At the eve of the 100th edition of the Tour de France, there is one favourite for the general classification: Chris Froome (Sky). Regarded as a strong mountain climber and solid time trialist, Chris Froome won stage seven, which culminated on a steep uphill finish and finished second overall last year, while he rode as a domestique for the final winner Bradley Wiggins. This year Froome has set his sights on replacing his teammate as the winner of cycling’s biggest showcase.

"For me, definitely winning in the mountain is top,” Froome said in an interview with Eurosport. “Last year, I got a taste of that with La Planche des Belles Filles, winning stage 7; it was an incredible feeling for me winning that stage! Yeah…winning an event like that …a lot of things come to realisation. It really was a big achievement for me; a milestone I think in my career… the first time to win a stage at the Tour de France… knowing that all the training and preparation you have done is being correct, it has been the right thing that you have done; to be able to ride away from the favour to the race to win a stage like that, it means something very special to me, something I will never forget!

Even though he was born in Kenya and spent his teenage years in South Africa, the historical weight and the mythology of the Tour is by no means lost on Froome.

"For me, the Tour de France is the ultimate test! I think it allows the athletes, the cyclists to really show what he is made of. All the preparation – not only the preparation but also a lot about the character of the rider; if it is someone who in times gets really tough or if this is someone who is going to give up, fall away or if this is someone who is going to keep pushing on and make it to the finish. Even taking part in the Tour de France is a remarkable achievement, given that the Tour de France is the pinnacle of the cycling world. It is the race that everybody knows and 100% guarantee the top teams ascending their best ride. You need to train extremely hard for the Tour de France and you need to have a really strong team around you to protect you during the three weeks."

One of the aspects that separates the Tour from other big races on the cycling calendar is the amount of pressure surrounding the riders from sponsors, fans, the media etc. Regrettably this often causes a number of crashes during the opening week of the race as riders jostle endlessly for position in their quest for a coveted stage win.

"The Tour de France has got so much publicity, so much hype around it; most of the spare time is taken with the media. For sure, every team is trying to do everything as professionally as possible, all the massage and the nutrition after the race, the recovery. But we also have to remember that this is the world podium and we also have a responsibility to the public. It is an exciting feeling at the Grand Depart. Normally, the first week of the Tour is quite nervous and especially when there are no mountains in the first week, it’s going to make the general classification more set out if you like. It is a very nervous feeling on that first few days and especially at the beginning. The peloton is going three, four kilometres an hour faster than they normally go just because you have all the best riders there, with the strongest teams around them. You have just people from every country coming to support; not just the French but you have…everyone. All countries brought supporters there, you see flags everywhere! You don’t see this on any normal race. I think the thing that really struck off for me as a neo pro that first year that I did the Tour de France in 2008 was arriving at the Champs-Elysées. Ok, I thought the crowd was big in the mountains but when we arrived on the Champs-Elysées that was just ... pfff... enormous! Even bigger! It’s a lot of emotions at that time, when you reach the Champs-Elysées, its three weeks of fighting to survive! And knowing that you have reached the destination and feeling overwhelmed by just the number of people in Paris!"

Since his pro debut in South Africa for the team Konica Minolta in 2007, Chris Froome improves a lot. In 2008, he moved for the Continental Pro team Barloworld, where he started to ride in Europe. For many years he has pursued only one goal: a win in the Tour de France.

"I feel that I have a relatively fast progression through the cycling world: it was in 2008 that as a neo pro in Barloworld that I was able to ride my first Tour de France there. And just last year was the next time I rode the Tour de France, alongside Bradley Wiggins, so that was I think for me a great inside into how to go about leading a team. It was a great experience for me to learn last year. "Winning any Tour de France is monumental! I think it would change your life forever…if I am lucky enough to win it one day…I would be happy with that."

This year, however, will represent something quite unique to Froome as it is the 100th edition of the French grand tour.

“Because it is the 100th century edition, the organisation added some special touches to the Tour and it makes it even more of a spectacle for the public to watch. I think that Ventoux at the end of a 240 kilometres stage, that is – even for a one day race – going to be really hard! So I can only imagine in the middle of a three week Tour. For example, doing L’Alpe D’Huez twice! I remember doing it once in 2008 and only making it half way up and then being dropped! I can only imagine two times now … it is going to be brutal; and I think that is what is going to make it an even harder Tour to win this year."

At the start of this season, Chris Froome swept all before him in stage races. In only 6 months, he won 4 major races. In February, Chris Froome won the Tour of Oman, his first stage race ever. He dominated big Champions like Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff), Evans (BMC Racing Team) and Nibali (Astana), who would move on to conquer the Giro d’Italia in commanding fashion in May.

In the Critérium International, he won the GC and the major stage at the summit of the Opedale. His domination continued in the Tour of Romandie and the Dauphiné. This was Froome's fourth stage race victory of the season, out of the five he had entered. Evidently he relishes the thought of topping a fabulous season with a win at La Grande Boucle.

"To win this century edition would be an amazing achievement!"