Chris Froome hacked! Tour de France leader's data stolen to taint him, believes Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford

• Team Sky says computers have been hacked to obtain Chris Froome's personal performance data
• Froome currently wearing the yellow jersey as leader of Tour de France
• Sky chief Sir Dave Brailsford dismisses doping allegations 

By Matt Lawton for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:28 EST, 13 July 2015 | Updated: 04:30 EST, 14 July 2015

Team Sky believe computers have been hacked to obtain Chris Froome’s personal performance data and discredit this year’s leader of the Tour de France.

Sir Dave Brailsford, the Sky team principal, revealed on Monday that lawyers have been instructed to examine how the files on Froome, which have high-level security access, started to appear on social media and other outlets.

Only last week, one report revealed Froome’s performance data on his ascent of Mont Ventoux in 2013 — a ride that was central to his victory in the Tour that year. It noted that in a five-second burst on a punishing gradient he accelerated from 19kph to 31kph. And last night a video of the same climb was posted on Youtube with data analysis.

Chris Froome wearing the yellow jersey as he lead the Tour de France during stage nine on Sunday

Froome celebrates on the podium in Plumelec, France after retaining the overall lead

Froome relaxes as he chats to the media during a rest day in Pau on Monday

The Team Sky rider poses by a pond as he answers questions at their hotel in the French town

Froome has described those who claim such statistics point to doping as ‘clowns’ and on Monday Brailsford was just as dismissive, although he said he was concerned by what he believes is a serious security breach.

Asked if he was ready for the inevitable doping questions about Froome, who leads the Tour going into Tuesday’s first mountain stage, Brailsford said: ‘It’s part of the game, isn’t it? If he does well tomorrow, for the rest of the Tour it’s “How do you know he’s not doping?” ’

Brailsford was then asked if there was any information the team could provide to demonstrate that Froome is riding clean.

‘We’ve thought about it but again we’ll be back to pace of climbs, physiology, power data, etc, etc,’ he added. ‘Actually we have done something about it, but we think someone has hacked into our training data and got Chris’s files, so we’ve got some legal guys on the case. Ethically and morally, if you are going to accuse someone of doping then don’t cheat.

‘But the question of how to prove a negative is always going to be a difficult one. I used to worry about it a lot more but I don’t any more.

‘I’d much prefer to be sitting here this year thinking “We might get some s**t about this” than last year thinking “We’re not good enough”. That was way more painful.’

Froome and his Sky team-mates have been impressive in the opening nine days of the Tour, so much so that the British rider takes a commanding lead over his main rivals into Tuesday’s stage.

But it makes him a target of suspicion. Brailsford said he confronted French press photographers hiding behind bushes here in Pau on Sunday night apparently trying to get a picture of Froome boarding his boss’s motorhome.

Brailsford has been banned from using private motorhomes rather than hotels for his riders and was convinced an attempt was being made to discover if Froome was breaking the rules. 

Team Sky's Chris Froome trains indoors due to rain

Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford believes their computers have been hacked 

He believes they have been hacked to obtain Froome’s personal performance data and discredit him

Froome has described those who claim such statistics point to doping as ‘clowns’

Chris Froome is bookmaker's favourite to retain Tour de France...

There are echoes of cycling’s past here. In their efforts to expose Lance Armstrong, a French film crew once followed US Postal doctors to sift through discarded medical waste.

Brailsford insists Froome’s progression as a rider is simply down to his ‘genes and physiology’. And in an interview before the Tour, Froome hit out at the way his critics were interpreting his performance data.

He said: ‘From what I’ve seen from some of the clowns interpreting (power) data and saying “You did this for 10 minutes so you have to be doping”, it’s so unhelpful. It can’t paint the full picture.

‘If the UCI want to collect power data as a way of explaining what’s humanly possible without doping, then I would be very happy. But to release it into the world for people to rip apart — you don’t take into account wind speed, temperature, how hard you’ve ridden, all those variable factors. But I’ve got nothing to hide.’

Froome’s data points to an unusually low heart rate.

But he insisted: ‘My heart rate doesn’t go very high. I get to about 168 and that’s going flat-out. I can’t get much higher. It’s very low. A lot of my team-mates get over 200. I don’t really understand why, myself. I know I’ve got a large lung capacity, over eight litres. Average capacity for my height and weight is nearer six litres.’

Froome (right) and his team-mates powering towards the finish nine during stage nine of the Tour

Froome (right) and his Sky team-mates have been impressive in the opening nine days of the Tour

Froome (in the yellow jersey) riding with his fellow Team Sky riders during the time-trial on Sunday

Comments (15)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now