Jayco Herald Sun Tour: How Chris Froome was lured to Melbourne

THE biggest coup in Jayco Herald Sun Tour history had its origins on the slopes of cycling’s most iconic mountain.

RODEZ, FRANCE - JULY 17: Chris Froome of Great Britain and Team Sky celebrates after retaining the overall leader's yellow jersey after stage thirteen of the 2015 Tour de France, a 198.5 km stage between Muret and Rodez, on July 17, 2015 in Rodez, France. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

THE biggest coup in Jayco Herald Sun Tour history had its origins on the slopes of cycling’s most iconic mountain.

The campaign to get Chris Froome to ride Australia’s oldest stage race started on the famed Alpe d’Huez on the same July afternoon the Kenyan-born Brit secured his second Tour de France title.

In a twist of fate, veteran race director and three-time race Sun Tour winner John Trevorrow was staying at the same hotel as Froome’s Team Sky.

“We were in this little bar and the whole team came in and were hugging and (Sky team principal) Sir Dave Brailsford spotted me, came up and had a drink,” Trevorrow said yesterday.

“I said: ‘You’re not going to let me down again?’ because they were supposed to come last year and didn’t make it. He said ‘No, I promise we’ll be there’.

“So I pointed to Chris and said: ‘You can bring that bloke if you like. I’ve got room for Froome’.

“Then I got the call a bit over a week ago from (Sky head of performance) Rod Ellingworth saying, ‘OK, keep this to yourself, but Froomey is coming’. It was wonderful news; keeping it quiet was the challenge.”

Chris Froome of Great Britain and Team Sky crosses the finish line at the end of the gruelling climb up L'Alpe d'Huez in 2015.

Froome’s arrival, revealed in yesterday’s Herald Sun, is made all the more extraordinary given Froome is facing arguably the most important season of his career.

The 30-year-old is aiming to become the first rider to win back-to-back Tour de France crowns since Spaniard Miguel Indurain in 1994-95. Froome also believes he can claim gold in the road events at the Rio Olympics in August.

“Chris has looked at his program and he has to start the year somewhere. He’s loved his time in Australia and was here last summer with his good mate Richie Porte in Tasmania,” Trevorrow said.

“But it is special that he is riding our bike race. He’s not coming out for the summer and riding three big events, he’s coming specifically for the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.”

The 63rd edition of the Herald Sun Tour was officially launched yesterday, where a parcours starting with a twilight CBD prologue and finishing with a triple ascent of Mornington Peninsula’s Arthurs Seat was unveiled.

That final stage will be run on roads very familiar to Moorooduc native Steele Von Hoff, who will return for Australia’s summer of cycling with new British outfit, One Pro Cycling, founded by former English cricketer Matt Prior.

“It will be a good change of scenery and great to get the new opportunities to race a lot more tours as opposed to the one-day races I’ve been riding in Britain this year,” Von Hoff said.

“I really want to be racing the big races and One Pro will give me that opportunity. My goals are in line with theirs and I’ll try and develop with them.”

Von Hoff will also line up at January’s Australian Road National Championships where he’ll be gunning for a third consecutive criterium title.