Spin Cycle is Escape Collective’s news digest, published every Monday and Friday. You can read it on the website (obviously) or click here to have it delivered straight to your inbox.
Hello!
Welcome back to Spin Cycle.
We're in the thick of it at the Tour de France, and while we've been having a lovely time cavorting up the Diagonal of the Void, we could also do with some (whisper it) exciting bike racing. Sure, the sprints have actually been fun and chaotic, but Tadej Pogačar has the GC in a stranglehold ... for now at least.
Through it all, we'll still keep trying to find the oddities from the bike race that's too big to fail, no matter how perfunctory the yellow jersey battle may turn out to be.
Froome tells all ... kinda 📰
Like many other publications, we were on tenterhooks for the first part of this year as to what was going on with Chris Froome. After his deal with Israel-Premier Tech had expired, he didn't seem to have a new employer and he also hadn't announced his retirement.
Of course, Froome had been recovering from a very serious crash in August, from which the 41-year-old says he was lucky to escape with his life. But still, you'd have expected an update on his future when he's such a public figure.
Luckily, with Froome currently at the Tour de France as a Škoda ambassador (we've spotted him a couple of times, including him stopping to take a photo with a young fan), L'Équipe managed to grab him for an interview.
"You have finally announced your retirement. Was the process difficult, or were you still hoping to find a team?" the French newspaper asked.
"No, no, no. It didn't even cross my mind to continue," Froome replied.
"So when did you make the decision?" L'Équipe followed up.
"Five years ago. When I signed my last contract [with Israel Start-Up Nation at the time], I knew it would be my last."
Now sure, Froome was 36 at the time he signed that five-year deal, so that makes sense. But then why, for months and years, did he continue saying he didn't know what the future held?
"I was hoping to be able to race one last race and say goodbye that way, as is usually done. But the accident in August sidelined me. I was in and out of the hospital until mid-January. And even when I came home, after five months of operations and hospital stays, it took me until April or May to really get back on my feet and stop taking medication. Talking to the media, making a big announcement, or throwing a big party was really out of the question.
"But it wasn't that I wanted to maintain the suspense or anything. I was focused on my recovery, spending time with my family. I had agreed to come to the Tour with Škoda, and I didn't even make an announcement. Someone asked me about my retirement; I thought it was clear, but I realised I hadn't really talked about it."
A classy move, Froomey, getting a mention of Škoda in there. He doesn't miss a trick.
An answer to the Ralph Denk headphone mystery 🎧
We've spent a decent chunk of this Tour de France being on Ralph Denk Wired Headphone Watch.
And while we don't have another wonderful photo of the best moustache/headphone combo in the paddock, we do have something of an explanation.
Did we do a good job with this story?
