Tour de France runner-up expects to be stronger today
Although he was put under pressure several times on yesterday’s first mountain stage of the Vuelta a España, Chris Froome remained with the leading trio of Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) until the line at Arrate, netting third.
Second overall in the Tour de France and third in the Olympic road race, the Team Sky rider can be expected to be more mentally and physically fatigued than his three rivals, at least early on.
In fact, he admitted afterwards that he wasn’t certain that he would stay so close, and so the day must be viewed as a success.
“It’s been hard. I knew that I was likely to lose some time on this climb,” he conceded. “They’ve attacked me, I’ve responded, I went at my own pace and at the end, I took four seconds bonus on the line, so it was good day for me.”
Froome showed great climbing ability in the Tour, where he was arguably the strongest in the bunch. He waited for race winner Bradley Wiggins on more than one occasion, just as he had done in last year’s Vuelta.
Encouragingly for his supporters and team-mates, he expects a smoother ride on today’s second mountain stage, which finishes at the Estación de Valdezcaray ski resort.
“I presume that the next uphill finish at Valdezcaray will suit me better,” he said, presumably referring to the fact that it is a longer climb and because yesterday’s stage opened up his legs.
Froome was regarded before the race as likely the biggest rival for Contador.
He finished second overall last year, just thirteen seconds off the red jersey won by Juan Jose Cobo.