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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:55:32 +0100
Hello Again. Ned cooks pasta for Matt. Matt cooks up conspiracies, and we reveal, in some detail, who will win the Tour de France. But not the Giro. Cos we don't know who's in it...
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Two press releases from the Tour of Spain organisers, that the mainstream media re-write as if they were their own work!
TOUR OF SPAIN (August 20-September 11)
Press release number 21
Unexpected race leader Chris Froome fits in new shoes
Chris Froome is clearly following the path of Thomas Voeckler and giving another example of Grand Tours to be likely to generate emotions and surprises. The Kenyan-born lanky rider from Team Sky leads the Tour of Spain at half-way with an advantage of 12 seconds over Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek), 20 seconds over his team captain Bradley Wiggins and 31 seconds over defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).
“At the difference of Voeckler, I didn’t profit from any lucky breakaway”, Froome indicated during the first rest day of the Vuelta at the Parador of Monforte del Lemos. “I’ve been every day with the GC contenders. My goal was to stay with Bradley in the high mountains. That kept me in contention for GC.” The individual time trial of Salamanca put Froome atop the general classification even though Team Sky lost 42 seconds from winners Leopard-Trek in the inaugural team time trial in Benidorm where they clocked the third worst time!
“Life in cycling would be boring if everything happened just as expected”, Froome said. “My position and all the messages I got in the past 24 hours are overwhelming. This is definitely worth all the hard work I’ve done. With Bradley Wiggins in third place, we couldn’t be happier. We haven’t really talked tactic yet but we’re going to defend the lead.”
“We want to honour the red jersey with Txema [Gonzalez] in mind. It would be fantastic if we could still lead the Vuelta in his home town of Vitoria in The Basque Country”, added the British rider about the Spanish masseur who died during the Vuelta one year ago. That led Team Sky to quit the race after one week. The squad managed by David Brailsford is in a totally different situation now.
Froome, 26, recalled that his career had been affected by Bilharzia, a disease caused by parasitic worms. He got it in November last year as he visited his native country, Kenya. “I’ve had to repeat the treatment after the Tour de Suisse and I hope it’s over now”, he said, as this cost him a start at the Tour de France, a race he experienced as early as in 2008 as a neo-pro with Barloworld.
“My position at the Vuelta is a big milestone in my career”, continued Froome who has not won any race at the high professional level. “Now I’m able to express myself properly at the level I’ve always wanted to be. I don’t want to set a date for passing the red jersey onto somebody else. I want to keep it as long as I can. With Bradley, we have two cards to play.”
Froome recalled the episode of his first race in Europe under the Kenyan flag – he switched to a British nationality in May 2008. “At the world championship in Salzburg in 2006, I crashed into a marshall after 150 metres in the U23 individual time trial”, he said. His father Clive and his elder brother Jonathan flew to Spain, from Johannesburg and London respectively, to support him in his defence of the unexpected red jersey.
Bradley Wiggins: I’m in a very favourable position
Q: Were you upset to lose one minute in the last 17 kilometres of the time trial in Salamanca?
A: Not at all. I’m very satisfied with my performance. I’ve respected my plan with a very fast start. I gained time over all the riders who are fighting for GC: Nibali, Rodríguez, Scarponi and a few others. Only Chris Froome rode faster than me but he’s not an adversary, he’s my team-mate. I wasn’t racing to beat Tony Martin but to be in a good position at half way into the Vuelta. Here I am.
Q: Looking back at La Covatilla on Sunday, is it where you have positioned yourself on GC?
A: Everyone was at his max. When I push 450 watts like I did on Sunday in such a difficult climb, who in the world can do more? Only Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck but they aren’t here. I’ve seen some guys attacking but they couldn’t maintain their speed and stay away. They even paid for their efforts. When I took the lead of the front group three kilometres away from the top, I rode fast despite the head wind. I’m pretty good at guessing when my adversaries aren’t well. For three kilometres, I’ve ridden like Miguel Indurain! I had never done that before. I’ve done it after the great work done by Chris [Froome]. It’s fantastic for him to be in the lead. He deserves it and it takes some pressure from me.
Q: Do you find consolation in the Vuelta for your missed opportunity at the Tour de France after your crash in the first week?
A: We can say so. I’m satisfied because my crash was only eight weeks ago. After that my operation, I didn’t imagine that I’d be third at the Vuelta after ten days of racing. It’s been a hard month of July for me. I couldn’t watch the Tour on TV until the Pyrenees but then, I was like a fan. I’ve been very excited by what Thomas Voeckler was doing. I’ve rested for ten days, I’ve trained for ten days in Gerona, Spain. I’m racing the Vuelta for the first time and the course suits the climbers! My current third place only confirms that I’m a rider for the Grand Tours.
Q: Will you give priority to the Tour next year rather than the Olympics in London?
A: Winning a fourth gold medal would be nice but I absolutely need to focus on the Tour de France. If people question whether or not I can repeat my performance of 2009 (4th), my only concern is: when will I win it? I’m a bit like Cadel Evans before July this year. I’m 31. Time flies. At the start of the next Tour de France, it’ll be three years after I finished 4th. In 2010, I didn’t have a great shape. In 2011, I crashed. In 2012, I have to perform.
Q: Will the probable arrival of Mark Cavendish at Team Sky change your plans?
A: If Mark joins Sky, the whole team will be riding at the front to prepare the sprints in the first week. I’ll only have to follow and that’s the best way to stay out of trouble.
Q: How will it go at the Vuelta with Froome?
A: We haven’t spoken about it yet but there won’t be any problem between us.