Chris Froome outside the Majorca winter training camp in Puerto Alcudia.

Chris Froome outside the Majorca winter training camp in Puerto Alcudia.

Humphrey Carter16/01/2015 00:00
TW
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The series of features on Team Sky training in Majorca could only come to one end and that is with Tour de Francewinner Chris Froome’s plans for 2015.While Froome  may not be as vocal as Sir BradleyWiggins, team principal Sir David Brailsford said that this year is the start of a new chapter in the history of Team Sky and Chris Froome is very much the man to lead the team.
“We’re going through a transition now and we have to try and maintain the same level of performance we’ve enjoyed in the past or improve and Chris is very much the person to drive us forward.
“Chris can certainly give the team what Wiggins did, he’s the talisman of the team and all the riders are behind him.
“Chris has certainly stepped up and we’ve also got that young group there with the likes of Ben Swift and Geraint,  there’s a group that’s punchy and that’s very  exciting, they’re in the prime of their careers and  they all have the highest respect for Chris. I sat down with every single rider for a one to one talk in December and you’d be amazed by just how highly regarded Chris is in terms of a leader.

Leader
“The rest of the lads love him as a leader, they have massive respect for him and it’s the little things that he does.
“He communicates well with them and in the Vuelta, for example, when he’s hanging on by his finger nails to reach the top of a climb, to reach the finish, the suffering he puts himself through, you can’t believe the impact that has on the lads.
“When they get back to the bus and watch the video footage all over again, when they see the pain and suffering he has put himself though, you can’t imagine what that does for the team. Their respect for him goes through the roof...and he always buys the coffees,” Brailsford said.
And, all of the cyclists the Bulletin spoke to agree that this year, the battle is going to between Chris and Alberto Contador - including Chris himself.
Chris Froome said that he has put last year’s troubles behind him and has Alberto Contador in his sights as he plans an assault on cycling’s major prizes.
The Briton’s hopes of back-to-back Tour de France victories ended in agony when he crashed out early in the 2014 edition, just one of several setbacks for the Team Sky rider.
But after the team’s training camp in Majorca, Froome is ready to go head-to-head with Contador after finishing second to the Spaniard in last year’s Vuelta (Tour of Spain).
“He definitely pushes me to train harder,” Froome said of the Tinkoff-Saxo rider who has won the Tour de France twice, the Giro once and the Vuelta three times.