Tour de France 2013: Chris Froome fits the bill as cycling seeks a new hero For imagine how hard this test has been for him. Having to take over from a minted British hero, Sir Bradley Wiggins, knowing that if he could not emulate him, it would be considered a failure; having the practically impossible job of being a flag-bearer for the sport in the first race since Lance Armstrong's downfall; and finding himself swamped by doping questions and inevitable cynicism. The better he has performed, the more sceptical people have become but he has never let the negativity distract his astonishingly steely focus. It has, by any standards, been a monumental performance, studded by three glorious stage triumphs. From the moment he destroyed his rivals up the Ax 3 Domaines climb in the Pyrenees on the second Saturday of the race, he has had to face two weeks of constant pressure, attack after attack from his rivals, until yesterday, by which time he seemed to have subdued them all. And, remember, this has been simply one of the most demanding mountainous Tours ever, with 105 miles of climbing in the penultimate four stages alone. How good has he been? He cracked on Alpe d'Huez but still made time on his main rival. That is how good. All of which has made France feel just a little intoxicated by a British rider for a second year running. When Wiggins won the Tour last summer, the hosts gradually fell for an eccentric English character they had not quite seen the like of before. One minute, Wiggins was "le gentleman," holding back the peloton to help a stricken rival; the next, he would shock them, cursing like a trooper, then he would charm them all with heart on his sleeve and Elvis sideburns on his face. They liked him because he was unashamedly true to himself and very different. Wiggins's successor, on the face of it, is a complete contrast but a man just as difficult to get a handle on with his politeness, reserve and quiet intensity masking a likeable personality. Yet, the truth is that they see him here in France as something even more completely different, an athlete they have never quite seen the like of before. They say the name "Chris-toph-errr Froooome" - it is never just "Chris" - and roll the words around the tongue as if it is something quite exotic. They appear quite fascinated by him, particularly his African background. During quieter stretches of some stages here, the host broadcasters have taken to offering little interludes to highlight la difference. The other day it was Chris-toph-err doing an interview while playing with a lion cub. Or racing alongside antelopes. This is great stuff for them; a diet of European-based and raised riders who have come through the normal route to the top do not compare to a man who has come out of Kenya to beat the world in as convincing a fashion as Lance Armstrong once did. The sport has been, at once, suspicious and sceptical but being on the roads here, packed with thousands of British supporters - which suggests how this event has now really invaded the British psyche - you can feel another sentiment. That of a sport which desperately needs a new hero amid the Armstrong fallout - and this man might just fit the bill. It is not just the British fans, with their "Va Va Froome" and "Froomedog Millionaire" flags, who have got behind him; you can sense everyone yearns for him to be clean, to be seen to be clean and to be a cyclist we can all believe in. Which is why L'Equipe has run daily front-page stories in his praise. "Froome naturellement" was the banner headline to greet his Ventoux classic, and the "Froome Dossier," which examined his climbing data and found it to be consistent with dope-free riding, suggested it too really wants to hail him as a breath of fresh air for cycling. All that remains if he can, like Wiggins, lead another wonderful Union Jack-waving party in Paris on Sunday is to ensure that Froome receives his proper due for a display as splendid as anything witnessed in British sport this year. For a day at least, he would merit no sniping but proper, heartfelt congratulations.