- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Chris Froome celebrates winning the 2013 Tour de France (picture copyright Simon Wilkinson:SWpix.com)Chris Froome says he may skip 2015 Tour de France, target Giro d'Italia instead
Chris Froome, winner of the Tour de France in 2013, says he is not certain to take part in next year’s race after it was revealed it would include just one individual time trial – at 14 kilometres, the shortest since the format was introduced to the race in 1947. Instead, the Team Sky rider may target the Giro d’Italia and perhaps follow that up with the Vuelta.
On his personal website Froome, speaking from Team Sky’s training camp in Weymouth, said: "There's no two ways about it, next year's Tour is going to be about the mountains. There's very little emphasis on time trialling which means the race will be decided up in the high mountains. With six mountaintop finishes it is going to be an aggressive and massively demanding race."
The 29-year-old seems to be leaning more towards May’s Giro, although no firm decision has been made yet. "The team and I will have to give it some careful consideration before we make any commitments to which of the grand tours I will compete in,” he said.
“I see myself as quite a balanced GC rider and the Giro with its inclusion of a long TT of 60km and tough uphill finishes will make it a well-balanced race which suits me well. If I did the Giro I may also be able to get myself back to top shape for the Vuelta and go there with a realistic chance of aiming for the win."
Froome, who after crashing out of the Tour de France this summer rode the Vuelta where he finished runner-up to Alberto Contador, went on: "In the past I've only targeted one Grand Tour each season but it could be a good opportunity for me to focus seriously on two. It's still early days though and we'll have to sit down and put our heads together as a team to work out what 2015 is going to look like for us."
The 102nd edition of the Tour, which starts in Utrecht on 4 July with that short time trial – it is 6km too long to be classified as a Prologue – also contains a cobbled stage, which evokes memories of Froome’s early exit from this year’s race when he crashed twice on Stage 5, having already injured himself in a fall the previous day.
He insisted however that his experience in July wouldn’t put him off riding on the pave. "I actually quite enjoy the challenge of riding on the cobbles,” he said. “It's a difficult and stressful obstacle for us to overcome when it's part of a race like the Tour de France, but we're all in the same boat and there's no reason why I'd be any worse off than any of the other GC contenders".
"The cobbles were not the cause of my departure from the Tour this year, it was the crash on the previous stage which could have happened to anybody. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he added.
Froome concluded by casting his eye over some of the contenders for the yellow jersey next year. "We'll have to see who's going to be there but I think Alberto Contador will be the man to beat. You can never discount the likes of Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali and other GC contenders like Purito [Joaquin Rodriguez] and [Alejandro] Valverde,” he said. Alberto is the guy who stands out though. He came back after his injury in an amazing way to win the Vuelta España title this year and I expect him to be just as strong next season."
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.
Latest Comments
- ktache 14 min 38 sec ago
Isn't it a rights issue?
- antigee 19 min 10 sec ago
I've checked on Facebook and stopping the red light running cyclists was simply revenue raising and police time is better spent chasing real...
- Mikezerodown 58 min 18 sec ago
They were before change all systems, then went downhill due to bad adminstration aka CEO who agree to proceed with the worst system I have seen...
- AidanR 1 hour 4 min ago
Same here - it took me by surprise. 10:30am doesn't feel like a dangerous time to cycle; apparently I'm wrong on that.
- Daddy Feebs 1 hour 18 min ago
If anything, it looks a bit like an SL6
- wtjs 1 hour 54 min ago
Other commenters have different views True!
- Daclu Trelub 2 hours 8 min ago
Incredibly bone-headed.
- wtjs 3 hours 42 min ago
after I said that if they wouldn't tell me the outcome of a submission I would have to make an FOI request for it...
- Sriracha 4 hours 11 min ago
Lidl have a window poster emblazoned, "Black Friday. Starts Sunday".
Add new comment
11 comments
I agree that Contador will be the man to beat on this route! But maybe this is the only chance that France have of winning. Has Brailsford signed his French GC rider yet?
a bit disappointing to see Froome as good as rule himself out of next year's Tour within hours of the route being announced. I hope he changes his mind.
I'm more open now to the idea that it would indeed be better to modify the format of the Grand Tours to make it more feasible for all the top riders to contest all three in a season, especially since we're now in the fortunate situation to have closely matched contenders. While I admired Nibali's win in the TdF this year, which he pretty much galvanised by his performance on the cobbled stage, just imagine what the fight would have been if Froome and Contador had not crashed out - so we do want them all there, at least on the starting blocks.
The whole Tinkoff "Everyone ride all three" thing will never happen. If Froome feels it doesn't suit him, then it makes more sense to try and pick up a pink and a red jersey to go with his yellow. I expect Pinot and Quintana to be big players in the coming TdF.
As an aside, I can't wait for the usual suspects to now start calling for Brad to lead the team despite the fact that he wouldn't see a top twenty in GC on that route.
There are four Tennis grand slams and Paris and Wimbledon are much closer than any Grand tour. It would be unthinkable for the top players to skip if not injured. It now seems odd that Borg wouldn't play in Australia and that was in the 70's. There just isn't enough focus on world rankings in cycling because of all the different disciplines to compel top riders to do all the top events.
At least this will give the lie to the idea that the Tour route was design for Wiggins (and then Froome) to win. Seems like they just like to change the profile to keep mixing it up; the only aim might be to get a different winner each year. There won't be another British winner in a while.
Tennis is not cycling. Not even close, there is no way you can compare the two.
Well, yes, obviously. You seem to think I was contradicting you. Read the last sentence again.
While I don't think anyone could seriously suggest BW would be suited to it, it does beg the question of who will? Team Sky might be fine with CF missing the seasons' biggest race, but only if they've got another decent contender, surely?
And that's if he was training for it.
By the time the tour rolls up it'll be about a year until the Rio games where he wants to win gold on the track. In my opinion the body shape and fitness he'll be looking to build are almost the complete opposite for what's required for TdF, I doubt he'll even want to be in the team, never mind the lead.
Almost no time trialling and lots of tough mountain days, Quintana's for the taking? Especially with a team time trial which movistar seem to be pretty handy at when they need to be.
It'd be interesting to see Quintana vs Contador on some stages.
Isn't climbing what Froome does best?
Contador is the man to beat. Tinkoff Saxo are strong, Rafal Majka will play an even bigger part if he's in the team, he did amazing this year considering he'd just placed 6th in the Giro.
A 14km tt could nearly be done on a road bike, which might suit Quintana