PIERREFITTE-NESTALAS, France — The Tour de France has seen it before, and not all that long ago. A team leader and teammates rub out the rest of the field on a difficult mountain climb and yet seem remarkably fresh at the finish.
After Chris Froome, the overall race leader, and his Team Sky teammates crushed the rest of the field on Tuesday’s final climb, the comparisons with Lance Armstrong and his teams immediately sprouted. The speculation that Froome, like Armstrong, may not be on the level about drugs, grew Wednesday with the release of a second video apparently containing leaked, confidential performance data from the British rider.