Chris Froome uncertain over Vuelta a Espana chances as he makes Grand Tour return in Ineos Grenadiers finale

Return: Chris Froome will make his first Grand Tour appearance for two years at the Vuelta a Espana
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

It is two years since Chris Froome last rode a Grand Tour, finishing third to team-mate Geraint Thomas as his Tour de France dominance finally ended.

At the age of 35 and 16 months after a crash which left him with a plethora of broken bones, the question remains whether he can win another - a question not even Froome currently knows the answer too.

On Tuesday he will wheel out of the Basque town of Irun at the start of the Vuelta a Espana trying to prove in his final race for Ineos Grenadiers that the formative Grand Tour rider of his generation is still a force to be reckoned with.

But on the eve of the race, his was hardly a rallying cry.

Froome said: “It’s quite hard to say where I am at the moment, I haven’t done many stage races recently. The signs in training have been better and better, and I’m feeling more like my old self again, which is fantastic but it’s hard to quantify that.

“I haven’t been able to race and see where I’m at against my rivals. I’m going to take the first few days to see exactly where I’m at from that point and I’ll be able to have a clear plan for the rest of the race and know exactly what job I can fulfil at that point.”

The race will be Froome's last in the colours of Team Ineos Grenadiers before he joins Israel Start-Up Nation
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

When Ineos Grenadiers announced the omission of Froome from their Tour de France line-up, they made the bullish ambition of trying to win all three of cycling’s big road races with Egan Bernal at the Tour, Geraint Thomas at the Giro d’Italia and Froome at the Vuelta.

A back injury denied Bernal, while a rogue drinks bottle brought Thomas off his bike and out of the Giro. Bookmakers currently have Froome as a 40-1 shot, suggesting Ineos Grenadiers could yet draw a trio of blanks.

The suggestion, instead, from Froome himself is that he could act as a super domestique to Richard Carapaz, who was pulled from any possible Giro title defence initially as back-up to Froome and now seemingly a prospective team leader.

Froome said: “We’ve got a great team here to support Richard as much as possible. We’ll take it one day at a time and hopefully finish on a high note.”

It would be apt if Froome could pull off the unlikely at the Vuelta, a race that acted as his break-out with victory back in 2011, the first of seven Grand Tour wins.

Froome could spend the Vuelta as chief support for Team Ineos star Richard Carapaz
AFP via Getty Images

The fact the race has been reduced to 18 stages could aid his cause but it is a route for the out-and-out climbers and a strong team. Once again, Jumbo-Visma look to have the strongest line-up with Primoz Roglic, denied Tour glory on the penultimate day, and Tom Dumoulin at the helm.

As for where Froome might find himself in the general classification, that remains to be seen.

“I’m feeling better and better on the bike, and I can take a lot of confidence from that,” he said. “I’ve got to keep in mind I haven’t raced a Grand Tour for two years now, it’s very much about getting back into it again.

“I’ll take it one day at a time and see how I go. I’ll know pretty quickly as we get into it in the first few days. It will be interesting to see how far off I still am once we get into the guts of the Vuelta.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in