Kenya ‘export’ Froome’s historic win

What you need to know:

  • Chris Froome, another ‘skinny kid’ with Kenyan roots, became the first British cyclist to win the prestigious Tour de France twice when he guided the Sky Team home after a drizzly and chilly final stage in Paris on Sunday.
  • Despite his achievements, Froome has never been appreciated in the UK. Froome was born in Nairobi in 1985 and competed for Kenya in many international tournaments. Froome’s mother, Jane, who died shortly before he rode his first Tour in 2008, was also born in Kenya.
  • While Kinjah is proud of the progress other East African countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea have made, he is sad Kenya has failed to take advantage of the Froome brand.

It has been an excellent week for Kenya. Two of the country’s finest exports to the world made Kenya proud once again.

And they did it in style. While US President Barack Obama brought the world’s focus to Kenya, becoming the first sitting American leader to visit the country, history was also unfolding thousands of miles away.

Chris Froome, another ‘skinny kid’ with Kenyan roots, became the first British cyclist to win the prestigious Tour de France twice when he guided the Sky Team home after a drizzly and chilly final stage in Paris on Sunday.

For his exertions, the 30-year-old Kenyan-born Briton pocketed a cool Sh50 million.

“Of course, I spent my childhood back in Africa, so there’s going to be a lot of people in Africa who are going to be proud of what I achieved,” Froome, who was mentored by former Kenyan international David Kinjah, told the New York Times just before the final leg. Then he added: “But I’m British. I’ve got British parents, grandparents — my family is British. This is 100 per cent a British victory.”

Despite his achievements, Froome has never been appreciated in the UK. Froome was born in Nairobi in 1985 and competed for Kenya in many international tournaments. Froome’s mother, Jane, who died shortly before he rode his first Tour in 2008, was also born in Kenya.
In the 2007 All Africa Games, Froome won a bronze medal while in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, he finished 17th, but caught the eye of future Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford.

He also competed for Kenya in the 2006 Road World Championships in the Under-23 category in Salzburg, Austria. Due to his international background, he’s treated as a ‘foreigner’ in the UK — he now lives in Monaco and spends little time in his adopted country.

He also speaks with a slight South African (he schooled there) accent. The British find him a little strange.

But by winning the most gruelling cycling race on earth twice, from humble beginnings in Kiambu, his story will be told for generations to come. The Tour has 21 stages with more than 3,600km through hilly mountains.

Looking back, Froome speaks fondly of his mentor. In his book, The Climb, he says: “From the moment I met Kinjah, learning the rules of the road or the best way to fix a puncture were things of secondary interest.

I wanted to be like him. I wanted to spend so much time on the bike that my molecules and the bike’s molecules became fused together.”  

While Kinjah is proud of the progress other East African countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea have made, he is sad Kenya has failed to take advantage of the Froome brand.

“Our cycling authorities really need to think about the future of the sport in the country,” an angry Kinjah, proud of Froome’s success but bitter with the Kenya Cycling Association (KCA), told Nation yesterday.

“We have stagnated for far too long when Tour of Rwanda continues to flourish. We need to start with Tours at the county level where there is great potential,” said Kinjah.

Froome plans to start a foundation in Kenya aimed at nurturing talent from the grassroots, but Kinjah believes KCA must take the lead.