The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Mission: Impossible to win golden treble of tour events
Former Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner Stephen Roche believes it would be impossible for Chris Froome to win all three grand tour races in one year.
Froome completed the Tour and La Vuelta double by winning the latter in Madrid on Sunday but Roche, who won both the Tour and Giro in 1987, does not think any rider could win all three in the same 12 months because of the importance placed on the Tour.
Six men have claimed all three grand tour crowns during their careers – Jacques Anquetil, Alberto Contador, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Vincenzo Nibali – but nobody has managed to win them all in the same year.
Roche said: “I think it’s actually humanly impossible, especially in today’s day and age because the Tour de France now is so important, the leading riders all hit form for the Tour de France.
“To go out and win the Giro is very hard because of the weather conditions in May, going to the Tour de France on the back of winning the Giro is always very complicated and I’m sure after winning a Giro and the Tour and going on to the Vuelta I think it’s impossible to win all three.”
Roche said he thought the Giro and Tour double was easier than adding the Vuelta to a Tour victory in the same year because of the status of the latter.
He said: “I did the Giro before going to the Tour which is, in one sense, a little easier because, especially in today’s cycling world, the Vuelta comes the last of the three tours and generally what happens now is everyone prepares 100% for the Tour and they dig really deep to win the Tour de France.
“Many riders who rode the Tour de France and the Vuelta this year underperformed this year at the Vuelta.”
Roche paid tribute to Team Sky rider Froome who was able to refocus on winning the Vuelta after his fourth Tour victory, joining Frenchmen Anquetil (1963) and Hinault (1978) in doubling up in the same year.
The Irishman said: “Chris was very well prepared for the Tour and the Vuelta this year. It’s a very difficult feat, that’s why he’s only the third rider to have done the double.”