Tour de France: Team Sky reveal ‘hacking’ of Chris Froome data
Brailsford says lawyers are investigating theft of information on race leader
Pau, France: Team Sky are consulting their lawyers following what they believe to be the potential hacking of Chris Froome’s training data files.
The British team revealed the suspected theft on Monday as they prepared to face the inevitable doping questions that are sure to accompany any big performances from Froome in the Tour de France’s mountain stages in the Pyrenees and the Alps in the next fortnight.
After a successful first week of this year’s edition, during which Froome unexpectedly claimed the yellow jersey over classics-style terrain in Holland, Belgium and northern France, the Team Sky riders enjoyed a rest day in Pau, on the northern edge of the Pyrenees, on Monday. But already Sky are circling the wagons, with sniping at the British team on Twitter and in newsprint.
Monday’s edition of L’Equipe featured a mischievous story about Sky’s cavalcade of vehicles at this year’s race, which includes “un mega Pullman-restaurant” and “trois immenses motorhomes”.
Sky are thought to have around 30 vehicles in total, which has upset rival teams, who claim they clog up hotel car parks. A photographer was seen snooping around in the bushes outside Sir Dave Brailsford’s motorhome on Sunday night.
But it is espionage that has set the alarm bells ringing at Team Sky, with the suspected hacking of Froome’s files. Brailsford made the revelation after being asked whether he expected Froome to face doping questions if he performed well in the mountains.
“It’s part of the game, isn’t it?” he said. “If he does well tomorrow [in the first Pyrenean stage], the rest of the Tour, it’s ‘How do you know he’s not doping?’
“We’ve thought about [how to convince the doubters] but again we’ll be back to [discussing] pace of climbs, physiology, power data etc. Well, actually we have done something about it... we think someone has hacked into our training data and got Chris’ files, so we’ve got some legal guys on the case there.”
Brailsford declined to say who he believed to be behind the hacking, but said that “ethically and morally, if you are going to accuse someone of doping then don’t cheat [steal]”.
Before this Tour, Froome criticised the “clowns” on social media interpreting power data, saying it was meaningless without context.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2015
