Sir Bradley Wiggins still believes Chris Froome can win a fifth Tour de France title.
Froome, a four-time winner of the Tour, is embarking on a new step in his career with Israel Start-Up Nation, as he continues to fight back after serious injuries suffered during the 2019 season.
The 35-year-old made his debut in ISN colours at the UAE Tour last month, where he wasn’t able to contest for stage victory or the overall title, but did say “things are hopefully coming together.”
Froome’s former team-mate at Team Sky Wiggins, speaking on his Eurosport podcast The Bradley Wiggins Show, said: “He is capable of a fifth [Tour de France], definitely. The regaining of the confidence and his physical condition this year.”
The winner of the 2012 Tour de France, and the first ever British Tour winner, added: “We’re probably going to have to see a bit more from him than we have up to this point, a bit more of a performance.
“I’m still not going to underestimate him, the minute you underestimate Chris Froome is the day that you pay for it.”
Froome has been working his way back to fitness after suffering multiple serious injuries during a crash at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, which left him with a broken femur.
After making his racing comeback in 2020, Froome has since left Ineos Grenadiers after a decade of dominating Grand Tours, to join Israeli WorldTour squad ISN.
Froome spent the winter training in California and working with experts at the Red Bull High Performance Centre, addressing a power imbalance between his legs left over from the injuries.
He then returned to the peloton in 2020 in the Middle East, where he struggled on his first summit finish of the year to Jebel Hafeet, but then finished within two minutes of the leaders on the second mountain of the UAE Tour, Jebel Jais.
Froome said at the time: “For me personally I’m feeling better and better as the race goes on. I think I definitely need more of these kind of race stages, but step-by-step things are things are hopefully coming together for me.”
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The Brit has three more stage races on his schedule before the UAE Tour, as he due to head to spain for the Volta a Catalunya later this month, before racing the Tour de Romandie in April and the Dauphine in June.
