Despite Sky’s disappointment at Chris Froome being forced to abandon the Tour de France, Dave Brailsford and his team are looking ahead at where Froome can go from here in 2014, before taking another shot at the Tour in 2015. The most obvious option for now appears to be the Vuelta a Espana, where Froome was second in 2011, with Bradley Wiggins in third. It was was the first race that Froome emerged as a Grand Tour contender and the race where Wiggins and Froome's relationship began to break down.

"You have to stop and take stock of the situation. Until we found out exact the nature of his injury, and what that recover and rehab program looks like, it’s a bit early to speculate on the rest of the year,” Brailsford said. “There are obviously quite a bit of WorldTour races left, which would be a consideration, a grand tour would be a consideration, the Tour of Britain might be a consideration, so… Until we get the facts on his injures and rehab, it’s early to speculate.”

Froome has completed the Tour-Vuelta double, taking second in the Tour and fourth in the Vuelta in 2012, although in the Spanish race, he was the best of the rest, byt alonhg way behind Spanish trio Contador, Valverde and Rodriguez.

And it seems that Wiggins and Froome may find themselves together at the Vuelta, making it the first time they will have raced together since the 2013 Tour of Oman and the first Grand Tour together since a rift grew between the two after Wiggins’ 2012 Tour win.

“It’s not confirmed yet, we’ll have to see how [Wiggins] goes in the Commonwealth games and where we are at after that,” Brailsford said of Wiggins’ riding the Vuelta. Brailsford said it was Wiggins’ primary goal to peak for the individual time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, to be held in Spain in September.

Wiggins may also defend his title at the Tour of Britain, though Brailsford wouldn’t rule out his two aces in the same Spanish grand tour. “If it makes sense, if it’s the right thing to do from the performance point of view then why not? But let’s wait to see first and take stock of the situation,” he said.