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Video: Chris Froome v the Channel Tunnel

Team Sky's 2013 Tour de France winner in first ever undersea bike crossing...

Chris Froome has become the first person to ride a bike through the Channel Tunnel from England to France.

Ironically, the video of Froome taking on the tunnel was released on the same day as passengers had to be evacuated from the tunnel - and in to the service tunnel Froome used for his ride - because of a power failure on a train at 06:20am this morning. Disruption is expected all day, luckily the riders are flying back, but some of the Tour's support vehicles may have a problem getting back across the Channel. 

Riding his Pinarello time trial bike, Froome completed the 50km crossing in about 55 minutes, a mark that someone determined to get into the Guiness Book of Records will no doubt want to beat.

Froome’s ride actually took place on June 1, but with the Tour de France crossing from England to France this evening after stage 3 finishes in London, Team Sky have released a video of the ride today, as you do.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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23 comments

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andyp | 9 years ago
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Car tunnels/pedestrian tunnels? You're doing it wrong. 5km-long disused rail tunnels are the way forward. Ideally with a pint at either end.

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banzicyclist2 | 9 years ago
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It would be a novel thing to do as part of a TDF stage.

If I got the chance I'd be up for it boring and hypnotic or not.. it would be a once in a life time experience.

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yenrod | 9 years ago
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This is interesting - couldnt quite beleive he actually did it....

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David Portland | 9 years ago
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Didn't MBUK ride through the Channel Tunnel shortly after it opened? Or possibly during construction? There was definitely a feature along those lines. Maybe they didn't go all the way across...

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Distinctive Rob | 9 years ago
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Genuinely thought for a moment that he'd draft the train... Aaaaand then remembered that's stupid and got back in my box of despair...

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Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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Apparently the Daily Mail and Express are shitting pork pies over the new danger of wave upon wave of illegal immigrants riding £8,000 time trial bikes down the tunnel to flood our shores. They have taken drastic action and employed the newly formed but highly effective New Forest Resident Anti Bike Association as guards which as we know are full of loads of little pricks.

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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You could end up with tunnel vision doing this.

If he'd done it France to Britain there would have been an illegal clinging to his bottom bracket  17 .

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Luminosity | 9 years ago
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Wasn't Wiggo always faster doing time trials? Why would you use Froome to do this except to get his profile higher for the TdF?

Sooner Wiggo he finds another team that values him the better methinks.

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drfabulous0 replied to Luminosity | 9 years ago
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Luminosity wrote:

Wasn't Wiggo always faster doing time trials? Why would you use Froome to do this except to get his profile higher for the TdF?

Well as mentioned above the ride looks mind numbingly boring, which suits Froome as he is mind numbingly boring himself.

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JAndrewHill | 9 years ago
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Apparently the eurotunnel closed this morning. Reports that the driver swerved and derailed to avoid a cyclist in a black skinsuit have not been confirmed.  3

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JAndrewHill | 9 years ago
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Apparently the eurotunnel closed this morning. Reports that the driver swerved and derailed to avoid a cyclist in a black skinsuit have not been confirmed.  3

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bikemadjo | 9 years ago
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i so want to do this now!

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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You seriously expect us to believe no Eurotunnel staffer has ever done this before?

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nicholassmith | 9 years ago
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Jeez, he wasn't quicker than the train? He'll never win the TdF with form like that.

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NickK123 | 9 years ago
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Not only must that have been a v boring ride but also quite sick inducing - with a lack of clear features to focus on, no horizon and, as mentioned, the hypnotic lights. Apart from the stat, I am not sure that there will be a stream of people wishing to do this. (That said, it might have been a good start to the Wiggle French Revolution I did a couple of weeks ago!)

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mrchrispy | 9 years ago
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That would be very hypnotic, the ped tunnel under the Tyne is bad enough...

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gazza_d replied to mrchrispy | 9 years ago
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mrchrispy wrote:

That would be very hypnotic, the ped tunnel under the Tyne is bad enough...

Was gonna make a comment about Sky under the Tyne (rather than fog on it), but beaten to a mention of the tunnel already.

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Stumps replied to mrchrispy | 9 years ago
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mrchrispy wrote:

That would be very hypnotic, the ped tunnel under the Tyne is bad enough...

I bet it doesn't stink of p*** like the ped tunnel under the tyne  21

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Initialised replied to Stumps | 9 years ago
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stumps wrote:
mrchrispy wrote:

That would be very hypnotic, the ped tunnel under the Tyne is bad enough...

I bet it doesn't stink of p*** like the ped tunnel under the tyne  21

Pedestrian Tunnel?

You're doing it wrong:

http://vimeo.com/79725863

http://velocitystreetracing.com/

https://www.facebook.com/VelocityStreetRacing/photos_stream

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pirnie | 9 years ago
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Is it just me that thinks this must have been a mind numbingly boring ride?

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pirnie | 9 years ago
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Is it just me that thinks this must have been a mind numbingly boring ride?

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SevenHills replied to pirnie | 9 years ago
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pirnie wrote:

Is it just me that thinks this must have been a mind numbingly boring ride?

No it's not just you.  37

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marche | 9 years ago
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No transfer needed tonight at the tour de France!

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