This is his fifth grand tour, but it puts Froome in a new bracket in terms of his stature in the sport. It was his first outside of the Tour de France. It was a ‘double’ that no rider had ever managed before.
Several people have won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year. Although not, perhaps, in the “modern” age when the Vuelta occupies this position in the calendar.
That is the point though. It is regarded as more difficult to win the Vuelta after the Tour. That doesn’t mean those who did the double when the Vuelta was in the Spring couldn’t have done it but the fact remains no-one else has a Tour then Vuelta to their name other than Froome. It is a tremendous achievement. I would love to see him get a Giro but it doesn’t seem to be high on his list of priorities.
He is a great athlete. For whatever reason he just doesn’t seem to get the recognition he deserves.
There have been only two previous winners of the Tour-Vuelta double: Anquetil (1963) and Hinault (1978). And they were far ahead of their rivals in a way that Froome is not (and arguably no modern athlete could be). No-one is winning grand tours by margins of 15+ minutes any more. It’s rather like trying to compare the exploits of Joe Root and W G Grace.
John, I don’t entirely agree. Stephen Roche was on Radio 5 this morning (he should know) saying that whilst it’s possible to win the Tour and the Vuelta in the same year, one can no longer win the Giro and the Tour in the same year, because the Tour contenders need to peak for the Tour to even be in with a chance, and you can’t do that if you win the Giro.
@Rob Moss. I agree. I think Froome would have to say “this year is a Giro and Vuelta year”. I just think it would be a pity if he retired never having won a Giro. There are not that many who have won all three – it would be good for him to join that group. Still a fantastic champion with his Tours and now a Vuelta.
The problem with cycling “never been done before” articles is I have to check if Lance Armstrong did it. Sure, he was on drug and stripped of his wins but the entire sport was on drugs for decades and he was still by far the best rider of his generation (albeit a total twat). If they were to remove every rider who was doing drugs from the record books, there’d be some pretty hefty gaps.
He is a great athlete. For whatever reason he just doesn’t seem to get the recognition he deserves.
A blessing in disguise. If he was better known the SJWs would be haranguing him for not denouncing racism in his native Zimbabwe.
Eh? I thought Kenya, without bothering to go and check….
Yes. Kenya. But as British as they come.
Lots of racism in Kenya – mainly Kikuyu vs Luo
Eh? I thought Kenya, without bothering to go and check….
Yeah, my bad.
Giro/Tour isn’t significantly more difficult than the Tour/Vuelta double. But Froome will want to win a fifth Tour and cycling in the Giro would present too great a risk of injury (I would guess).
This year, Froome deliberately went into the Tour slightly underprepared (by his own admission, he wasn’t climbing at his very best), because that would give him a better chance in the Vuelta.
PS Bernard Hinault was interviewed in Le Parisien and claimed that Froome was capable of the triple. Now that’s a really huge challenge.
I hate cyclists in London.
London cyclists don’t seem to know about the pedals…. They wait for the road to narrow and stop peddling, just so that everyone has to travel at 3 mph. And then they cruise round a blind corner at 30 mph and kill someone. I think a “bring in a handlebar for £50” amnesty would lead to real improvements. Suggested by my 10 year-old daughter
Tim N the entire sport was on drugs for decades
WAS – hahahaha!
@ Diogenes
There are some utter prats riding bicycles in London (much more so than anywhere else I’ve seen) but there still aren’t generally as dangerous as motorists. I haven’t been knocked down by a cyclist in London but have by a Volvo (on a road closed to traffic).
May I suggest that you get your daughter to record really bad cycling on her smartphone and email the results to the police?