UKC

So I don't really know much about these bicycles and such and Sir Bradley sure did jolly well last year, but this Froome chap seems really rather pleasant. Could it be that he is the best chap of the two?

In reply to simonsnorkel: back under your bridge.

In reply to Toby_W:

No no really. I'm all for the Empire and our brave Knights and all that, it's just that this Mr Froome seems to come across as rather a humble and hard working and talented chap on the cathode ray tube...

In reply to simonsnorkel:

I agree with you, although looking at some of those foreign reports it seems he is viewed as more of an English baddy.

In reply to simonsnorkel:

He's a jolly good egg, no doubt about it.

*disclaimer* Contador may disagree in light of Mont Ventoux.

In reply to Clauso:

... Then again:

http://tinyurl.com/mjpgfye

In reply to Jim Hamilton: English ????

In reply to simonsnorkel:
And should he go on to win it, will his achievement be greater than that of Wiggins, as he seems to be doing a great deal of it without the level of support Bradley had?

In reply to lummox:


http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/07/news/commentary-is-chris-froome-just...

In reply to Jim Hamilton: English schoolboy ? He isn't African then ?

In reply to lummox:

Isn't he Kenyan born, south african british? probably some aussie in their too!

In reply to Howardw1968: In what way British ? I don't think he lived here until he was in his 20s ?

In reply to lummox: Perhaps you should let Froome choose what nationality he wants to call himself, rather than you decide for him. Unless you're normally in the habit of telling people "you're not British!", in which case carry on.

In reply to simonsnorkel:

What do you mean by 'the best chap'?

Wiggo's got way more charisma (has Froome got any at all?), and given the choice is the one I'd go out on the lash with.

In reply to Sir Chasm: Well...born to an African mother and father, lived in Africa until his 20's- yup, you're right, he must be a plucky Brit ; )

In reply to lummox:

Well his Dad is British born and whilst his Mum is Kenyan born, her parents were from Gloucestershire.

He was certainly born in Africa and lived in Africa for his early life, but he does not appear to be short of family links to the UK. Of course many famous Britain's have been born elsewhere.

In reply to lummox:

To be fair, he calls himself British.

In reply to The New NickB:

Wiggins must be from Belgium.

In reply to The New NickB: Zola Budd, Greg Rusedski etc. etc. it always amuses me how people get adopted for sporting reasons.

In reply to lummox: What nationality do you say he is?

In reply to Sir Chasm: whatever you want him to be is fine with me Chasm. Wave a Union flag for me.

In reply to lummox: Those dark children that run around your neighborhood, you don't really consider them British do you?

In reply to Sir Chasm: sooo far of the mark sweetheart but do keep digging.

In reply to lummox:

TBF people like that never levels of support someone raised in the UK would, people know the score. Froome has always had a British passport and made it clear he used his 'nationality' to further his ambitions.

I know where you are coming from but for somone with English parents who went to a South African public school, 'English schoolboy' probs isn't too far off the mark coming from a US journalist.

In reply to Papillon:

His two older brothers went to Rugby!

In reply to lummox:

I think I am correct in saying that Greg Rusedski is more English than Michael Owen having at least one English parent. Might be wrong on that one but Rusedski certainly had more claim to representing Britain or Russia than Canada, as far as his family connections go.

As someone married to a Dutch person, I would defend our children's right to represent both England, Britain or the Netherlands as appropriate to their ambitions. It is something that we need to accept about the world we now live in that there will be more and more sportsmen of mixed nationality. This is a good thing and these people should be allowed to choose their allegiance and not have their achievements belittled because they aren't "100% British".

Alan

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax: Neither of my parents were born in the UK and I was only born here following a decision at the last minute ( not quite but anyhoo) and was being somewhat flippant but I do think it's a bit rich for people like Froome to compete for one nation and then decide to represent another when they get a better offer.

In reply to Jim Hamilton:

Thanks for the link, I think the article sums it all up nicely. We all want him and the other riders to be clean but history drags behind them all.

Cheers

Toby

In reply to Sir Chasm:

To be fair to lummox the logic of what he is saying - that Froome is African because that's where he was brought up, rather than British which is where his parents are from - would suggest that he considers the kids who run around his neighborhood as British, regardless of where their parents are from.

In reply to lummox:

Yes and no. He went to Britain to further his career - probably better opportunities in the UK than in SA. I think he has always had a British passport and I don't think he ever actually raced on the Kenyan team - although he did have a Kenyan flag next to his name when he raced for a South African team. In any case, in the TdF it doesn't really matter. Sky is a British team only insofar as it happens to be based in the UK but it doesn't only employ UK riders. So which flag sits next to his name seems a bit academic.

In reply to Bob Hughes: I thought he'd won a medal for Kenya ? Could be wrong though..

In reply to lummox: It seems like you're right. Didn't know that. Although his cycling mentor in Kenya says he made the right decision to go to the UK:

Kinjah said Froome, who won a medal for Kenya in the All Africa Games in 2007, was right to switch his allegiance to Britain in 2008, even though it was a big loss for his country.

"He should have been a Kenyan," said Kinjah, who was nicknamed Black Lion during his stint in Italy riding for a professional cycling team in 2002. "But Chris had zero support from the Kenya Cycling Federation."

Kinjah said that for the 2006 Road World Championships Froome used official federation e-mails to enter himself, without the knowledge of officials who did not support him.

After Kinjah obtained the password for the e-mail account, Froome wrote e-mails pretending to be the chairman and entered himself for the tournament. But the move didn't quite go to plan as Froome crashed into an official.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/uk-cycling-tour-froome-kenya-idUKB...

In reply to simonsnorkel:

Why all the fuss about where he is from? Who cares? He is riding for Sky, not a national team, anyway, and as Alan says, people are going to be more and more mixed. My kids are. Get used to it.

If he is clean, as I suspect he is, celebrate the thrilling way he took Contador to the cleaners up Mont Ventoux. That was an incredible ride. I'd like to see his training schedule, see what he did to get to that standard.

In reply to mbh:

I would def expect to see Zumba classes somewhere in his schedule as his pencil legs were a blur on the telly.

In reply to jazzyjackson:

PSML well if Froome's "on Zumba"

can we expect Quintana to be test for "Cali Style Salsa"

youtube.com/watch?v=IEuhOR_Arh8&

come on feet, do your stuff!

In reply to mbh:

Looks like he's getting a new contract with Team Sky to the end of 2016.

ALC

In reply to lummox:

Lummox , Irish!!??