Chris Froome cut a relaxed figure as he enjoyed the familiar feeling of holding the yellow jersey on the first rest day of the Tour de France.
The Team Sky rider led at this point in 2013 and 2015 on his way to glory at Paris and is there again as he leads by 16 seconds from fellow Brit Adam Yates of Orica-BikeExchange.
Carrying yellow brings its own pressures and obligations, but the 31 year old appeared entirely comfortable as the riders enjoyed an easier day of it at Andorra.
“I think it really is a good place to be at the moment,” Froome said. “I’m really happy to have the yellow on my shoulders. For morale and for the team, but also tactically, it puts the shoe on the other foot because the other teams have to go out and have to gain back time they’ve lost already.”
Related:
• Alberto Contador, sapped by crashes and a 'bit of fever' quits Tour de France
• Tour de France results: Tom Dumoulin attacks early and takes Stage 9
Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford has noticed a difference in the way his star man is handling himself.
“Chris has matured a lot since he first competed for the Tour de France,” he said. “He’s a lot more comfortable with you guys. He’s more comfortable with himself. He’s really matured. He’s enjoying his racing as much as anybody. He’s not lost anything performance-wise but he’s just relaxed and got comfortable with everything that goes with it.”
Quite apart from the defensive tactics needed on the road and the media obligations off it, carrying yellow has in the past meant for Froome a barrage of unsubstantiated allegations and rumours about doping — and he even had urine thrown at him during last year’s Tour.
Although Froome had a close encounter with a Colombian fan running alongside the riders on Saturday, earning a Dh750 fine for punching him out of the way, there has been a noticeably different atmosphere in the race.
“The atmosphere out on the road has been fantastic and the crowds have been great,” he said. “None of that silly nonsense we had last year at all so far. I hope it stays that way.”
With the Pyrenees almost in the rear-view mirror – the riders must ascend the Port d’Envalira on their way back to France today – Froome is already looking ahead to the significant challenges to come.
On Thursday, Bastille Day, the Tour will head up the feared Mont Ventoux – scene of a big victory for Froome in 2013.
“Ventoux was kind to me, but when I got to the top last time I had to get straight on to oxygen support. I was so tired,” Froome said. “It’s a massive climb, one of the most iconic of this race and to win up there again would be unreal. But it’s going to be pretty hard knowing there’s a time trial the next day. It will be interesting to see who is going to go that deep for victory up there.”
Froome won on the Tour’s first summit finish in each of his previous wins, but this year he took yellow with a surprise attack on the descent into Bagneres-de-Luchon on Saturday before concentrating on marking his rivals a day later on the road up to Andorre Arcalis.
His margin is not be significant, with 10 others within 61 seconds including fellow pre-race favourite Nairo Quintana who is fourth, 23 seconds back.
Many expected the Colombian to attack on Sunday’s summit finish, but instead he just followed Froome all the way to the finish.
“Good question,” Froome said when asked why no move came from the Movistar rider. “It would be interesting to find out from him. I was expecting an attack and was always keeping something in reserve waiting for his big move, but it never came.”
“Maybe he couldn’t,” interjected teammate Geraint Thomas. “Just throwing it out there.”
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Company%20Profile
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Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Habib El Qalb
Assi Al Hallani
(Rotana)
