I’m not a cheat: Froome
Clearly dismayed by repeated questions about doping, the team of Tour de France leader Chris Froome volunteered on Monday to open up to independent scrutiny all of its training secrets to try to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that the Briton and his teammates are riding clean.
Froome’s evident physical superiority at the 100th Tour has raised eyebrows, practically inevitable in the climate of suspicion that haunts cycling after the downfall of Lance Armstrong.
Froome says that given the history of doping in cycling, he understands why there are questions and insists he is happy to answer them. Still, without getting flustered or angry, Froome was unhappy that doping became a main topic of his news conference on the Monday rest day that followed his stage win on Mont Ventoux, the first by a Briton on that mammoth climb in Provence.
“I just think it’s quite sad that we’re sitting here the day after the biggest victory of my life ... quite a historic win, talking about doping,” Froome said. “Here I am basically being accused of being a cheat and a liar and that’s not cool.”
“To compare me with Lance, I mean, Lance cheated. I’m not cheating. End of story.” Froome’s performances are subject to intense debate on social media and cycling blogs. Observers are attempting to guesstimate and analyse how much power Froome might be generating on his bike, and then taking a stab at judging from that data whether he is clean.
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