‘Froome is clean, don’t question him’

Chris Froome doesn’t deserve to be accused of winning the Tour de France by doping, according to the journalist who helped expose Lance Armstrong as a drug cheat.

Chris Froome doesn’t deserve to be accused of winning the Tour de France by doping, according to the journalist who helped expose Lance Armstrong as a drug cheat.

Teak Sky rider Froome has almost guaranteed victory in the 100th Tour de France after finishing Saturday’s stage 20 to Annecy-Semnoz with a lead of more than five minutes.

With only Sunday’s processional stage into Paris to go, Froome will be the second British winner in as many years following on from Team Sky team-mate Bradley Wiggins’s 2012 success. Kenya-born Froome’s remarkably dominant display throughout the Tour has prompted some critics to suspect the 28-year-old of doping to enhance his performance.

But Sunday Times reporter David Walsh, who played a significant role in unearthing American rider Armstrong’s long history of doping, has spent several weeks inside the Team Sky camp and he is adamant Froome shouldn’t have to defend himself from drug slurs.

Walsh spoke to one of Team Sky’s doctors about Froome and was convinced by the medical expert’s theory.