Chris Froome set to win Tour de France amid boos
The Team Sky rider is set to win his fourth Tour de France title, which will cement his status as a cycling great.
Sunday 23 July 2017 18:20, UK
Chris Froome looks almost certain to win the Tour de France after extending his lead in Saturday's time trial in Marseille.
, a feat rarely achieved, meaning he has now cemented his status as a cycling great.
He was booed and whistled by fans at the Stade Velodrome as he went down to the starting ramp, but that will do nothing to dampen the Briton's spirits.
For him, there have been ups and downs over the last three weeks.
He has faced mechanical issues and he had to fight back after losing his lead.
A few days ago he told Sky News that if he won the 2017 Tour de France it would be his greatest achievement to date.
On retaining the yellow jersey on Saturday, he said: "It's an amazing feeling to finish that off now.
"There was a lot of pressure coming into today's stage with it being so close in the general classification, but there was an amazing atmosphere here.
"It's a fitting way to stay in the GC (general classification), which was always going to be a close battle."
Over the last few weeks, Froome has had the backup of all the riders and support staff at Team Sky, with "domestiques" working with him as he covered thousands of miles.
Their job is to protect him from any attacks by other cyclists and to let him ride in their slip stream so that he doesn't tire so easily.
The time trial in Marseille was the penultimate stage of the Tour and Froome finished third, after which British fans called for him to be knighted.
Although all the attention is likely to be on him, Team Sky as a whole has come in quicker than any other group of riders in the Tour.
There was, however, heartbreak for France.
Romain Bardet, who went into Saturday's stage in second place behind Froome, was ill and lost so much time that Froome almost overtook him as they entered the Stade Velodrome.
Around the course there was heightened security in Marseille.
France is a country on high terror alert, following a number of attacks in recent years, including one at the country's national football stadium in November 2015.
The peloton will on Sunday head to Paris for the final stage, which is mainly ceremonial.
Froome, who starts the day with a 54-second advantage, will almost certainly be the one making the winner's speech on the Champs Elysees.
It will be the fifth time in as many years that the speech has been made to the United Kingdom's national anthem, after Bradley Wiggins triumphed in 2012.