Tour de France champion Chris Froome said he was bang on track to defend La Grand Boucle after retaining his Tour de Romandie title by winning Sunday’s final-stage time trial.
Froome began the 18.5km individual time trial around Neuchatel, Switzerland, just one second behind yellow jersey wearer Simon Spilak, but the Sky Pro-cycling rider finished the course 29 seconds ahead of the Slovenian.
“It’s an important race for me, it was a very different Tour of Romandie from last year, but I’m really happy with my condition and this is a really crucial time building up to the Tour de France,” said Froome, who led almost from start to finish in the Tour de Romandie a year ago.
Photo: EPA
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say whoever wins the Tour de Romandie will win the Tour de France, but it’s definitely a good sign and a sign that I’m on track for the Tour de France,” he said.
It was a welcome return to form for Froome, who was only sixth in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, his previous race in late March, having suffered from a back injury and illness over the past two months.
In mid-March he had to pull out of the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, won by main Tour de France rival Alberto Contador, due to his back problem, whilst illness kept him out of the previous weekend’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Victory in Romandie was the Briton’s second stage race win of the year having triumphed at the Tour of Oman in February, where he was also the reigning champion.
Katusha’s Spilak finished second overall with world champion Lampre-Merida’s Rui Costa of Portugal third, mirroring exactly last year’s podium.
World time-trial champion Tony Martin was second on the stage, which included a tough climb, by just one second, with New Zealand’s Jesse Sergent third, eight seconds back.
In each of the last three years, the Tour de Romandie winner has gone on to claim success at the Tour de France.
Before Froome achieving that double last year, teammate Bradley Wiggins did so in 2012 and Australian Cadel Evans of BMC did likewise in 2011.
In an ominous message to his rivals, Froome said that despite not winning as much as he had done at this stage last year, when he had also won the Criterium International and finished second at the Tirreno-Adriatico, he feels he is in better shape.
“I think this block [of training] now will be really important before the Criterium du Dauphine [next month],” he said. “We’re just under two months now from the start of the Tour. I feel like I’m in really good condition already, but I still do have quite a lot of work to do before the Dauphine.”
“I think I’m on track, I’m where I need to be, if anything I think I’m ahead of where I was this time last year, which is a really good feeling especially after all the setbacks and difficulties this season,” he said. “I’m just really happy with where I am and I’m hoping in this next block — I’ll be going back to Tenerife for altitude training for two weeks — that I can improve on my condition there.”
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