THE TOUR DE FRANCE (3)

Britain's Chris Froome won his second Tour de France, again (as in 2013) beating Nairo Quintana into second place, though this time by only a minute and twelve seconds. With no individual time trials other than the prologue, and lots of mountain finishes, the route was tailor-made for the Columbian climber. However, Froome rode away from the opposition on the first mountain stage in the Pyrenees, on a boiling hot afternoon the day after the first rest day. And although Quintana clawed back time on the last two stages in the Alps, including more than a minute on the legendary Alpe d'Huez climb, it wasn't enough to bridge the gap.

The mountain stages always get the attention in the Grand Tours. But as Quintana himself admitted, his real problem dated back to the very first stage. On a windy ride along the Dutch coast, he got caught behind a crash, his team could not bridge the gap, and he ended up losing a minute and twenty eight seconds, more than the eventual time difference. True, if that hadn't happened, then the race would have panned out differently. Nevertheless, it does illustrate once again the old saw that cycling is a team sport won by individuals.

As a fellow Brit, I should be cheering Froome on. However, there is something about him, as with other successful British sportsmen, that I just don't warm to. I wouldn't go so far as the Frenchmen who shouted in his face, or, in one instance, threw urine at him; but I certainly didn't want him to win. Perhaps it's the monotone way in which his Sky team race.

I would have much preferred Alberto Contador or last year's winner Vicenzo Nibali to win. Contador was going for the Giro-Tour double, and was the only one of the "big four" to have taken part in the earlier race. However, that was a gruelling slog against a very attacking Astana team; and although he won it, there simply wasn't enough time to recover and be competitive in the Tour against the very best. Nibali also suffered from the Giro, but in a different way. The remainder of his Astana team was definitely the second division of the squad, and was simply not strong enough to fight against Sky. Like Quintana, he missed the break on the first stage, and thereafter was always on the back foot.

Contador has already said that next year, he will concentrate exclusively on the Tour. If the other three all do the same, then we could be in for a great race.

Walter Blotscher