Froome likely to sleep on wheels during Tour de France

By Julien Pretot VILLARD DE LANS, France (Reuters) - Team Sky leader Chris Froome is likely to sleep in a private motorhome during the Tour de France instead of French hotels, team principal Dave Brailsford said on Friday. The British outfit tried out the set-up in last month's Giro d'Italia with Richie Porte, who abandoned the race injured after two weeks. "It was interesting, that was definitely an advantage. There were some challenges with it, logistically, and silly little things that we had not thought about like you plug all your electrics into a hotel and you blow their kitchen, you've got to think about that," Brailsford told reporters after the sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, the leading warm-up race for the Tour de France. Asked if Sky would take the motorhome to the July 4-26 Tour de France, Brailsford said: "Potentially, not 100 per cent guaranteed. "In modern times, if a lead rider should be sharing a twin room and wake up at the crack of dawn... I thought the sport was about moving forward." Brailsford said that the hotel Team Sky were provided with on Thursday by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which organises the Tour and the Criterium du Dauphine, was not ideal. "The hotel we were in last night, it wasn't great you know... then you've got to pack and unpack. We were leaving at a quarter to eight this morning. "Sport science is massive on sleep at the moment." Insiders in the sport have criticised Sky for their marginal-gain philosophy and laughed at them bringing a motorhome to the Giro. Brailsford could not care less. "Things change, you only have to go to a MotoGP or a world rallying championship. At the Mugello GP recently there were 43 motorhomes and we're all having a laugh about one 10-year-old motorhome causing such a stir in our sport," he said. Froome, the 2013 Tour de France champion, is seventh overall in the Criterium du Dauphine with two stages left, one minute 21 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Vincenzo Nibali of Italy. (Editing by Ed Osmond)