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| Sky have ‘no regrets’ over Bradley Wiggins after Chris Froome quits Tour | Sky have ‘no regrets’ over Bradley Wiggins after Chris Froome quits Tour |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| The Team Sky principal, Sir Dave Brailsford, has insisted he has “no regrets” about not choosing Bradley Wiggins for this year’s Tour de France after Chris Froome was forced to pull out of the race on stage five after his third crash in two days. | The Team Sky principal, Sir Dave Brailsford, has insisted he has “no regrets” about not choosing Bradley Wiggins for this year’s Tour de France after Chris Froome was forced to pull out of the race on stage five after his third crash in two days. |
| Froome was riding with a damaged left wrist sustained in Tuesday’s fourth stage and always looked tentative on the rain-soaked road from Ypres to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut on Wednesday. A crash after 33km inflicted more damage, this time on the right side of his body, and after coming off his bike again before the notorious cobbled sections he decided enough was enough. | Froome was riding with a damaged left wrist sustained in Tuesday’s fourth stage and always looked tentative on the rain-soaked road from Ypres to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut on Wednesday. A crash after 33km inflicted more damage, this time on the right side of his body, and after coming off his bike again before the notorious cobbled sections he decided enough was enough. |
| Brailsford brushed away suggestions that Team Sky had missed a trick by not bringing Wiggins, the 2012 Tour winner, as a Plan B to Froome, who last month suffered a painful fall in the event’s warm-up, the Critérium du Dauphiné. “I have no regrets – we picked a team to win, we believed Chris could win, and there was no hangover from the crash at the Dauphiné,” he said. “He looked as good, if not a little bit better, than he was last year.” | Brailsford brushed away suggestions that Team Sky had missed a trick by not bringing Wiggins, the 2012 Tour winner, as a Plan B to Froome, who last month suffered a painful fall in the event’s warm-up, the Critérium du Dauphiné. “I have no regrets – we picked a team to win, we believed Chris could win, and there was no hangover from the crash at the Dauphiné,” he said. “He looked as good, if not a little bit better, than he was last year.” |
| “He was fit to start, there’s no denying that,” said Brailsford. “I think the injury sustained in the first crash, which was on the other side to Tuesday, was the ultimate reason why he pulled out.” | “He was fit to start, there’s no denying that,” said Brailsford. “I think the injury sustained in the first crash, which was on the other side to Tuesday, was the ultimate reason why he pulled out.” |
| Froome will now be pushed towards the final grand tour of the year, La Vuelta a España, which begins next month. The Australian Richie Porte will become Team Sky’s leader for the remainder of the Tour. “Obviously it’s devastating news for Chris but when you have a setback you have to roll with it,” said Brailsford. “One man’s loss is another man’s opportunity. | Froome will now be pushed towards the final grand tour of the year, La Vuelta a España, which begins next month. The Australian Richie Porte will become Team Sky’s leader for the remainder of the Tour. “Obviously it’s devastating news for Chris but when you have a setback you have to roll with it,” said Brailsford. “One man’s loss is another man’s opportunity. |
| “We really believe in Richie. He had a slow start to the season and is maybe fresher than he would normally be coming into this stage of the season. He has shown great ability and courage to ride over the cobbles the way he did, and given the way he is climbing, we have an exciting couple of weeks to come.” | “We really believe in Richie. He had a slow start to the season and is maybe fresher than he would normally be coming into this stage of the season. He has shown great ability and courage to ride over the cobbles the way he did, and given the way he is climbing, we have an exciting couple of weeks to come.” |
| Porte is eighth in the general classification, 1min 54sec behind the Vincenzo Nibali, after a thrilling day’s racing. Nibali still leads by two seconds after riding superbly on the famous Paris-Roubaix cobbles but - crucially - all of his rivals for the yellow jersey lost time, with Alberto Contador dropping 2min 35sec on the day. Geraint Thomas, one of only two Britons left in the race – along with Simon Yates of Orica-GreenEdge – after Mark Cavendish crashed out on stage one, is in 14th place overall, 2min 16sec back. | |
| Brailsford promised that Froome would be back as soon as his body had healed. ‚“If you’re not able to take the knocks and dust yourself down then you’re in the wrong job,” he said. | Brailsford promised that Froome would be back as soon as his body had healed. ‚“If you’re not able to take the knocks and dust yourself down then you’re in the wrong job,” he said. |
| • This article was amended on 10 July 2014 because the an earlier version said Mark Cavendish crashed out on stage two. This has been corrected. | • This article was amended on 10 July 2014 because the an earlier version said Mark Cavendish crashed out on stage two. This has been corrected. |