I'm sure you know that Chris Froome's autobiography 'The Climb' went on sale recently. I'm not sure how successful it's been, not as hot selling as Brad's I'd imagine. But I'm a big Froome fan, so I was excited to read it.
The book starts with what feels like some strange narrative, it tries hard to portray the Kenyan vibe of Chris's upbringing and unfortunately comes across quite cliché. However once you get past the first page or two it gets much better.
Chris goes on to talk about being the youngest to two older brothers and about how they left for school fairly early and he effectively became an only child. His parents then split up and he stayed with his mum. There are quite a few enchanting anecdotes and the first third of the book is about his Kenyan childhood and how the Kenyan national rider Kinjah takes him under his wing.
The middle of the book is taken up by the transitional stage between amateur and pro, about struggling with the Kenyan Cycling 'Committee' and about some frankly shocking scenarios involving several desert stages at the Tour of Egypt when the 'support' crew decided they would rather be in a bar sipping cold beers than supporting their riders. Leaving one of their riders to lie by the side of the road on the brink of death well into the night until he was eventually picked up by another team car.
Finally Chris talks about the 2012 and 2013 Tours. I was really enjoying the book at this point, however, the style shifts somewhat at this point and I can't help but feel that Chris is using the book largely to get back at the team. Everyone knows about the friction between Froome and Wiggins, but what I wasn't aware of, was the battle he had with the Team Sky management, Dave and Rod. At this point his Bilharzia parasite was undiagnosed and his form was very shaky, despite performing well in the Vuelta in 2011 Sky were reluctant to give him a good contract and Chris got very frustrated. He felt his performance merited a better contract and a chance to go for GC at the Tour in 2012. He talks about some of the offers he got from other teams, offers substantially better than those made by Sky. The problem was that although Froome wanted to stay at Team Sky, they weren't offering him a salary anywhere near what his manager though he ought to be earning. In the end they gave in and they told him he would be able to ride for GC alongside Brad in 2012 but would be on only a slightly higher salary. There's quite a bit of emotion bought across in the writing and you can really feel his state of mind at this time.
After that section the reading gets easier, he talks about the 2012 Tour and the famous tussle between him and Brad. In my mind it's fairly obvious that Chris was the stronger rider and that a lot of the time he was pulling Brad up the mountains, however they were reluctant to go with him for GC. I don't think it was down to his unreliability or whatever Brad said it was. My opinion is that as Brad has spent so much time within British cycling they thought it would be better if he became the first Brit to win the Tour, despite being the weaker rider. Which I suppose makes sense, I just think it's a shame that Chris was never even given the go ahead to go for stage wins and that he had to be glued to Brad to ensure no time was dropped in the mountains. Don't get me wrong, Brad was good in the mountains, but Chris was better and so were the other contenders.
Then Chris recounts how Brad didn't invite him to his 'Yellow Ball', despite Chris pulling on every stage and eventually sticking to team orders. He didn't give Chris a share of the winner's money either, which is customary. In Chris' autobiography it comes across as though Wiggins is very distant from the rest of the team, I'm not sure if this is the case.
The account that Froome gives of the 2013 Tour is fairly dry, it's a bit like a diary really, with an entry for each day and not much emotion until the very end. At this point you could almost skip to last stage where he gives his speech on the podium and not really miss much.
Overall I enjoyed the book, despite my critical opinions above, it gives a real insight into just how hard it was to come into the pro world from Kenya. It's predominantly about the years before the Tour de France, which is good and there are also some very touching personal moments. But I feel the short section on the two Tours, particularly the 2013 Tour, lack real emotion. Almost as if the point was proven and talking about winning the tour was just a formality. I would also like to have seen a bit more about his training and his relationships with other members of Team sky, It's definitely a good read though and well worth the £9.00 on Amazon.
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