Froome is the man of the moment

Tour de France leader Chris Froome may not be in line for a Knighthood like his team mate Bradley Wiggins, but Mike Tomalaris thinks his impact on the sport may be more significant.

Picture this, Team Sky organises a media conference in a plush 4-star hotel on the morning of the rest day in the town of Orange in the Provence region.

Of the hundreds of international media representatives here to cover the Tour de France, it's fair to say 99.999 per cent of the English speaking world were in attendance to hear the wearer of the yellow jersey share his thoughts.

No surprises then when the line of questioning was focused on whether Froome is doping.

"How can a rider be dominating a Grand Tour, as you are, without using performance enhancing products?" was the general angle taken by journalists.

Did Froome buckle under the pressure. Did he choose to deflect the questions. Did he resort to using foul language to get his message across?

Of course he didn't, and that's the mark of a man who is able to have everything thrown at him, in terms of doping, and be able to emerge from the conference with his reputation and credibility intact.

Froome is a terrific professional bike rider who loves to attack his rivals as we saw on Mont Ventoux, and who is poised to become the second Briton to win Le Tour in consecutive years - but that's besides the point.

More importantly he's one heck of a gentleman, who understands the power of the media and accepts mosts journalists for what they are and do.

And when you have nothing to hide you have nothing to lose.

Unlike the antics of his predecessor, Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky has taken a significant step in grooming Froome to being the respected public relations property which he has become.

If Froome crosses the finish line in Paris on Sunday in yellow, he will be a deserved winner and among the loudest cheering will be the SBS crew on location.

But will he receive the same accolades as Wiggins 12 months ago?

It's unlikely he'll be voted Britain's most outstanding sportsperson - that honour will most likely go to Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

Of course, he won't win a gold medal in this non-Olympic year, and the chances of being knighted are also remote.

For mine, however, Froome is the man of the moment and unlike those before him, his legacy and impact to cycling may be more widely felt than many others before.

Follow @miketomalaris