At 40, four-time winner of the Grande Boucle Christopher Froome dreams of racing the Tour de France one last time. But time is running out, the 2025 season will undoubtedly be his last chance.
“It’s not crazy to think that I can come back to the Tour”begins the four-time winner of the most beautiful race in the world. One year from the end of his contract with the Israel-Premier Tech team, Chris Froome spoke to Mark this Tuesday. Anyone who turns 40 next year is getting closer to the end and knows that their best years are behind them.
“My challenge is to try to run in a big race again”. He who won seven, the former glory of the SKY (ancestor of Ineos) never really recovered from his serious fall in 2019. During training for the Critérium du Dauphiné that year, the climber fell at high speed on a descent. Injured, he was forced to withdraw from the 2019 Tour de France, a huge regret.
“I have never been as strong in training as before my fall in Dauphiné. That's life. I thought the 2019 Tour was the one that really got away from me”he declared. “I have to be honest and realize that I may no longer have the same challenges as before this fall, but I still love Cycling. »
“Pogacar is the best runner of the century”
If Froome was once the king of the peloton, the landscape is today dominated by the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar and the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, who have shared the last five editions of the Tour de France. “They were very good for two years, dominating the Tour and other races. But Remco (Evenepoel) is also present at a high level. There are other things to take into account”he declared. “Even though they win a lot, cycling is a fun sport with them. I think Pogacar, after winning two grands prix and several other things (this year), is the best rider of the year and of the century.”.
While Froome says men's cycling is experiencing a golden age, accidents have continued to overshadow the sport, with the death of Norwegian Andre Drege at the Tour of Austria once again highlighting the risks.
“There are several factors, not everything is due to the same reason. I don't know why this happens.”Froome said. “I don’t think the fault lies solely with the cyclists or the organizers. Today, there is a lot of stress in the peloton. It goes faster today than ten or even five years ago. It's a different kind of cycling. It’s much more explosive”.
France
Cycling
