Chris Froome confirms he will ride next year’s Tour de France

Chris Froome has confirmed that he will ride next year’s Tour de France, bringing an end to speculation that he might focus on the Giro d’Italia and perhaps the Vuelta instead instead.

When the route of the 2015 Tour was unveiled in October, Froome said the Giro might suit him better. It has a 60km individual time trial compared to just 14km in the French race – the shortest since the format was introduced in 1947.

Now, however, Froome has told the Team Sky website that his big goal for 2015 is winning back the yellow jersey he won two years ago, but was unable to defend this year after crashing out on Stage 5.

Newly married, Froome has been training in South Africa and confirmed that his build-up to the Tour, which starts on July 4 in Utrecht, will begin with Spanish race la Ruta del Sol in February.

He said: “Of course, together with the team, we’ve had to prioritise some events over others, but the Tour will remain my main focus for 2015.”

Like Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador, who beat Froome into second place when he won the Vuelta, the Team Sky rider is not tempted by a potential purse of €1 million that Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkov planned to provide for their racing the Tour, Giro and Vuelta.

“The concept of doing all three Grand Tours in a season has got appeal but having said that, I know how hard it is to do two Grand Tours while targeting the overall win,” said Froome, who only decided to race the Vuelta after his early exit from the Tour.

“At this point in my career I feel that the Tour takes priority” he went on. “There may come a time at some point down the line where other races may take preference, but for 2015, it’s the Tour.”

Apart from that short individual time trial on the opening day, the race also features six summit finishes, including the Alpe d;Huez on the penultimate day,

Froome said: “There is no doubt that this Tour de France is going to be a tough test, but I enjoy the challenge and there’s no reason why I would be any worse off than any of the other contenders.

“It is our responsibility as a team to adapt accordingly so that we can be as competitive as possible there.

“It’s a climbers' Tour next year so I’m going to have to work extra hard in the mountains and spend less time on practicing time trialling,” he added.

“It’s also going to be important to be as light as possible, so our nutrition will play a key role.”