Chris Froome eyeing GC at Vuelta a Espana: "I am really excited to do another GC run"

Chris Froome will be starting the Vuelta a Espana this Friday in search of stage wins, and he'll be hoping to keep his upward trend in form to be able to perform in Spain, whether to fight for wins or to place high in he overall classification.

“COVID hit me harder than expected but I’m fully recovered now and back to my normal training load," Froome said in a press release. “It wasn’t quite the buildup to the Vuelta that I had hoped for this year but I’m still very much looking forward to making the most of the race and helping Israel-Premier Tech get another successful grand tour in the bag". 

Having finished third on the stage to Alpe d'Huez and revolving around the Top25 before abandoning the Tour de Frace, the Briton showed his best form since the crash that almost saw his career end in 2019. "It’s no secret that the Vuelta is one of my favorite races on the calendar, and I can’t wait to get back to racing on the roads of Spain".

A Covid-19 infection saw him leave the race, and the former Vuelta winner has talked about his experience: “I’m doing quite well after having COVID and I wasn’t impacted too long but it took me a fair amount of time to recover from the crash I sustained on stage 9 of the Tour de France so I definitely needed a bit of time off".

Now eyeing the Vuelta a Espana, he has prepared for the race specifically: "I had two solid weeks of training where I started feeling like my old self on the bike and wrapped up a good training block in Andorra so I’m feeling confident and optimistic for the Vuelta,” he said.

“I think of all the grand tours, it is the one that suits me the best. I am really excited to do another GC run, especially at a race I have had success at in the past, finishing seventh (correction: first) in 2017 and also winning two stages. I got my first WorldTour win in the Vuelta and it’s a race that has always been close to my heart. I’m looking forward to getting back into the Basque Country and also kicking it off with a really cool team time trial," Froome concluded.