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Chris Froome says 2015 Tour de France will be "the race that never was last year"

"Amazing line-up" of riders to support 2013 winner in mountains...

The 2015 Tour de France will be "the race that never was last year", according to 2013 winner Chris Froome.

After its triumphant Yorkshire Grand Depart last year's Tour was supposed to be a showdown between Froome and the winner in 2007 and 2009, Alberto Contador.

But Froome's crash in stage 5 of the Tour and Contador's in stage 10 ripped up the script and Vincenzo Nibali emerged as the winner.

All three are expected to start this year's race alongside 2014 Giro d’Italia winner Nairo Quintana and possibly Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde of Spain.

Froome told Sky Sports News HQ: “Next year’s Tour is going to be a battle – that’s the perfect way to describe it. It’s going to be a big showdown. It’s shaping up to be the race that never was last year."

With 2015's parcours heavily stacked with mountaintop finishes, climbing specialists are expected to dominate.

Froome said: “If last year’s Vuelta is anything to go by, Contador is going to be the guy who I am obviously measuring myself against, but having said that, I don’t think I can rule out any of the other big general classification contenders, guys like Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Rodriguez, Valverde – those kind of guys.

“You can never rule anyone out until that point when they lose time on the general classification. Then you can say, ‘OK, that guy is not going to be a problem this year’. You have got to treat everyone with respect and understanding that they could be the one to challenge for the title.”

Froome will be supported in the mountain by "an amazing line-up" of riders. Team Sky has signed Nicolas Roche, Leopold Konig and Wout Poels to boost its climbing power.

Froome said: “I really do think this year, if any year, we have got an amazing line-up and amazing pool of riders to be able to select that Tour de France team. I would even go as far as to say that it is the strongest all-round that we have had in the last few years.”

He told the Press Association that the pressure of being defending champion had been a strain in 2014.

"Going in as defending champion definitely adds a burden," Froome said.

"There's a pressure on you: you won last year so are you going to do it again? I don't feel that this year.

"Going back to win a second Tour de France is even harder than going out to win the first one.

"After the first one you have the recognition and a lot of backing which plays in your favour, but there are a lot of other things that play against you.

"The pressure on your shoulders of being a Tour de France winner - you're suddenly put in the position of being in the limelight.

"People assume that because you win the Tour de France, you suddenly know how to do perfect interviews and all the rest of it. It doesn't work like that.

"We're just normal human beings. We just ride bicycles. There's definitely a period of adaptation there and learning how to deal with all that pressure."

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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4 comments

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backflipbedlem | 9 years ago
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Just so excited for 2015 season to kick off!
I've just finished reading Froome's autobiography! Great read, such an inspirational and dedicated guy and so insightful to read about his background and upbringing etc, Would defo recommend to all!

Go Frooooomee!!!

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Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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2015 will be the race of 2015, nothing else. Between now and then a lot can happen. In theory the favorites from last year will start to race - assuming no one is side lined - and will be in form - assuming their season has gone to plan -, ready to battle it out in the race - assuming they all get there and don't get ill or injured - ....... hmmm maybe that is what he means by it being the race of 2014.

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ajmarshal1 | 9 years ago
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"The pressure on your shoulders of being a Tour de France winner - you're suddenly put in the position of being in the limelight.
"People assume that because you win the Tour de France, you suddenly know how to do perfect interviews and all the rest of it. It doesn't work like that.
"We're just normal human beings. We just ride bicycles. There's definitely a period of adaptation there and learning how to deal with all that pressure."

Is he defending his good mate Wiggins there?

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cat1commuter | 9 years ago
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Isn't Froome saying that this year will be the race that last year never was? ie: The opposite of the title for this article.

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