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Tour de France champion Chris Froome to ride Vuelta

Team Sky rider who has twice been runner-up in Spanish race to target it after Olympics, says Brailsford

Three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome aims to ride the Vuelta a Espana after the Olympics, a race he is seeking to win for the first time after finishing second twice.

Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford told Sky Sports News that Froome intends to race the Spanish Grand Tour, after going for gold in the road race and time trial at Rio next month.

He said: "That's the plan at the minute. The season-long plan was Tour, on to the Olympics and on after that to the Vuelta, and that's still the outline at the minute.

"As we go through the next phase with the Olympics, we will assess it as we go along. All being well, that's what we will be doing."

The three-week race starts in Galicia on 20 August, and Brailsford said that Mikel Landa – who pulled out of May’s Giro d’Italia early through illness, then was drafted into the Tour de France squad to support Froome – is also likely to take part in the Vuelta.

"The plan is for Mikel to do it and we will assess where he is at. I think he needs another race before the Vuelta, so we will see where we are at.

"It's his home race and a lot of the race is around his home town and up in the north of Spain, and we have big ambitions for him as well," Brailsford said.

It would be Froome’s fifth participation in the Vuelta, a race he has finished runner-up in twice – in 2011 and 2014 – while in 2014, when he decided to ride the Spanish race after crashing out of the Tour de France in the opening week – he finished fourth.

Last year, he sought to become only the third rider ever – and the first since the Vuelta was moved from May to its current August/September slot in 1995 – to win it and the Tour de France in the same year.

The only men to have achieved that previously being Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault in 1978.

Froome abandoned last year's race after breaking a bone in his foot in a crash on Stage 11, when he had been lying eighth overalll,  1 minute 18 seconds off the lead.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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16 comments

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 7 years ago
0 likes

Come on, he must be on something.  Look at all those crit specialists he smashed just the other evening  3

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robthehungrymonkey | 7 years ago
0 likes

It's good to see the big names ride a grand tour outside of France. I like Froome more and more TBH. This year, he was one of the most exciting riders

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stenmeister | 7 years ago
1 like

Back to the topic......  the Vuelta is quite different to the Tour but having a great cyclist like Froome take part can only be good for the race. He's got a good record there and hopefully Contador will be in fighting form too.

 

I'd rather just enjoy the sport than have a go at individual cyclists whose style and  tactics I don't like.

 

 

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bobbinogs | 7 years ago
1 like

Much as I would love Froome dog to win the Vuelta, I think it would have been good for SKY to let Landa have a good crack at this one.  He was just coming into form on the Giro before getting ill and I think he would have a genuine chance of the red jersey.  It would also show a succession line and reward faithful riding (Landa was great in the tour and actually fully supported his leader throughout unlike Valverde and Nibali who only seemed to support their leader on specific stages where it either suited them or they couldn't think of a good reason not to).

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efail | 7 years ago
1 like

"Let's not feed the troll too much. "

At least if it's busy here it won't be grooming children.

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efail | 7 years ago
4 likes

"Let's not feed the troll too much. "

At least if it's busy here it won't be grooming children.

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
1 like

Are peptides banned yet?

I did a brief run with TB500 and some natural growth hormone release booster to try and clear up my elbow tendonitis. I felt it helped at the time but placebo effect is strong so who knows.

I've also jabbed a bit of BPC157 for body repair which I would say works to some degree. Apparently the reason big pharma has no interest in it is it's not patentable so there's no real money in it. It's cheap and insulin needles are painless, so if you've got a niggling injury I'd give it a try.

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
2 likes

The real reason Froome is a winner is his power the weight ratio. His body is full of holes  after being nibbled on by snail larvae like an Aero bar (not the clip on kind.)

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jollygoodvelo replied to Leviathan | 7 years ago
0 likes

Leviathan wrote:

The real reason Froome is a winner is his power the weight ratio. His body is full of holes  after being nibbled on by snail larvae like an Aero bar (not the clip on kind.)

You're saying that Froome is made of Drillium?  Might be something in that...

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fukawitribe | 7 years ago
3 likes

Let's not feed the troll too much, what he seems to lack in basic knowledge of racing or physiology he more than makes up for in obstinacy.

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drosco | 7 years ago
3 likes

Seriously, I'm as skeptical as the next follower of cycling, but Froome would be last on my list of unclean riders. I think the fact that everyone looked knackered on this year's tour would indicate they're all riding at a similar level.

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handlebarcam | 7 years ago
7 likes

Yes, if only all the foreign dopers would stay away, then the Vuelta could finally become the festival of squeaky-clean fair play that Spanish professional cycling has always represented.

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
13 likes

TheDoctor thinks he is Paul Kimmage, and will expose Froome from his keyboard. There is scepticism and there are just plain lies. You deserve a cockpunch.

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Stef Marazzi | 7 years ago
0 likes

Why do you think he's doping? Hes the world's most tested athlete.

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dreamlx10 replied to Stef Marazzi | 7 years ago
2 likes

cyclesteffer wrote:

Why do you think he's doping? Hes the world's most tested athlete.

 

So was Lance Armstong, and I'm not suggesting that Froome dopes at all, just that the most tested athlete claim probably doesn't mean much after Armstrong managed to avoid detection for so long.

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tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
3 likes

Yellow Jersey, Olympic Gold and then the Red at Vuelta.

 

Superhuman if he does it. Love to see it!

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