Chris Froome has revealed to Cyclingnews he will release the data that was collected and analysed before the Vuelta to prove he isn’t a doper will be released before 2016 gets underway.
Froome spoke in Japan at the Saitama Criterium about the tests which were done by an independent test group at the GSK Human Performance Lab. Froome underwent the tests after he was abused verbally and physically on the roads of France as he went on to win his second Tour as the roadside fans believed he was doping.
"The results will be published not long from now, before the end of the year the results of that will be published,” Froome said. "It's certainly not about necessarily proving anything, it's more about understanding, but again you'll have to wait for that and draw from it what you want.”
Froome aggrees with Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford that the treatment he received at this year’s Tour made winning the race both more difficult and harder to savour, but that if he receives the same attention next summer, he will just “get on with it.”
“I definitely felt this year that it was an element that made this year’s Tour de France harder. Anyone who is human would have felt more under pressure with what was going on this year,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that’s what the yellow jersey wearer of the Tour de France has to put up with.”
“For me, I think, when I’m in that position, if I had something to hide or I had some elaborate scheme going on then it would really bother me, it would be my whole world crashing down. But I don’t have any skeletons in the closet; I don’t have anything to genuinely be afraid of. Yes it’s frustrating but you just have to get on with the racing and get through it.”
Froome also spoke about his desire to improve once more for 2016 and about the new signings his team has recruited to help him defend his Tour title.
“I’ve got to keep improving. Every year I’m learning more and more and I’ve got to keep bettering myself certainly,” he explained. “The way G [ed. Geraint] rode last year, he definitely needs to be more protected next season and have a go at the GC himself. It’s something that’s continuous and maybe in a way we’ll push each other a little bit and maybe get a bit more out of ourselves and improve.”
“I do think we¹ve got a really, really decent line up for next year. Some of the guys who have come in are also top notch riders, guys like Mikel Landa, (Beñat) Intxausti, all potentially GC riders in their own right, (Michal) Kwiatkowski, an ex-world champion. I can imagine for management to choose a Tour de France team it’s going to be close on impossible with all those names.”
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