Chris Froome Could Target Further Grand Tour Glory In 2016 At Vuelta A Espana

26 July 2016 11:44

Three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome could target further Grand Tour glory in 2016 in the Vuelta a Espana, Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford has said.

Froome won a third Tour title on Sunday and many thought the last of his 2016 ambitions were the Olympic Games road race on August 6 and time-trial on August 10. He is a realistic contender for gold in both disciplines.

But Brailsford, the mastermind of Team Sky's four Tour wins in five years, says the 31-year-old Kenya-born Briton has the Vuelta, or Tour of Spain, on his agenda too.

Brailsford told Sky Sports: "That's the plan at the minute. The season-long plan was Tour, on to the Olympics and on after that to the Vuelta, and that's still the outline at the minute.

"As we go through the next phase with the Olympics, we will assess it as we go along. All being well, that's what we will be doing."

Froome rose to prominence as a Grand Tour contender by finishing runner-up in the Vuelta in 2011. He was also second in the race in 2014.

He began the race in 2015 - seeking to become the first rider since Carlos Sastre in 2008 to win the Vuelta and Tour in the same year - but abandoned after crashing on the 11th stage and breaking a bone in his foot.

The 2016 Vuelta begins in Ourense, north west Spain, on August 20, 10 days after the Olympic time-trial takes place. It finishes on September 11 in Madrid.

Froome is slated to start Sunday's Prudential RideLondon one-day race with Team Sky.

Source: PA-WIRE