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Chris Froome has eye on history but Vuelta a España could spring surprises | William Fotheringham

No one has won Tour de France and Vuelta in same year since it switched dates and Chris Froome is taking nothing for granted in race that he calls brutalIt is 22 years since the Vuelta a España was shifted from its late April slot in the calendar to its current position after the Tour de France with the world championships on the horizon. The notion then – propounded by the architect of the move, the late Hein Verbruggen – was that the race would be a post-Tour revenge match, where the riders who had slipped up in France could try to salvage their seasons.It has taken a while but that is now how the Vuelta looks, partly because Team...

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Chris Froome’s Tour de France rivals? Porte, Quintana, Contador and Bardet | William Fotheringham

A three-times winner who might not be quite what he was, a route that offers something for everyone and high-quality contenders may produce a spectacularWhen a three-times Tour de France winner is on the start line in anything resembling a decent state of fitness, forecasts boil down to a simple statement: one man versus the rest. Thus it was with Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong – now disgraced, once perennially dominant – and so it is with Chris Froome, who starts the Tour as the overwhelming favourite, even though he has not yet shown the incisive form of his better years.There is always speculation that the sheer weight of opposing numbers will one day overcome the...

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