Chris Froome at the 2010 Tour Down Under |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 20 May 1985 Nairobi, Kenya |
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| Height | 1.86m | ||
| Weight | 72Kg | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Team Sky | ||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | All Rounder | ||
| Professional team(s) | |||
| 2007 2008–2009 2010– |
Konica Minolta Barloworld Team Sky |
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| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on 18 September 2011 |
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Chris Froome (born 20 May 1985) is a professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTour team Team Sky. Born in Kenya, Froome moved with his family to South Africa as a teenager, and although he began his career registered with the Kenyan cycling federation, since spring 2008 has ridden under a British licence on the basis of his passport and father's and grandparents' country of birth,[1]. He made his major breakthrough as a Grand Tour contender during the 2011 Vuelta a España where he finished second overall, equalling Robert Millar's second place in the 1987 Giro d'Italia as the highest placed British rider in a Grand Tour.
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Having started in mountain biking, he started road racing in South Africa, specialising as a climber. In 2006, whilst representing Kenya at the Time Trial World Championships, Froome hit a UCI official just after the start, causing both men to go down, although neither were injured.[2] He turned professional in 2007 with the South African Team Konica Minolta, and was introduced to Team Barloworld by Robbie Hunter, joining them for the 2008 season, and was named in their team[3] for the 2008 Tour de France, in which he finished 84th overall and 12th among the young riders' category. He also completed the 2009 Giro d'Italia, in which he came 36th overall, and 7th among the young riders.
In September 2009, it was announced that he was to join British cycling team, Team Sky, in 2010.[4] During his first season with Sky, his best result was at the Tour du Haut Var, where he finished 9th in the overall standings. He also finished 2nd at the 2010 British National Time Trial Championships, showing his ability in the time-trial.
The early highlights of Froome's 2011 season were top 15 finishes in the Vuelta a Castilla y León and the Tour de Romandie. Froome had a mixed Tour de Suisse, riding with the lead group on some mountain stages, whilst losing time on others, and finishing ninth in the final time trial.[5]
Froome entered the 2011 Vuelta a España as the main domestique for Bradley Wiggins in the mountains. After being inseparable from Wiggins throughout the first week, he gained credit for his ride in stage 9, helping close down an attack on the final climb and finishing in fifth place, three seconds behind Bradley Wiggins, leaving both in the top 20 overall.[6] The following day in stage 10, however, Froome out-rode Wiggins to finish second in the time-trial behind Tony Martin and to take an unexpected lead in the race.[7] During stage 11 he helped his team to neutralise some attacks, but soon found himself unable to follow the main group. However, he managed to hang on second overall in the General Classification. After losing the jersey to Wiggins on stage 11, Froome continued to ride in support of his leader, and on stage 14 helped to drop rivals including Vincenzo Nibali and Joaquim Rodríguez on the final climb. Wiggins credited his lead to Froome, in a stage which also saw Froome rise back up to second in the standings.[8] The tough stage 15 which ended on the Alto de L'Angliru saw Froome lead the chase to stage winner Juan José Cobo, who took the overall lead at the end of the day. Froome proved stronger than Wiggins, finishing ahead of him in fourth place but 48 seconds behind Cobo, to retain second place in the overall classification. On stage 17, Froome attacked Cobo 1 km from the summit finish, but Cobo fought back, catching Froome in the final 300 metres, only for Froome to attack again to win the stage and arrive 1 second in front of Cobo.[9] As a result of time bonuses, Froome reduced Cobo's lead to 13 seconds. Froome was unable to reduce Cobo's lead any further and finished second overall in the Vuelta, equalling Robert Millar's 2nd place in the 1987 Giro d'Italia as the highest finish by a British rider in a Grand Tour.[10] After the Vuelta it was revealed Froome had suffered throughout the year from the tropical bug Bilharzia, having been diagnosed in 2010.[11] On 16 September 2011 Froome signed a new three year contract with Sky.[12] He was part of the Great Britain team that helped Mark Cavendish win the 2011 UCI World Road Race Championship. In October, Froome finished third overall in the first edition of the Tour of Beijing.
| Grand Tour | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro | - | 36 | WD | - |
| Tour | 84 | - | - | - |
| Vuelta | - | - | - | 2 |
WD = withdrew