One thing that stands out in regards to Team Sky's spin of Chris Froome's salbutamol case is their brazenness in describing Bernard Hinault as "ill-informed and uneducated". That was a statement they didn't dig out of the 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' manual.
Having ridden with ‘The Badger’, I can assure you that he won't have taken kindly to such a slight on his intelligence or his powers of observation. The French public certainly wouldn't have appreciated it, either, especially given that the Tour de France happens to take part on their territory. Though Hinault wasn't exactly a media darling, he did command respect for how he raced and how he stood up for himself. Back when we raced together, if something was wrong, he told you quite often and in no uncertain manner. To this day, even the average French person who follows the race kind of likes that part of his character.
Of course, once he retired, he mellowed with age and became part of the ASO's machine. Far from put out to pasture, he was given the duty of podium appearances, and while his previous lack of tact as a rider began to fade in the eyes of many, that shouldn't be confused with any loss of mental sharpness or a recognition of delicate situations, because that's not the case at all.
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It was an unwise move on the part of Chris Froome's camp to be calling out someone as prominent as Bernard Hinault because the Breton still holds massive influence in the cycling world and in his home country. So with worries over whether Froome and Team Sky will be intimidated or receive verbal abuse from the roadside, it wasn't a smart thing to do.
As one of the all-time greats and the most tenacious of the five-Tour-titles club members, alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain, Hinault does know what he's talking about, and from his ASO role he understands which situations cause concern and which ones don't.
So with Chris Froome set to be included in Team Sky's starting line up in Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile, it's looking very likely that the quartet of five-time winners could become a quintet. But will that mean Chris Froome becomes one of the greats at the same time?
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/chris-froome-and-his-struggle-for-greatness
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