Chris Froome: 'I've got my running shoes in the car so I'm ready for Ventoux'
The four-time Tour de France champion looks back on the last time the race went up Mont Ventoux
As Chris Froome continues to battle through his comeback at the Tour de France he's remained upbeat, trying to ride himself into form at the race he's won four times in his career.
On stage 11, he will tackle the mountain that plays a significant role in his Tour story, having won in the yellow jersey on Mont Ventoux in 2013, before the iconic scenes of 2016 when he started running up the mountain as he waited for a new bike following a crash.
"I've got my running shoes in the car so I am ready for Ventoux," Froome joked during the first week, looking ahead to the double ascent.
Looking back at that day at the 2016 Tour de France, Froome remembers how hectic the day was after the finish line was changed due to the strong winds on the 'Giant of Provence'.
"It was complete chaos on the stage," Froome remembered. "The finish had been moved because of the crazy winds up on the climbs. There were not the normal barriers in the last three kilometres of a mountain-top finish like that, and the crowds were a lot bigger because everyone had moved down the mountain."
Explaining his decision to run up the mountain, Froome says his will to win overcame everything else.
"It was one of the craziest stages, it was definitely the craziest moment of racing I've been in. Only in moments like that do you really find your true desire of how much you really want to win," he explained.
"That day obviously, I didn't want to lose, and it seemed logical in my mind to keep moving forward, even if it meant running."
Despite finishing first and second the last two times the peloton has tackled the climb, this year he will be riding in support of Israel Start-Up Nation team-mates Dan Martin and Michael Woods.
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Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
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