Back in the days when cycling in the UK was quieter and smaller it was easy enough to support the British riders because, first of all, there’d only be one, and second, chances are, you might know him, have raced against him or know someone who had. Hell, I even bumped into Boardman at one point. I cheered for Julian Winn in the the Brit champions jersey as he rode the Giro, knowing that a year or two before I’d been sprawling in the mud at a cx race while he eased past.
And then you could go and watch them in the big races. Wiggins and Cav climbing Constitution Hill behind me on the pavement. Investing time by standing on deserted roads in mid-Wales cheering these people on.
Even these days you can form attachments to Brit pro-riders because they are local, or you’ve seen them race locally. For me it’s G and Rowe who I keep an eye on.
You can’t do that with Froome. Sorry, rephrase, I can’t do that. I haven’t seen him race, haven’t seen him coming through the ranks of the local cycling club, haven’t parked next to him and chatted while getting ready for a race. I like him. I like his attacking. I hate his ugliness on the bike, but I’ll cheer for him. But not because of his nationality. I’ll also cheer for Teklahaimanot, or Degenkolb. Froome might be British but he’s not local. 😉
(I’m trying to remember the name of the half-British, half-Italian rider from the 90/00s. The one nobody supported because he was Italian.)