Embarrassing and massive defeats spur Brailsford on to achieve greater triumphs

Chris Froome’s second win in three years and Team Sky’s third in four years will not result in Brailsford resting.

“I would like to think it’s business as usual, we’ve won a bike race and we’ll go keep on winning them as much as we can,” said Brailsford.

“When you’re up there and you do it for the second time I’m not sure it has the same level of impact maybe as you did first time round.

“We’ve just won the Tour de France. It’s great, but it doesn’t do it for me.

“I don’t have a firework that goes off inside me like other people do. I wish I did, but I don’t.”

What does drive Brailsford is defeat and when Froome crashed out last year with a broken hand and fractured wrist it was painful for the Team Sky principal, too.

“I was pretty upset last year,” he added. “When I don’t win, like last year, it is horrific. I wasn’t in a very good place.

“I get embarrassed by it, humiliated. It’s a horrible experience and I’ll do anything I can to get out of that.

“Great victories only come through massive defeats. You’ve got to go through those horrific moments if you really want to get to big, big results. If you just want the middle ground, do all right, it’s all okay – that’s not what we want.”