SISTERON, France -- The team of Tour de France leader Chris Froome bowed to pressure Tuesday and released data about his riding power, heart rate and pedaling rhythm, hoping to quell speculation about doping ahead of an increasingly likely victory in Paris on Sunday.
On the Tour's second rest day, Team Sky presented the figures after comments on French TV raised questions about Froome's performance and incidents in which spectators have booed, spat upon and thrown urine on the rider and his teammates -- behavior attributed in part to the unfounded speculation about his speed on the way to victory in Stage 10.
Tour de France leaders
(After 16 stages)
POS.; RIDER; NATION; TEAM; TIME/TRAILING
Chris Froome, Britain, Sky, 64:47:16.
Nairo Quintana, Colombia, Movistar, 3:10 behind.
Tejay Van Garderen, United States, BMC Racing, 3:32.
Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Movistar, 4:02.
Alberto Contador, Spain, Tinkoff-Saxo, 4:23.
Geraint Thomas, Britain, Sky, 5:32.
Robert Gesink, Netherlands, Lotto NL-Jumbo, 6:23.
Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Astana, 7:49.
Bauke Mollema, Netherlands, Trek Factory Racing, 8:53.
Warren Barguil, France, Giant-Alpecin, 11:03.
Tony Gallopin, France, Lotto-Soudal, 12:02.
Romain Bardet, France, AG2R La Mondiale, 13:10.
Mathias Frank, Switzerland, IAM Cycling, 14:23.
Samuel Sanchez, Spain, BMC Racing, 15:18.
Pierre Rolland, France, Europcar, 15:55.
Jarlinson Pantano, Colombia, IAM Cycling, 17:04.
Andrew Talansky, United States, Cannondale-Garmin, 23:15.
Serge Pauwels, Belgium, MTN-Qhubeka, 24:18.
Thibaut Pinot, France, FDJ, 31:54.
Alexis Vuillermoz, France, AG2R La Mondiale, 36:29.
Also
159.Tyler Farrar, United States, MTN-Qhubeka, 2:46:44.
TODAY’S STAGE The first stage in the Alps, 100 miles from Digne-les-Bains to Pra Loup with five categorized climbs.
Doping history
Recent Tour de France winners and their doping histories:
YRS.;RIDER;STATUS
2014;Vincenzo Nibali;No positive tests
2013;Chris Froome;No positive tests
2012;Bradley Wiggins;No positive tests
2011;Cadel Evans;No positive tests
2010;Alberto Contador;Stripped of title
COMMENT Banned for two years
2009;Alberto Contador;No prior positives
2008;Carlos Sastre;No positive tests
2007;Alberto Contador;No prior positives
2006;Floyd Landis;Stripped of title
COMMENT Banned for two years
1999-2005;Lance Armstrong;Stripped of titles
COMMENT Banned for life
1998 Marco Pantani;No prior positives
COMMENT Banned for six months for failed test in 1999
With a 3-minute, 10-second lead over his closest rival, and his mountain-climbing nearly unparalleled, Froome said he's in "a great place" as the three-week race resumes today with Stage 17's 100-mile trip over four climbs from Digne-les-Bains to an uphill finish at Pra Loup mountain resort.
It's the start of four grueling days in the Alps. The climax comes Saturday with an uphill finish at Alpe d'Huez, a day before a largely ceremonial ride for the race winner on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
"The third week of the Tour is always unpredictable. You never know how anyone is going to respond," said American rider Tejay van Garderen, the BMC team leader who is third overall, 3:32 behind of Froome.
Van Garderen said the British race leader, who won the Tour in 2013 and has never tested positive for doping, has had to deal with "the aftermath" of doping cheats of the past.
"It was clear that he dealt with the heat and dealt with the [first] rest day better than other people did," Van Garderen said of Froome's Stage 10 victory. "I think it's very unfair for him to have to deal with all the scrutiny."
Froome, a Kenya-born Briton, said his team wants to address doubts about Sky's performances with the release of his rider data.
"I'm not sure if numbers are going to fix everything, but certainly I feel as a team and myself, we're definitely trying to be as open and transparent as possible," he said.
Sky performance analyst Tim Kerrison presented figures including Froome's power output, cadence and heart rate on the climb to the Stage 10 finish. The figures showed the rider's ability to generate vast amounts of power, hitting a top speed of 17.2 mph going uphill.
Kerrison said Froome produced a pedal cadence of 97 revolutions per minute on average on the climb. Froome's heart rate hit 174 beats per minute the highest rate that the team has tallied from him in any recent Grand Tour race and Kerrison called that a sign that Froome had arrived "very fresh" at the foot of that ascent.
Last week, TV network France-2 ran a report quoting a doctor, Pierre Sallet, who it said works with statisticians for race organizer ASO, analyzing Tour riders' performances. ASO said that is only partly true: It said Sallet's team does give them data about the race itself, providing such details as where riders are on the road in relation to each other. But ASO said Sallet doesn't analyze rider's physiological data.
In the TV report, Sallet cited what he called "a reliable mathematical model" for his calculation that Froome had a maximum aerobic power of 500 watts on the climb, and could generate 7.04 watts per kilogram of body weight. By his count, Kerrison said Froome had produced 5.78 watts per kilogram on average on the climb.
"All athletes we've seen above 7 watts per kilo in the past were athletes who were caught in doping affairs," Sallet said, adding that Froome "must give us information about his physiological profile for his performance to become credible."
Sky's Kerrison said the "margin of error" was too great to allow for an accurate assessment of Froome's physiological profile from the Stage 10 climb results alone.
The TV report interspersed images of some former riders like Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour titles for doping.
"In particular what France-2 did, putting out that big headline '7 watts per kilo,' a picture of Lance Armstrong, a picture of [Jan] Ullrich," Sky team manager Dave Brailsford said, "that was so wildly wrong on so many levels, that actually we just thought, 'We should just correct that, and give the concrete facts, and give the evidence, so hopefully that people can judge for themselves.' "
Sports on 07/22/2015