Chris Froome is now the undisputed leader of the Sky team but in 2011, he was close to leaving the mighty British team. In an interview with Diario de Navarra, Movistar manager Eusebio Unzue reveals that he tried to sign the Brit during the 2011 Vuelta a Espana but the sudden success in that race made him extend his contract with Sky.

In 2011, Chris Froome's future as a professional cyclist. Approaching the end of his second year with the Sky team, the Brit hadn't produced any results for the mighty British team and when he travelled to the Vuelta a Espana to play a support role for Bradley Wiggins, he still hadn't signed a contract for the 2012 season. In fact, he hadn't even received an offer from the Sky team.

Those three weeks in Spain changed Froome's career as his splendid work for Wiggins saw him end up second behind Juan Jose Cobo, with his team captain taking the final step on the podium. Most will agree that Froome is likely to have won the race if he hadn't been forced to play a domestique - even while he wore the leader's jersey - early in the race.

With no contract for 2012 in place, Froome was looking to save his career and in an interview with Diario di Navarra, Movistar team manager Eusebio Unzue has revealed that his team was in fact trying to sign the Brit at that time. However, things changed as the three-week race went on as Froome's results made Sky show renewed interest in their rider and he ended up extending his contract with the British team.

“The problem was that he started getting some big results during the negotiations," Unzue said. "We were talking with him at the start of the Vuelta, but what looked promising suddenly became reality. He got on the podium and there was no way Team Sky were going to let him go after that. And time has proved them right."

It's hard to imagine Froome having developed into an even stronger rider at Movistar and Unzue is quick to refuse the suggestion because “on a sporting level he is what he is.” However, Froome may have had an even more splendid palmares, had he signed with the Spanish team.

 "If he had been here, he would perhaps have a Vuelta a Espana and another Tour de France on his palmares," Unzue said, referring to the 2012 editions of the races. “Either way, he’s going to be the rider to beat for the next three or four years."

This year, Sky and Movistar were involved in an exciting battle for the win in the UCI WorldTour rankings. The British took the lead in the standings at the Paris-Nice but lost it in the final race of the season, the Tour of Beijing.

Unzue praises his rivals as “being a team that have improved cycling’s image" and suggests that they have raised the bar in several different aspects of the sport. That makes the win in the season-long competition even more satisfying.

"Their success has coincided with the sport’s globalisation," he said. "That’s why beating them in the classification is especially satisfying. It means you’ve beaten the reference point. They’ve been extremely strong at certain points in the year, but we’ve been more consistent.”

Despite not having Froome on the roster, Movistar has a formidable squad for the 2014, led by Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde.