Chris Froome eyeing Tour-Vuelta double later this year

Chris Froome has revealed that with the recent lack of complications due to the injuries that have hindered him throughout the last few years, he may be doing the Tour-Vuelta combination later this year.

After the recent Tour de Romandie - where Froome finished in 65th place on the overall classification - he reported to be satisfied with the evolution in the last few months. “If I compare with last season, when I wasn’t able to hang on over the climbs or be as present in the race as I have been this week. I can take a lot of positives from this. It’s the first time in two and a half years that I’ve really felt like nothing has been holding me back from the 2019 crash. Generally, I’m in a really good place. All that’s missing is the hard work and the miles. And then getting up to race fitness," he told VeloNews.

Despite not claiming to ambition results as he did in the past, he points out that it is not unusual for the Briton to purposefully not hit top-form during the spring, so as to be able to have it later in the year: "If I look at any of my previous years before the crash it always took me time to build up towards July. I’ve found that taking those steps meant that I could hold my form later into the summer as well and into the Vuelta."

Sure enough, the Vuelta a España could be a part of his plans, he reveals. "That’s my aim this year, to build up, try to get to the Tour in the best shape possible and then potentially look at the Vuelta, depending on how things are going. It’s one step at a time, and there are a lot of steps to go before I’m in Tour de France racing shape again. It’s about taking it one week at a time," he concluded.

This being an ambition, he recognizes that there are still steps to be taken to firstly race the Tour de France at his highest level. Froome is expected to take a break from racing now, before going on altitude training before the Critérium du Dauphiné which should be his final race before the Tour de France where he is expected to represent Israel - Premier Tech.