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Chris Froome says Tour and Vuelta double is his "greatest achievement"Chris Froome with Tour de France and Vuelta winner's jerseys.jpg

Chris Froome says Tour and Vuelta double is his "greatest achievement"

Team Sky rider only the third man to win both Grand Tours in same season
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, Sep 11, 2017 13:30
12

Chris Froome says that following up July's overall win at the Tour de France with victory at the Vuelta ranks as the high point of his career so far.

By sealing his overall win at the Spanish Grand Tour in Madrid yesterday, The Team Sky rider became just the third man ever to win both races in the same year.

The other two riders to have done so were Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault in 1978,  when the Vuelta took place in April and May, making Froome's achievement in clinching it after the Tour unique.

Ahead of this year’s Vuelta, Froome had spoken of his “unfinished business” at a race where he has finished second on three previous occasions.

Froome, who is the first British winner of the Spanish Grand Tour, also won the points and combination jerseys.

After Saturday's stage, which finished on the Angliru and effectively guaranteed his victory ahead of yesterday's procession into Madrid,  Froome said: "It’s an amazing feeling. The team has just been incredible over the last few months. 

"It’s meant so much to me, the way they have supported us. I owe a massive thank you to all my teammates."

He continued: "I have to say that is probably the toughest Grand Tour I’ve ever ridden. 

"There was something different happening every day. I’ve had good days and then I’ve been lying on the ground, bleeding, thinking my race might be over. 

"I’s been a rollercoaster – absolutely relentless. It’s a relief now to finish and to be getting to Madrid."

Following yesterday's finale, he said: "I think it probably is my greatest achievement, being the first person to win the Tour de France and then go on to win the Vuelta."

Chris Froome
Team Sky
Vuelta 2017
Simon MacMichael

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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12 comments

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Stumps | 7 years ago
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Jerseys are there to be fought over. The winner of the mountain jersey might not be the best climber per se but they have to have the ability to be there on nearly all the climbs and its their commitment to that end that makes them a worthy winner in my eyes.

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
1 like

Bit off topic; but what is the point of the KOM jersey any more? Team tactics have taken over the GC. All the GC contenders get marked out of the breakaway and only get to attack on the final climb which turns into a GC show down. Anyone posing a risk can't get away, so someone 10minutes down gets to scoop all the secondary points. The big points tend to get split up amoungst the top riders. Eventually someone 6th on the GC gets to have a pop later in the tour when they have no chance of catching.

All of this means the KOM is no longer one of the people at the top of the board but some also-ran with half a dozen better riders behind him. 

I totally understand the point of the sprint/points and young rider jerseys. They can have their own competition and winners without the leader watching over them, but the KOM jersey now seems pointless as it never goes to anything like the best climber.

Avatar
RobD replied to Leviathan | 7 years ago
1 like

Leviathan wrote:

Bit off topic; but what is the point of the KOM jersey any more? Team tactics have taken over the GC. All the GC contenders get marked out of the breakaway and only get to attack on the final climb which turns into a GC show down. Anyone posing a risk can't get away, so someone 10minutes down gets to scoop all the secondary points. The big points tend to get split up amoungst the top riders. Eventually someone 6th on the GC gets to have a pop later in the tour when they have no chance of catching.

All of this means the KOM is no longer one of the people at the top of the board but some also-ran with half a dozen better riders behind him. 

I totally understand the point of the sprint/points and young rider jerseys. They can have their own competition and winners without the leader watching over them, but the KOM jersey now seems pointless as it never goes to anything like the best climber.

It almost needs to be made into a breakaway jersey, with points on the climbs earlier in the stage, combined with intermediate sprint  points along the route, but nothing on the finish line (the victory from the breakaway would be reward enough)

Thomas De Gendt would have something to really fight for!

Avatar
davel replied to Leviathan | 7 years ago
0 likes
Leviathan wrote:

Bit off topic; but what is the point of the KOM jersey any more? Team tactics have taken over the GC. All the GC contenders get marked out of the breakaway and only get to attack on the final climb which turns into a GC show down. Anyone posing a risk can't get away, so someone 10minutes down gets to scoop all the secondary points. The big points tend to get split up amoungst the top riders. Eventually someone 6th on the GC gets to have a pop later in the tour when they have no chance of catching.

All of this means the KOM is no longer one of the people at the top of the board but some also-ran with half a dozen better riders behind him. 

I totally understand the point of the sprint/points and young rider jerseys. They can have their own competition and winners without the leader watching over them, but the KOM jersey now seems pointless as it never goes to anything like the best climber.

I largely agree.

I'm hoping Sagan manages to break through to GC contention to shake things up a bit - would be great to have someone as punchy as him chasing everything and scaring the usual GC boys into following breakaways and sprints.

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jasecd | 7 years ago
0 likes

I hope he goes for the Giro and tries to hold all three grand tours inside 12 months. Not sure it will happen and it's not exactly a happy hunting ground for Team Sky but I'd love to see it...

Sorry for the dual post but apparently you can't delete them.

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jasecd | 7 years ago
1 like

I hope he goes for the Giro and tries to hold all three grand tours inside 12 months. Not sure it will happen and it's not exactly a happy hunting ground for Team Sky but I'd love to see it...

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burtthebike | 7 years ago
1 like

Just reading Chris Froome's book, very enjoyable and informative.  What this guy has managed to do is awesome.

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Jem PT replied to burtthebike | 7 years ago
0 likes

burtthebike wrote:

Just reading Chris Froome's book, very enjoyable and informative.  What this guy has managed to do is awesome.

Totally agree.

It was a great race to watch on TV.

A mate who went to watch the penultimate day on the Angliru said that the atmosphere with Contador leading the way was unbelieveable.

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
5 likes

Most enjoyable of the grand tours this year, though the Giro was a close second, especially after a number of people didn't respect the leaders natural break and I wanted a moral victory.

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paulrattew | 7 years ago
4 likes

Contador, because he had lost so much time, had the advantage of being ignored by the top GC guys most of the time he attacked. This gave him the freedom to go on the big attacks and show off a bit, which frankly made the race a whole lot more watchable. I think we were denied a much better spectacle - if he hadn't lost the time early on we would have had a real race on

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alansmurphy replied to paulrattew | 7 years ago
0 likes

paulrattew wrote:

Contador, because he had lost so much time, had the advantage of being ignored by the top GC guys most of the time he attacked. This gave him the freedom to go on the big attacks and show off a bit, which frankly made the race a whole lot more watchable. I think we were denied a much better spectacle - if he hadn't lost the time early on we would have had a real race on

 

You've kind of contradicted your own point, he wouldn't have been allowed to go off so much if he hadn't lost time. However, I agree it would have been good to see him pair up with Nibbles and go on the attack, something that's been sadly lacking.

 

I know Sky are ridiculously strong but in the TDF especially, people like Quintana and Bardet have been happy to sit in the wheel. Though I want Froome to win, would love to see the likes of TdM, Porte and others have a full on pop in the coming years!

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peted76 | 7 years ago
8 likes

I loved watching this race. Chapeau to Froome and the sky team they were superb, however for me the whole race was all about Contador. He was in 24th position after stage 7 and came back day after day after day with attacks..  rarely has a  stage win been more deserved, there can be no doubt that man has class by the bucketload.  The fact it was his last stage race ever, just makes it all the more impressive.

 

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