Chris Froome says he battled through chest problems at the Tour de Romandie as he continues working towards regaining his previous form.
The four-time Tour de France champion was nearly part of the winning team with Michael Woods, the Israel Start-Up Nation rider having won stage four after Geraint Thomas' slip before shipping time to the Ineos rider in the final stage five time trial.
“It’s been a good block of racing just to get the intensity in the legs. It’s amazing to have the stage win yesterday with Woodsy. It’s been good fun racing with him this week," Chris Froome told CyclingPro after the time trial.
"It’s been a tough week of racing. The weather has been pretty rough and for me personally I’m starting to feel a little chesty these last few days. Today was just about finishing the race off and looking ahead."
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Froome finished 96th overall, just over an hour behind Thomas. In the final time trial he finished 3-23 behind stage winner Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), losing more than 12 seconds a kilometre over the 16km course.
Now, he will head to altitude to continue training and hopefully improving, before racing the Critérium du Dauphiné ahead of his return to the Tour de France this summer.
"I’m glad I got this racing in, there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m going to be going up to altitude after this then hopefully onto the Dauphiné," Froome continued.
"I’m just hoping to progress, and obviously looking to get back to my former level. I can’t say when that’s going to be. It’s a process, it’s a long process. I’m going to keep working as hard as I can and hopefully get there."
