An epic run
The reference is to the now iconic incident that occurred during stage 12 of the 2016 Tour de France on the slopes of Mont Ventoux, aka the “Giant of Provence”. A crash with a television motorbike due to the crush of the crowd destroyed Froome’s bike about 1 km from the finish. With only a 25-second lead over Adam Yates in the general classification, Froome started running up the mountain in search of a miracle or at least another bike.
Asked how he views the incident today, Froome told Škoda We Love Cycling, in an exclusive interview, that he had “mixed emotions” about it. “I can certainly have a bit more of a laugh about it now,” he said. “But in the moment, it wasn’t so funny. It was more a sheer moment of chaos. When that happened, and I realised my bike was broken, just a kilometre from the finish line, I knew I wouldn’t be getting a spare bike anytime soon because [the team car] would be behind all the riders we had just gapped. So I thought that I should be as close to the finish line as I can be when the bike arrives. And the only way that’s going to happen is if I run. I just couldn’t let the yellow jersey slip away from me.”
And it didn’t. He eventually got a bike and finished the stage, but more than two minutes behind Yates. However, the race jury intervened and, because the crash was due to outside forces, it decided to award Froome the same time as Bauke Mollema, who he had been riding with but who managed to avoid the worst in the incident. That decision reinstated him as the race leader, and he went on to win his third Tour yellow jersey.
Asked if that was his favourite Tour victory of the four, Froome said, “Every Tour had these moments that were special and stand out to me, but honestly, I think the first Tour victory back in 2013 was the most amazing experience because everything was new to me, everything was novel. Having made it my goal to win the Tour as a kid watching the race, and then achieving that, it was just such an amazing feeling. So, I don’t think anything really comes close to that first one.”
The unforgettable first yellow jersey
Froome went on to say that winning the Tour for the first time is a life-changer. “Certainly, as a professional cyclist, your life is different after winning the Tour de France,” he explained. “You’re seen in a different light, and I think people treat you differently because of it. There are more commitments,and you fall into this special category of a very short list of people who have ever won the Tour. And in the cycling world, that’s something very special, and it is a real privilege to be part of that list.”
That first Tour victory was special to Froome for other reasons, again involving Mont Ventoux. “It was Bastille Day 2013, and I was in the yellow jersey,” Froome recalled. “Of course, all the French teams were extra motivated to perform on that stage on July 14, and it was finishing on top of Mont Ventoux. I was able to win that stage [30 seconds ahead of Nairo Quintana]. And to top it off, my wife was waiting for me at the finish. She didn’t normally come to many races at all. So that was really a special moment for me, being able to win in the yellow jersey on top of Mont Ventoux, with my wife there as well to share that experience.”
Froome has said in the past that the Tour was the “Holy Grail of cycling”, on which he elaborated, “I don’t want to take anything away from the other two Grand Tours, but the Tour de France really is the biggest one,” he said. “It’s where the teams want the best performance, so, generally, you’ve got the strongest lineup there. And if you ask any person on the street, ‘Do you know the Tour de France?’, even if they don’t watch it, they’d probably know it. Whereas I don’t think there’s any other race on the calendar that you can say the same for.”
“As a professional cyclist, if you could win one race, you would choose the Tour. It’s really such a privilege, such an honour, to be the one guy who, after three weeks of racing, can stand on the podium in Paris with your hands in the air as the overall winner of the race.”
Love the pain
To win a Tour de France, a rider needs to have a combination of physical ability, drive, and mental strength. “Being able to cope with the pressure is a huge element because once you get into a position ofwearing the yellow jersey, then you start the next stage with a target on your back,” Froome noted. “Basically, you’re the person to beat, you’re the benchmark. So, wearing that jersey is a huge honour, but it’s also a very heavy responsibility, and to keep it for the duration of the race is no easy accomplishment.”
During his career, Froome seemed to thrive in the brutality of the Tour, as if the severity of the challenge gave him wings, an impression he confirmed. “I definitely found that during the years that I was most successful, when I felt ready for the Tour de France, I almost wanted it to be harder,” he said. “I wanted it to be as brutal as possible because those were the parts of the race [in the mountains] that I could control and I could feel as if I had an advantage on my rivals.”
He said that the flatter stages scared him because “everyone was present, everyone could be there, and there was more chance of crashing, more chance of something going wrong. Whereas when I was up in the mountains in the really tough terrain, I knew there’s probably only a handful of guys who can realistically keep up and challenge me. So, I did feel more at ease when the race turned harder, if that makes sense.”
Zobrazit příspěvek na Instagramu
An exemplary rider
Froome raced competitively until a training crash in southern France nearly cost him his life. On August 27, 2025, he hit a curb at high speed and slammed head-first into a road sign, suffering severe injuries, including a life-threatening tear of the fluid-filled sac protecting the heart, a lower back fracture, and five broken ribs. He was then 40 years old, had just raced in the Tour of Poland, and had intended to continue riding competitively.
Asked why he kept at the sport for so long, he said that one reason was that he had come to cycling very late. “I think I only turned professional at the age of 24 and I’d seen a few riders racing until their early 40s and I always thought, ‘Yep, I want to make 40 the goal.’ That’s one objective I set myself once I started racing professionally.
“Also, I think that once I had children – I have two children, a boy and a girl, Kellan and Katie – I felt that I wanted to set an example for them. I wanted to make them proud. I wanted to let them see me racing and share this experience with them.”
Chris Froome confirmed his retirement from competitive cycling a few hours after this interview was conducted. Looking back at his career, we can be sure that he has set an example not only for his children, but also for all young riders who want to excel in the sport.
