At the age of 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, and the 2025 season will undoubtedly be his last chance.
“It’s not crazy to think I can come back to the Tour”begins the four-time winner of the world’s greatest race. One year before the end of his contract with the Israel-Premier Tech team, Chris Froome spoke to Marca on Tuesday. The man who turns 40 next year is nearing the end of his career and knows that his best years are behind him.
“My challenge is to try to race again in a big race”.. Having won seven of them, the former SKY (forerunner of Ineos) glory never really recovered from his serious crash 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 forfeit the 2019 Tour de France, a huge regret.
“I’ve never been as strong in training as I was before my crash at the Dauphiné. C’est la vie. 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 can’t have the same challenges I had before that crash, but I still love cycling.”
“Pogacar is the best rider of the century”
If Froome was once the king of the peloton, the landscape is now dominated by Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar and Denmark’s 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 elements to take into account.”he declared. “Even if they win a lot, cycling is a fun sport with them. I think Pogacar, after winning two grand prix and several other things (this year), is the best rider of the year and of the century.”.
While Froome claims that men’s cycling is living in 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.”said Froome. “I don’t think the fault lies solely with the cyclists or the organizers. Today, there’s a lot of stress in the peloton. It goes faster today than it did ten or even five years ago. It’s a different kind of cycling. It’s much more explosive..