Chris Froome says he is starting to see the way back to his dominant best
Cycling legend Chris Froome says he is hoping the upcoming Tour Down Under can help him elevate back to the top of cycling in 2023.
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Chris Froome is starting to see the way back.
And he hopes a return to Adelaide and the Tour Down Under can be the springboard to get him back to where he once was in 2023.
The most dominant Grand Tour rider of his generation, and one of the most successful of all time, the Kenyan born Brit has four Tour de France GC crowns, two Vuelta a Espana crowns and a Giro d’Italia.
But for the past couple of years professional cycling hasn’t really seen the Froome that would grind his rivals into submission and then blow them away on the mountain tops of France.
The reason, a horror crash while conducting a reconnaissance of the fourth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in 2019 that left him with a double femur break, a broken elbow, a fractured vertebrae and collapsed lung.
After a stint in intensive care, Froome returned to racing but was nowhere near the dominant force that the cycling world had known him for.
But the 37-year-old wound back the clock in fine fashion on the notorious Alpe d’Huez finish in last year’s Tour.
After making the break, the now Israel – Premier Tech rider gave the cycling world a bit of Froome nostalgia as he finished third behind young gun Tom Pidcock and Louis Meintjes to show everyone – and himself – of what he could do.
“It was nice, more than anything to be up the front and racing at the front of the race again especially after two years of struggling obviously with coming back from the crash. It felt good to be up the front at the biggest race on our calendar,” he told The Advertiser.
“So I guess that was motivating for me to keep pushing and carrying on.”
Froome says that in 2022 it was the first time that he was feeling like he did pre-accident.
“I felt like I got to a good place in the Tour,” he said.
“I felt as if I was starting to see the body responding in a way that I normally would expect it to in the build-up to the Tour de France.”
But there was still frustration as his season ended with him battling the effects of long-Covid.
Froome came down with the virus a week after his fine ride up the Alpe d’Huez.
Initially he felt OK, but when it went down into his chest – it left the asthmatic in all sorts.
“I went home but it went down into my chest and it affects me pretty badly, I was man down for a good 10 days,” he said.
“And even after that when I got back into training I just felt this fatigue that I didn’t have before. I just felt this deep fatigue. I wasn‘t able to finish my five or six hour rides like I normally would.
“I’d just feel nailed so the rest of the season was pretty much the same, pretty much a write off for me.”
Wary of the cardiac and V02 impacts of Covid, Froome travelled to his teams’ base in Israel to make sure everything was OK.
“There have been a lot of links between cardiac issues and long Covid so I needed to get that checked out properly so I actually flew out to Israel and spent 10 days there and did a whole bunch of tests and things thanks to the contacts the team had over there,” he said.
“I went over there, spent some time there and got it all checked out but yeah got the green light to race so I’m excited to get back into it now.”
So with the green light and a belief that the body is starting to get back to what it was pre accident, what are the goals for Froome in 2023 in a year in which he turns 38?
Israel – Premier Tech received a wildcard for the Tour de France later this year.
So does he dream for a second of joining the legendary Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as a five-time yellow jersey winner?
“No, no, no, there’s a lot of other stuff that has to come first before even talking about going for number five,” he said.
“Being realistic there are a lot of other steps that needs to come before that can happen.
“I don’t think about all that I have won, that’s not pushing me forwards. The biggest thing for me now is the motivation to try and get back to where I was previously given what I have been through in the past few years.
“That is a huge motivation for me and seeing the progress from last year definitely lets me think that it is possible to make that sort of progress again and get back there.
“But naturally the sport has changed a fair bit in the last few years, there are a lot of really massive young talent that has come through in the past few years.
“So the sport is changing, the dynamic is changing but if I can get back up there and fighting with those guys that would be a great way for me to end my career.”
Former Team Sky teammate and ex Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins recently said that nobody in the cycling world should write off Froome even after his recent lean years.
“It is a massive compliment coming from Bradley, we’ve raced together for a fair few years and he knows me well and I think he knows my attitude as well that I’m not someone to cruise around for the sake of it and knows that I certainly haven’t given up on my aspirations,” he said.
“I would like to be up there, fighting it out with the young guns but I know there are a fair few steps to go first.”
Australia, and Adelaide, could play a big part in this.
Froome last competed at the Tour Down Under in 2010 while riding for Barloworld, before he became a dominant force of the sport with Team Sky.
He has been to Australia since, and hopes the warmer weather and the return of the Tour Down Under can be the springboard to a 2023 in which he is at the front of the races back in Europe.
“It is a good chance to set up the season and that was my main thinking coming this year,” he said.
“I actually got out here a little bit earlier, I have actually been spending some time in Melbourne before.
“I’ve been staying with Simon Clarke so we have been getting ready for the race here, it has just been to profit from the good weather.”
With his four yellow jerseys Froome is the biggest name in this year’s TDU as it returns with a bang from its Covid induced hiatus.
But expect Froome to play a selfless role for his Israel – Premier Tech team, who have two-time TDU winner Daryl Impey who is considered to be one of the key contenders for the Ochre jersey.
“My goal is to definitely be helping guys out. We haven’t gotten together and decided what everyone‘s roles will be yet,” he said.
“But I’m very much here in Australia with the mentality of getting the biggest workload possible that I can take back to Europe and build on in the races there.”
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