Chris Froome hopes to honour British cyclist Tom Simpson's memory
Wednesday 19 July 2017 10:03, UK
Chris Froome hopes to honour the memory of British cycling pioneer Tom Simpson on Thursday's 12th stage of the Tour de France.
Froome takes an 18-second lead into the 214.5km ride from Pau to Peyragudes, a stage which sees the race move on to the tough climbs of the Pyrenees.
Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of Simpson's death in 1967, which happened on the legendary Mont Ventoux climb as he tried to recover from an illness that had seen his own hopes of Tour de France glory end.
Despite that, Simpson's life is regularly celebrated on Mont Ventoux and hundreds of supporters are expected to visit the permanent memorial there on Thursday, while Froome and the rest of this year's field take on one of the toughest stages in the 2017 edition of the Tour.
And Froome hopes he can give fans another reminder of Britain's position in the sport, as he said: "He certainly left a legacy on which I'd like to believe that British riders racing the Tour de France continue to build on.
"Even though the Tour de France doesn't go up Ventoux, it's a place where I have my own special memories and I imagine there will be thousands going up to his memorial tomorrow to honour that."
The Tour returns to the mountains on Thursday after two more Marcel Kittel sprint victories, and Froome hopes things might calm down after two messy climbing stages in the Jura mountains.
Those stages saw Richie Porte, Team Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas and Rafal Majka crash out after high-paced racing from the off.
"It's going to be a big stage, I'm just hoping it won't be as crazy as the last big mountain stage on Sunday," Froome added.
"For me, the biggest thing is keeping an eye on Aru; he's only 18 seconds back. I need to stick to him like glue tomorrow. If I can keep that gap until the final time trial in Marseille, I'll be happy.
"It's going one of the stages that shapes this year's Tour de France, there are only two uphill finishes left. Tomorrow could be very decisive," Froome warned of Thursday's stage.
"We don't want to see any guys coming back into the game, back into the GC, so we'll be working so that other GC contenders don't go up the road and get time. We'll go after them for sure if they move."
