Focused Froome wants a third straight tour title

Eyes on Giro d’Italia success

Chris Froome will bid to achieve “something special” and claim a third straight Grand Tour title by riding in the 2018 Giro d’Italia, it was confirmed yesterday.

The 32-year-old Team Sky leader won a fourth Tour de France title in July before adding the Vuelta a Espana.

Now Froome is seeking to be the winner of all three Grand Tours at the same time when the 101st Giro d’Italia event starts from Israel in May.

He said in a statement on teamsky. com: “It’s really exciting to be able to take on a new challenge, to do something that perhaps people wouldn’t expect and to mix it up. It’s a whole new motivation for me to see if I can pull off something special next year.”

Nobody has done the Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998, and recent high-profileattemptsbyAlbertoContador and Nairo Quintana have fallen flat.

However, the timings of the 2018 schedule mean there is a longer break than normal.

The 101st edition of the Giro d’Italia will run from May 4 to 27, with the Corsa Rosa set to start outside of Europe for the first time with a 9.7-kilometre time trial around west Jerusalem before two more stages in Israel ahead of moving to Sicily and a first summit finish on Mount Etna.

Froome lived in Italy for three years when he began his professional career and had posted a brief video on the Giro d’Italia Twitter feed to confirm his participation.

The Briton is ready to meet the “unique situation” head on as he attempts to win a third consecutive Grand Tour title.

“We know that it would be a significant feat in the modern era to win both the Giro and the Tour in the same season, but the way we managed things this year gives me confidence that I can successfully target both races,” Froome added.