Chris Froome’s racing the Vuleta a Espana 2016 is he?
Jolly good show and good for him I say, although I – and others, I’m sure - can’t really understand why exactly he would want to. As if a month around France wasn’t enough, let us not forget his schedule up until this point: making dough in criteriums, competing in the Ride London not mention flitting over to South America for the Olympic Road Race and Time Trial disciplines. To ride the Tour of Spain is viewed by many professionals as being part of the “punishment squad,” something that has to be done to fill rosters, gain UCI points and satisfy sponsors. And now Froome will voluntarily line up in Laias do Miño for a 29.4km team time trial to kick of three weeks of heat, wind and dust of the Iberian Peninsula. Hope he has enough time to sleep but I digress.
One point to consider is this: it has been almost five years since the Vuelta a Espana launched one Christopher Froome into the cycling public’s consciousness. Yes, it’s been five years since the man who was supposed to work for Bradley Wiggins ended up second overall to an enigmatic domestique. The rest is history and, while the 2011 Vuelta will perhaps be remembered for the emergence of the Team SKY juggernaut, it is perhaps worth putting at the “third” Grand Tour into context.
Juan José Cobo currently rides for Torku Şekerspor, a Turkish-registered Continental squad. Not exactly the home that one would expect of a past-Grand Tour but such is nature of professional cycling. Just ask Chris Horner, another “surprise” Vuelta winner (circa 2013) whose monumental victory in Spain turned out to be career-declining. While the Vuelta has seen the emergence, re-emergence and validation of many a cycling career over the years, there are those whose trajectories have nosedived as a result of success there.
And one has to wonder why.
Maybe it is the Vuelta’s late position in the international calendar, a “last-chance saloon” if you like. But that’s not really fair or frankly respectful to race, not to mention to the peloton out there busting a gut for three long weeks, many for minimum wage. Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong didn’t seem to suffer career-wise from their late-summer Spanish exploits in the late 1990s but perhaps they were a breed apart. Pure conjecture I suppose but worth asking in any case. Besides, Ullrich wasn’t shy in using the Tour of Spain as training for his Sydney Olympics success. El Respeto?
Back to Cobo’s and while the Torrelavega-native's form up the Alto de L'Angliru in 2011 suggested much future promise, it was sadly not the case. The mysterious and undercover Spaniard drifted on to Movistar before settling into his current second-division squad. Froome, on the other hand, saw an opportunity and took it with both hands. It was really a case of last chances for the now-three time Tour de France champion who was soon-to-be out of contract with his employers.
And so it goes. A lot of water has passed under the bridge and two Olympic Games have come and almost gone. A Kenyan has emerged as an international cycling superstar and several great hopes have faded back into obscurity. But that doesn’t matter. Whether filling rosters, re-launching careers or simply training for a late-summer Olympiad, the Vuelta will always be the Vuelta.
Hot, windy and insightful.
El Respeto.
