Froome ride away from magnificent tour de force
But issue about doping test results lingers
C
HRIS Froome is trying to put his tumultuous Giro d’Italia preparations behind him as he focuses on making history.
Froome has won the last two Grand Tours – the Vuelta a Espana in September and the Tour de France before that in July.
Should he win the Giro this month, he would become only the third man – and first in 35 years – to hold all three Grand Tour titles at the same time.
The other two – Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault – are amongst the sport’s greats having both won the Tour de France a record five times.
Four-time winner Froome, 32, would like to try to emulate them in July, should he be allowed to race, but for now it is the Giro occupying his thoughts.
“That’s a huge motivation for me, that was part of my decision-making process in deciding to be here, in that I won the Tour last year and the Vuelta,” he said when asked about the cycling Grand Tour Grand Slam.
“I can’t remember the last time a rider won three Grand Tours consecutively like that – it’s a huge point for me.”
His adverse analytical finding from a doping test during the Vuelta last year hangs heavy on his shoulders, though, with much of the talk leading up to the Giro centred on whether or not he should even be participating.
The sport’s world governing body, the UCI’s rules do not preclude him from continuing to race as he fights to clear his name and avoid a doping ban.
But the UCI’s own president, David Lappartient has said he should withdraw from professional racing pending a solution to his case.
Organisers, though, are delighted to have the sport’s biggest star lining up in a dream scenario, taking on last year’s champion Tom Dumoulin and home hope Fabio Aru.
Dumuolin’s presence creates a particular challenge for Froome, who has previously been used to putting time into his climbing specialist rivals in time-trials.
That won’t be the case against Dumoulin, the world time-trial champion, who also holds his own on the climbs.
“I won’t be conserving myself in front of Froome,” said Aru, who previously finished second and third at the Giro and vowed to ride an attacking race.
The 27-year-old pointed to the likes of Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, who won last month’s Tour of the Alps, Italian Domenico Pozzovivo and Colombia’s Miguel Angel Lopez as being in great form.
“There could be 15 riders aiming for a high finish,” he said, mentioning Colombia’s Esteban Chaves, Simon Yates of Britain, New Zealander George Bennett and Canada’s Michael Woods. —