Chris Froome set to miss Vuelta a España, according to reports

The seven-time Grand Tour winner battled through the Tour de France despite an early crash

Chris Froome on the final rest day of the Tour de France 2021
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Chris Froome will not be riding the Vuelta a España 2021 according to recent reports, as he opts for the week-long race the Deutschland Tour before bringing his season to a close at the Il Lombardia one-day Classic, according to Cyclingnews.

Twice a winner of the Vuelta, it was expected that the 36-year-old would be the road captain of Israel Start-Up Nation, especially after making it through the Tour de France. But instead, Froome has decided against the strains of a second Grand Tour after suffering from health issues after the Tour.

Froome told Cyclingnews: "I’m starting to feel myself again, and don’t want to rush into another Grand Tour not feeling fully prepared. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season having resolved the problems that have been hindering me this year,"

The Deutschland Tour is set to take place between August 26 and 29 and has a mix of sprint and hilly stages over the route that sees the race start from the coast in northern Germany before heading down to the hillier central and southern areas with a final stage finishing into Nuremberg.

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Froome is likely be there as a team-mate for whoever leads his squad in Germany, as he still continues to work back from the horror crash that he suffered at the Critérium du Dauphiné time trial recon in 2019 that nearly ended his career.

In a tweet on Tuesday by Froome's neighbour and French journalist, Frédéric Millet, he said that Froome will not be racing the Spanish Grand Tour and also touted the Tour of Britain as a possibility: "When your neighbour Chris Froome catches up with you on the golden corniche of the Estérel, the pulsations take off: 170 for me and 110 for him ... The difference in "engine" between a champion and a cyclo! Not Vuelta, but Tour of Germany and GB on his program."

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If Froome did race in the UK it would be the first since May of 2019 where he was in the Tour de Yorkshire lineup that debuted the new Team Ineos kits.

Froome has had a tough first season with his new team of Israel Start-Up Nation with no real signs of improvement from the British rider as he still aims to win a record-equalling fifth Tour de France.

His best result all season came in his first race for the team at the UAE Tour where he finished 22nd on stage four. Away from that, he has rarely got inside the top 40 of any race, however, he has been working hard for his team-mates such as Michael Woods, Dan Martin, and Ben Hermans.

Along with that, he pulled off eighth place in the mountain standings at the Tour of the Alps thanks to a stint in a breakaway.

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Tim Bonville-Ginn

Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!


I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.


It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.


After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.


When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.


My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.