Froome returns more as an advertising claim than as a candidate for the podium

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He gets on the bike, fixes his gaze on the wet ground of Irún and while he warms up his legs for the premiere of the Vuelta he recalls the fullness of the past.

buried his podium-grabbing dynamics from the big rounds in that damn crash at the Dauphiné in 2019. Since then, his appearances have been sporadic, almost testimonial.

At 35, he has entered the downward curve of his performance and even he himself is not able to assess his immediate contributions.

The

excluded him from the Tour and the Giro and now presents him in the Vuelta not as a winning bet, but to close sentimental debts with the best British rider in history.

Relationships with

They have cooled down and there is nothing better than to start in Irún to ease tensions before the march to the Israel team.

Froome returns to a great round 27 months later.

The last time was in mid-July 2018, when he finished third in the Tour de France.

Before it came from sweeping the Giro, with the general, two stages and the Mountain.

It was the absolute dominator, the

for organizers and sponsors.

His return comes in a career that catapulted him into the elite.

The first big one that he conquered was the 2011 Vuelta;

the premiere at the top of the Tour came in 2013 and at the Giro in 2018. It has always achieved high returns in the Hispanic event, with another first place in 2017 and two seconds in 2014 and 2016.

FEAR OF THE COLD OF AUTUMN

Now, the most successful cyclist in the current peloton faces his seventh participation in the Vuelta with doubts.

“The first three stages are very difficult and we will quickly see how I feel.

It is a race that I really like, this year will be a little different, it is colder than usual.

We're going to feel a bit like we're in the

for three weeks, ”the Nairobi-born runner said Monday.

«It is strange to think that I will no longer wear the colors of Ineos after the Vuelta.

I'm going to race hoping to finish on a high note for the team.

It's hard to know where I am at the moment because I haven't done a lot of stage races recently.

After the first days I will have a

more precise

for the rest of the race, "he stressed.

START IN MOUNTAIN

The Vuelta del Covid-19, as happened with the Tour and the Giro, opens a new calendar to enter the autumn cold.

Nothing is like before, not even the start of the test, which was traditionally a time trial.

This Tuesday, the curtain rises on an online stage, between Irún and Arrate, which ends high.

And it is that the climbers, whenever the weather permits, will have land to exhibit, with

and eight of medium mountain.

Ahead, the ascents to Tourmalet, Aubisque, Farrapona, Angliru, Ézaro (time-trial) or Covatilla.

A round in which favoritism falls on riders with protest needs after the last Tour such as

,

and

.

Among the Spanish options,

,

,

and the fireproof

.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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