Further success is far from formality – Froome

Twelve months ago, Froome became the second successive British rider to win the event, following the previous year’s historic breakthrough by Team Sky colleague Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Despite Wiggins’s absence, Froome and Sky will take their place on the start line in Leeds this Saturday as favourites for another success.

For most previous Tours, even a British stage win was a faint hope and Froome said home fans should not be fooled into thinking overall success is a formality this year.

“It is huge,” said Froome of Sky’s achievement in winning back-to-back Tours. “I hope people are not lulled into a false sense of how easy it is, because we have managed to do it for the last two years.

“We need to put things into perspective and remember it took 99 editions for a British rider to win the Tour de France.

“It really is a massive undertaking to go back this year even contemplating going for a third win, but I really do believe we have got the team to do it.

“We have a really strong team going into the race, full of experience and ability and we’ve spent a lot of time together this year, which is very important.

“We are ready to get started and I can’t wait to get to Yorkshire.”

The success of riders including Froome, Wiggins and Mark Cavendish – who is the most successful sprinter in the race’s history – has led to an explosion of interest in cycling as a sport in this country.

Froome, who was born in Kenya, attributed much of that to Sky’s team manager Sir Dave Brailsford.

Formerly performance director of British cycling, Brailsford stepped down to concentrate on his role at Sky and it was his decision not to select Wiggins for this year’s Tour squad.

Paying tribute to Brailsford, Froome said: “Credit where credit is due. I think Sir Dave Brailsford has done a major job for British cycling through what he has done at Team Sky, transferring that from the track on to the road and being so successful.

“He took a lot of criticism when he came out and said we are going to win the Tour de France with a British rider within five years and he has gone and done it with two. It is phenomenal.”

Alleged animosity between Froome and Wiggins hit the headlines two years ago, when Froome appeared to attack his then-leader on a mountain stage late in the race and had to be called back by his team director.

But he claimed the so-called feud is “hugely exaggerated”. Said Froome: “At the end of the day, Bradley and I are team-mates.

“It is no secret we have had our differences, but I think it is only natural in a group of nine guys.

“You put them in a bus together and send them off for three weeks, there are going to be a few differences between them.

“We have sat down together and the issues we had in 2012 are water under the bridge now. We discussed it and put it behind us.”

Around a million fans are expected to line Yorkshire’s roads to watch the Grand Départ, which races from Leeds to Harrogate on Saturday, followed by Sunday’s stage two between York and Sheffield.

Froome predicted the public will be surprised at the scale of what is the world’s biggest annual sporting event.

“Very possibly,” he said. “At the end of the day, the mainstream sports here are obviously cricket, rugby and football and they are still at the top of everyone’s list.

“But I think people will be surprised just at the wow factor of the Tour de France and how big it is when it comes through your town.

“I think for us, it is almost like the Olympics coming round every year.

“As a professional cyclist it is the big event and for it to be here in the UK it is a big deal.”

Froome, team-mate Geraint Thomas and Cavendish, who races for the rival Omega Pharma-Quick Step team, are the three British riders in this year’s 198-strong field.

Two British cyclists, David Millar and Alex Dowsett, were yesterday ruled out of the Tour.

Millar says he has been denied a Tour swansong after missing out on the final selection for Garmin-Sharp.

The 37-year-old Scot was expected to be chosen in Garmin’s final nine for his 13th and last Tour, before his retirement at the end of the season.

Now Millar has revealed he will not be on the start line in Leeds on Saturday, joining Sir Bradley Wiggins, Pete Kennaugh, Ben Swift (all Team Sky) and Dowsett (Movistar) in missing selection.

Millar is expected to ride in the Commonwealth Games, where he will defend his road time-trial title.

Like Wiggins, Millar could also ride on the track as the Tour reaches its climax in the Pyrenees and Paris.

“Selecting the final nine for our Tour is a very difficult,” said Garmin team sports director Charly Wegelius.

Dowsett has been ruled out due to illness and his manager, Sky Andrew, said of the three-time national time trial champion: “He was taken ill at the recent Tour De Suisse and will not recover in time to be part of the nine-man Movistar team.”