SM
Newcastle vs. West Ham: 10 hrs 16 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Chris Froome admits to mistakes during rehabilitation

:Headline: Chris Froome admits to mistakes during rehabilitation:
The four-time Tour de France winner is hoping the long journey back to fitness is nearing completion.
Sports Mole

Chris Froome has admitted to making mistakes during his rehabilitation last year as he chased a quick return to the Tour de France.

The four-time Tour winner, who turned 36 last week, once again has his sights on a return to the race this summer, now armed with a better understanding of his body nearly two years after the horror training crash which threatened to end his career.

Such was Froome's determination to race the Tour last year – a target he ultimately missed in his final season with the Ineos Grenadiers – he bypassed key elements of the process and paid a price later.

"I'm still the same person, my expectations haven't changed," he said. "I still want to be there fighting it out with the best in the world but all the will in the world wouldn't get me there if the physical process of rehab isn't 100 per cent complete."

Results on the road have only highlighted the uphill battle Froome has fought. He was 96th overall at the Tour de Romandie, 93rd in the Tour of the Alps, and 81st in the Volta a Catalunya, struggling to keep up on the climbs where he once thrived.

"In every race these days, the level is so high," he said. "If you go to a race to try to use it as training you're going to get spat out of the back straightaway.

"For me, having spent so much time focusing on rehab work, naturally I'm going to be behind in the race.

"Now the focus is shifting more to being race ready, getting the weight down to race weight."

As he focused on rehab, Froome insisted he had not followed the medical tribunal of Richard Freeman, which determined the former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor had ordered testosterone "knowing or believing" it was to dope a rider.

Freeman, who now faces charges from UK Anti-Doping, has launched an appeal.

"Certainly if that's the case, it's very worrying," Froome said of the verdict. "But to be honest it seemed to take so many different directions from the headlines I saw, I sort of gave up following it. I didn't know what to believe."

Froome's next target is the Criterium du Dauphine, the traditional Tour warm-up which starts on May 30. As the opening stage of the Tour looms on June 26, Froome is keeping his goals realistic.

"I'd certainly like to get a lot further into the climbs, that already would be a huge win for me, to see a progression," he said. "But if I'm going there to help (team-mate) Michael Woods, I'm not going to be thinking about my own GC position.

"I'll set myself goals within the race that align with the team goal, but certainly if I can see progression in the numbers, that would be a win.

"I'll just take it one phase at a time, one race at a time, see how the Dauphine goes and then I can set realistic expectations for the Tour."

body check tags ::

amp_article__448875 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-05-24 14:32:57:
html db last update - 2021-05-24 14:32:57 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Chris Froome

Share this article now:
MR
Read Next:
Yates plans to race both Giro and Tour ahead of Olympics
>


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Chris Froome Cycling
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Recommended Next on SM
Yates plans to race both Giro and Tour ahead of Olympics
Man City 'heavily scouting' injured Palace star as January approach readied
Sergi-go: Spurs outcast to take drastic contract action in January?

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Monday's Serie A predictions including Empoli vs. Udinese

1

MS

Mbappe, Valverde, Bellingham register as professional Real Madrid overcome Leganes

2

MV

Will Alisson, Trent return? Liverpool injury list for Real Madrid clash

NEW

3

WA

Monday's Transfer Talk Update: Ferguson, Welbeck, Gomes

4

MT

More Estevao wizardry: Chelsea prospect helps send Palmeiras top of Brasileiro

5

ME

Preview: Sporting Lisbon vs. Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

6

PS

Triple boost? Real Madrid could have three players back vs. Liverpool

7

TB

Preview: Sunderland vs. West Brom - prediction, team news, lineups

8

PS

Ruben's Reds denied dream start as Hutchinson-inspired Ipswich secure score draw

9

RR

Preview: Man City vs. Feyenoord - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PM


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .