Chris Froome is ready and motivated as he aims to continue his run of success at the Tour de Romandie.
Both the Brit and Team Sky have enjoyed a number of strong outings on the picturesque Swiss roads in recent years, winning the event first in 2012 with Bradley Wiggins, before back-to-back victories for Froome in 2013 and 2014.
Returning as defending champion, the 29 year old is hoping to make another step in his season as he continues to look ahead to the Tour de France.
TeamSky.com caught up with Froome on the eve of the race to talk about his form, the weather forecast, a strong Team Sky squad and his recovery from a crash at Fleche Wallonne.
"I'm quite grateful," he said of the crash. "A lot of people were left with quite serious injuries after the crashes last week. I'm just happy there were no broken bones. Of course I'm feeling a little bit stiff but most of the injuries were just superficial which hopefully shouldn't hinder me too much this week. I'm really looking forward to the race."
Froome has just finished a training camp in Tenerife where he was working hard with Richie Porte, Leopold König and Nicolas Roche.
"We had a really good training block together up there. It felt like everyone who went through the camp came out feeling better than when we went in. It was a good block up there and we're going to be going back up soon. I'm actually looking forward to that.
"Hopefully the work we did up there can start to show and pay off in the racing now. From a personal point of view I feel like I'm definitely in a much better place than I was in Catalunya. Hopefully I'm going to be competitive for the win here in Romandie which would be great.
"I'm trying to approach it as a completely new, fresh challenge - especially with the route this year being different. There are a few changes, like the team time trial on the first stage. It is a completely different race. I'm just approaching it as an event that I really want to go well in. It's a race that is always a good building block towards the Tour de France and it's one of the key races before we get there. It would actually be incredible if I could win Romandie for a third time in a row but for the moment I'm just looking at it as another race, and I'll take it one day at a time to get through the week.
"In the last two years we've not had a summit finish. It's exciting having one this year, especially going up against some of the GC riders who are targeting the Tour. Guys like (Vincenzo) Nibali and (Nairo) Quintana. It will be good to go up against them. We've got a super strong team here so looking at the team time trial I'm hoping we can do something there too.
"The weather looks as if it's going to play quite a big part in the race. That's something we're going to have to keep an eye on. There's actually snow forecast for Tuesday. So especially on the high mountain day (stage five) weather could play a key role. We're just going to have to play that one by ear.
"The classics guys are back and we've also got Pete Kennaugh who is coming back from injury. He got through the Ardennes alright and it's great to see him back. We've got a really strong squad. Obviously the classics guys have had a great run and now their focus is changing a bit towards stage racing. It's good to be back with them again. It should be a pretty eventful week of racing."
Kosuke TAKEYAMA 27 years | today |
Brian LIGNEEL 33 years | today |
Holger SIEVERS 56 years | today |
Raoul LIEBREGTS 49 years | today |
Andrew ROCHE 53 years | today |
© CyclingQuotes.com