NAIROBI: Chris Froome’s Kenyan mentor David Kinjah yesterday said the star cyclist will be “bitterly disappointed” over crashing out of the Tour de France.
Kenyan-born Froome (pictured) quit the Tour on Wednesday after the second of two crashes on the treacherous fifth stage from Ypres to Porte du Hainaut in northern France.
“Chris will be bitterly disappointed. He’s put in a lot of hard work in his preparation for the title defence of the Tour de France,” Kinjah, who also leads a pro-cycling team in Kenya, said.
Kinjah, who rode for Kenya, is credited with having nurtured Froome as a boy on the tough hills outside Nairobi. The two remain close friends.
“He’s a fighter — having come to this Tour after badly hurting himself last month. He was only two seconds within the yellow jersey time and he would have used one of those tough mountain climbs to attack his rivals.”
It is sad, hard luck for Chris, but I know he will always come back. He’s not someone to give up just like that. It is only a matter of time before he comes back. Hopefully we will see him in the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) in August and September,” Kinjah said. AFP
