• Cycling

Wiggins and Froome in clear-the-air talks

Froome and Wiggins' problems date back to 2012 Tour de France © PA Photos

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Chris Froome has revealed that he and Bradley Wiggins have had clear-the-air talks.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Froome claims the pair sat down at a recent training camp and ended their so-called feud.

"The fact is Brad and I have just been on a training camp together in Mallorca and we've had a talk about things," Froome said.

"It was very constructive and we are in a good place now. It was important we did that and it was important for the team, too.

"To be honest we should have done it a very long time ago, just to clear the air, but we are on good terms now."

Problems between the pair date back to Stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France - won by Wiggins - when Froome's instructions were to protect team leader Wiggins' position in the yellow jersey.

Four kilometres from the summit, Froome raced away from the pack, including Wiggins. Froome claims a decision was agreed the previous evening that he could attempt to win the stage, but only once Wiggins was safely delivered.

Team Sky's then team director, Sean Yates, wrote in his recent autobiography that Wiggins was so upset that team principal Sir Dave Brailsford had to persuade him not to quit the race altogether.

"The incident in 2012 was at the root of it all," says Froome. "I'm not sure it was that big a problem but it was all played out so much in the media, it was allowed to escalate.

"It was a huge misunderstanding where I thought I was reading the race right. I thought the race had evolved in such a way that opened the door for me to go. Obviously it was the wrong moment.

"And I thought if something happens to Brad, like it had the previous year when he crashed, I want to be in the strongest possible position if I'm then asked to take over. It didn't even cross my mind to attack Brad.

"People need to remember the Vuelta [the Tour of Spain] the year before, when Brad dropped off on the climbs and the team suddenly said, 'Well, you go for GT [general classification].' But I was too far behind by then and I lost the race, finishing second, by something like 11 seconds.

"I accept that I read the situation wrong [in 2012]. I thought Brad was fine. But it very quickly became apparent that it was a problem and that I needed to stop and come back, which is what I did."

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