Chris Froome says he is 'slowly improving' after testing legs in breakaway at Tour of the Alps

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 22 April 21

Chris Froome hasn't really been showing the legs that we used to see before his near career-ending crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné 2019, but he has shown a possible glimpse into what's to come after getting into the breakaway on stage four of the Tour of the Alps.

Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) spent almost all of his winter off-season in California as he continued his rehab from his crash while on a recon of the Dauphiné time trial. The Kenyan-born British rider has also been keeping fans up to date with how his training is going on his new YouTube channel.

However, his racing has yet to get anyone excited as he slowly trains his way back to where he wants to be to attempt to battle for yellow at the Tour de France once again.

>>> Five things to look out for at Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2021

Froome decided to go on the attack for the first time this year on Wednesday's (April 22) stage of the Tour of the Alps to get into the breakaway after the original move was brought back on the slopes of the highest point in the race. Froome then went with a move that included Spanish champion Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech) and former team-mate Nicolas Roche (DSM).

Speaking in a team press release after the stage, Froome said: "I think this was the first time I have been in a breakaway since the Giro d’Italia of 2018. I really enjoyed being up there today, testing the legs a bit. Especially as the break went away on a quite hard section after a bunch of attacks.

"It was a shame that we never got much of a gap but it was still a good experience to be up there again. I can feel that the condition is slowly improving and I’m pretty happy with how the legs are feeling."

The break was not allowed much time at all with the maximum gap sitting at around 2-30 before overall leader Simon Yates' squad, Team BikeExchange upped the pace coming up to the final climb of the day catching the break before even hitting the bottom slopes.

Froome eventually finished down in 82nd around his other breakaway companions at over 14 minutes down, meaning he sits in 94th place overall, 41-36 down on Yates going into the final stage.

The four-time Tour de France winner is currently set to ride the upcoming Tour de Romandie next week, starting on April 27 and ending on May 2.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

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.