He’s an instinctive rider capable of rising off his saddle and blowing a race apart.

As cycling pieces itself back together in the wake of the Lance Armstrong disaster, Chris Froome is the ideal poster boy.

Polite, friendly, squeaky clean – and a supremely-gifted cyclist who can think on his pedals.

Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France by destroying the opposition in two time trials and hanging on for the climbs.

Froome triumphed last summer how the romantics would want it, attacking at will in the mountains to take the glory on the first day in the Pyrenees and then – in storybook fashion – on top of the legendary Mount Ventoux.

Such was his effort during that battle on Bastille Day, Froome needed oxygen for almost ten minutes as he collapsed exhausted over the finishing line. For the historians, it brought back memories of a similarly-shattered Eddy Merckx at the same venue four decades earlier.

It is for that reason that Froome is so popular with the French public. They recognise the Monaco resident as someone who respects the romance of the world’s greatest endurance race – put simply, he gets it.

English speakers do not usually impress the locals, whose impatience to see a Frenchman in the maillot jaune goes on. Wiggins was applauded in 2012 but not feted.

With Froome, it is different. He has rejuvenated Le Grand Boucle.

It was not just that he won last year – Froome had been hot favourite before the peloton had even signed up in Corsica – but the panache with which he delivered.

Froome’s victory in the 100th Tour came as a breath of fresh air for a race still carrying the traces of the stink of Armstrong.

“Part of what’s driving me is a desire to show, post Armstrong, that it’s possible to have successive Tour victories clean,” says Froome as he eyes the prospect of back-to-back triumphs.

And if the skill of his riding is not captivating enough, there is also the soap-opera sideshow of his relationship with Wiggins.

That has been a constant talking point since stage 11 of the 2012 Tour when the race hit the final climb on its way to the Alpine ski station of La Toussuire.

With four kilometres to go, Froome attacked a tiring lead bunch – which included the yellow jersey. Seemingly poised to break clear on his own, his charge was only halted by a frantic call from the team car. The Sky team-mates finished together but the damage was done.

Wiggins, according to former team manager Sean Yates, claimed he was “stabbed in the back”. Froome called it a “miscommunication” over a tactical agreement to let him go for the win. Fuelled by the media, a feud between the top two was born that rumbled on through 2013 with rumours that Wiggins was slow in paying his “super domestique” the bonus that winners always gave to their team.

Froome claims the pair are in “a good place now” after settling their differences in a training camp in Mallorca over the winter. There’s nothing like three weeks of hard grind in the saddle to see if that really is the case.e’s an instinctive rider capable of rising off his saddle and blowing a race apart.

As cycling pieces itself back together in the wake of the Lance Armstrong disaster, Chris Froome is the ideal poster boy.

Polite, friendly, squeaky clean – and a supremely-gifted cyclist who can think on his pedals.

Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France by destroying the opposition in two time trials and hanging on for the climbs.

Froome triumphed last summer how the romantics would want it, attacking at will in the mountains to take the glory on the first day in the Pyrenees and then – in storybook fashion – on top of the legendary Mount Ventoux.

Such was his effort during that battle on Bastille Day, Froome needed oxygen for almost ten minutes as he collapsed exhausted over the finishing line. For the historians, it brought back memories of a similarly-shattered Eddy Merckx at the same venue four decades earlier.

It is for that reason that Froome is so popular with the French public. They recognise the Monaco resident as someone who respects the romance of the world’s greatest endurance race – put simply, he gets it.

English speakers do not usually impress the locals, whose impatience to see a Frenchman in the maillot jaune goes on. Wiggins was applauded in 2012 but not feted.

With Froome, it is different. He has rejuvenated Le Grand Boucle.

It was not just that he won last year – Froome had been hot favourite before the peloton had even signed up in Corsica – but the panache with which he delivered.

Froome’s victory in the 100th Tour came as a breath of fresh air for a race still carrying the traces of the stink of Armstrong.

“Part of what’s driving me is a desire to show, post Armstrong, that it’s possible to have successive Tour victories clean,” says Froome as he eyes the prospect of back-to-back triumphs.

And if the skill of his riding is not captivating enough, there is also the soap-opera sideshow of his relationship with Wiggins.

That has been a constant talking point since stage 11 of the 2012 Tour when the race hit the final climb on its way to the Alpine ski station of La Toussuire.

With four kilometres to go, Froome attacked a tiring lead bunch – which included the yellow jersey. Seemingly poised to break clear on his own, his charge was only halted by a frantic call from the team car. The Sky team-mates finished together but the damage was done.

Wiggins, according to former team manager Sean Yates, claimed he was “stabbed in the back”. Froome called it a “miscommunication” over a tactical agreement to let him go for the win. Fuelled by the media, a feud between the top two was born that rumbled on through 2013 with rumours that Wiggins was slow in paying his “super domestique” the bonus that winners always gave to their team.

Froome claims the pair are in “a good place now” after settling their differences in a training camp in Mallorca over the winter. There’s nothing like three weeks of hard grind in the saddle to see if that really is the case.