning the stage Froome Chris from is riding away for Skye this has to be seen as a huge surprise I looked around at the other guys and no one seemed to really have anything so it was a perfect moment for me just to get a few meters on them and hold that Gap to the Finish film crosses the line a tremendous show of strength it's quite a double X isn't it from Wiggins we saw it on the Welter you've taken it up a notch I'm I'm speechless that really was a dream come true this was an eye-opener for many people even though Wiggins had the yellow Jersey some people started to think that Froome was even better than Wiggins during the last week of the tour Froome had to hold back many times to protect Wiggins for me bread is hurting he's got the word from the team management you put your own team leader into a spot to bother here young man going on just sit up and wait for him it led to a lot of media attention but fruma showed everyone in interviews that he was here to help Bradley and nothing else this is always going to be talk of rivalry and people trying to dramatize everything but that's not how it is and I know that it's not the case and I know I'm not trying to attack Brad for for the yellow Jersey or anything like that at the end of the tour Wiggins stood Victorious while Froome came second however after that performance by Froome many speculate that when Froome gets his own chance he would win the Tour de France with ease and in 2013 the world would see that that would just be the case the four-time Tour de France champion if you're enjoying this video please consider subscribing it takes one second and it really does mean the world to us now back to Chris in 2013 Froome wrote as the captain for team sky at the Tour de France he was one of the favorites to win after having a strong early season in the spring when the first mountains came around him and his domestic Richie Port demolished everyone Froome wrote away to a solo Victory and took the yellow Jersey it was a big moment for him and team sky as they showed that last year wasn't the fluke they could win the Tour de France with anyone they liked Chris would go on to win the 2013 Tour de France beating Nara Quintana by over four minutes in the end Froome then went on to win the tour again in 2015 2016 and in 2017. however all these tour victories weren't without controversy salbutamol scandal in 2017 there was a scandal as Froome had an abnormal finding of salbutamol in his body at the Walter Espana salbutamol is a medication used to treat asthma and fruma been granted a t-u-e to use it during the race despite this many believe the Froome had abused the system as in the previous year a group of hackers leaked a bunch of files containing both rooms and Wiggins tues it showcased that both Riders had a lot of medical issues which seemed strange as they were supposed to be athletes in top shape however despite the attention in the end he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the UCI and he was allowed to continue racing this left a sour taste for a lot of people the serious crash at the Criterium the duffine in 2018 from had an alright season he won the Giro he came third in the tour but for the 2019 season he was ready to fully focus on the Tour de France again in the last warm-up race before the tour Froome was doing a Recon of the time trial at the Dauphine when he lost control of his bike and crashed hard he sustained multiple serious injuries and had to abandon the race immediately that also meant he was out of the tour that year however there were conspiracies circling around the crash a few days after the crash Chris would post on social media of him in a hospital bed a lot of people thought that it didn't look like he had broken multiple bones and been in intensive care he was brought up that maybe from faked the crash to abandon the race early to cover up that he'd been banned by the UCI for taking illegal substances there was no videos of the crash no picture and the fact there was an ambulance parked very close to the crash all seemed a bit too convenient Jimmy says this is one big fat cover-up in my opinion I smell a very large rat seeing the pig's not a scratch on him no bandages braces supports drips monitoring equipment I have fallen off bikes many many times or always had a bump or a scrape on my arm at least have you seen the video of before the crash I'm cynical the best of times but this looks like a big cover-up now a few years later we might never know if from really faked his crash but considering that he hasn't been the same since there is a high chance that the crash was real the recovery Froome eventually came back to cycling in 2020. however something was different he was a lot slower than he was before the crash getting dropped by Riders he beat with ease the previous year his results were poor and he blamed it on his recovery um obviously he's still still finding the race Rhythm but I'm feeling better and better as as I do more days of racing his best plays in a grand tour was 98th Place in the world to Espana a race he'd won three years prior for the 2021 season Froome had switched teams from Team Sky now known as teaminias a team had been part of for over 10 years to a completely new team it was the beginning of something new and Froome said he was ready to take on the tour again however when the tour came around Chris Froome was getting dropped easily and finished in 135th place it was really strange to see a previous Grand Tour winner placing in the GC with the likes of Mark Cavendish and Andrew greipel two sprinters were not good at climbing there was a lot of rumors going around when Froome was performing poorly that he was actually racing clean it was set after the 2019 stage ban by the UCI Froome wanted to come back to the Spore clean and thus why his result may be average the 2022 season rolled around and Froome still looked like a shadow of himself it'd been over two and a half years ago but he still wasn't able to climb like he used to his power numbers were lower and also his VO2 max which was shown by him on a YouTube video different way which is lower [Music] 375 okay even more than that okay froon did compete in the tour last year but the story was the same getting dropped early and out of the GC however on stage 12 he seemed quite strong being in a long Breakaway on the day it's powerless it's monkeys chick corny pigcock and at the front of the Tour de France for the first time since his awful accident it's Chris Flume here we go up the last Mountain outdoes he was able to time trial his way to a third place finishing two minutes behind fellow bread pitcock at the front of the Tour de France for the first time in years Chris Flume is well and truly back broom fighting We Salute You it was a big moment for through as it was the first time since his crash he showed some of his talent it was exciting to see and many people were rooting for him to win the stage since it's been so long since he was great TV room watching this thing if you all would have seen how excited George and Cappy was that another man was in the Breakaway when he saw Chris Froome in the break he was moonwalking across the living room oh God I always say that this start and Johan you understand why I say this is the hardest start in all of cycling 40 kilometers essentially all uphill very tough to make a breakaway Chris came from behind with pitcock and made an amazing move over the top of the glivier bridging down bridging up to those guys on The Descent and then the climb out of the telegraph I mean from what he's been through I think it's awesome he got third place and Optus one of the most iconic Tour de France stages ever it was a small redemption in his road to recovery Chris competed in the world test spaniel as well last year but only managed a 7 72nd Place as the best result life after cycling while Chris Froome was adamantly announced he's got no plans to retire anytime soon you'd be a fool to not see the writing on the wall he's only got maybe a year or two left before he's hanging up his cleat for good so what does life after professional cycling look like for Chris Froome One path he's already set down is to become an angel investor in the world of cycling with major Investments going into Focus bikes super sapiens glucose monitors and hammerhead cycling computers he's putting his knowledge of the top level of cycling to good use in the business World another path would be to become a sports director at the top level he's already shown his coaching and mentoring skills with bringing up the likes of Egan Bernal at T minions Chris has got the patience and the skill could he be the next day of brailsford conclusion Chris froome's story is a story of massive Peaks but also quite the downfall he's dominated the two over several years but after that crash in 2019 he just hasn't been the same he's now 37 years of age and it's hard to believe he'll have the opportunity to truly fight for the Tour de France title again considering how good the competition is nowadays but who knows he's risen From the Ashes once maybe he can do it again only time will tell

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Length: 14min 47sec (887 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 14 2023