CHRIS FROOME

Date of birth: 20/05/1985

Team: Sky

Previous teams: Barloworld (2008-2009); Konica Minolta (2007)

Chris Froome career profile

Born in Kenya, Froome moved to South Africa as an adolescent where he took up mountain biking and then road racing. Froome turned professional in 2007 with the Konica Minolta team.

Introduced to the Barloworld team by Robbie Hunter, Froome soon swapped his Kenyan licence for a British one at the start of the 2008 season. Froome was born a Briton, but competed for Kenya (as that was where was born).

Impressing with strong performances at the Giro del Capo and the Giro dell'Appennino, Froome was awarded with a ride in the Tour de France in only his second year as a professional. He almost did not make it to Paris, after team-mate Moises Dueñas' positive test for EPO, but the team soldiered on with Froome taking 84th overall after strong performances in the mountains.

Froome was set to ride for Great Britain at the Olympics but due to an administrative error from the Kenyan authorities, he was prevented from doing so. After a largely disappointing year with Barloworld, in which he did not race as much as he would have liked, Froome joined the British-backed Sky team for 2010.

After an early-season blighted by illness, Froome made his mark on the 2011 Vuelta a Espana riding alongside Bradley Wiggins in Sky's assault on the overall classification. He ended up in the red leader's jersey after placing second behind Tony Martin in the stage 10 individual time trial.

Athough he lost the 2011 Vuelta lead to team-mate Bradley Wiggins the following day, Froome continued to ride strongly in the mountains. Positioned just 22 seconds adrift of leader Juan Jose Cobo before stage 17 of the race, Froome set out to launch a last ditch, do-or-die bid for the race lead in the final, steep kilometre on Peña Cabarga. The resulting duel was one of the most spectacular stage finishes the race has seen in recent years. He did not overthrow Cobo, but Froome won the stage and went on to finish second overall, establishing himself as a bona fide grand tour contender.

Froome then took a stage of the Tour de France in 2012 after a dominant display by Team Sky up the steep incline of La Planche des Belles Filles on stage seven, and finished the race in second place overall - a result only bettered by British team-mate Bradley Wiggins' overall win.

In the London 2012 Olympic Games, Froome won a bronze medal in the time trial event behind Wiggins and Tony Martin, confirming his position as one of the world's strongest riders against the clock.

Froome had his first opportunity to lead Sky at a Grand Tour at the 2012 Vuelta. Suffering from fatigue after the Tour and Olympics, Froome struggled in the high mountains but still managed to place fourth behind winner Alberto Contador.

Froome's 2013 campaign started well, with a convincing overall win in the Tour of Oman in February against fellow Grand Tour contenders Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans and Joaquim Rodriguez. He followed this with overall wins in Criterium International and Tour de Romandie.

Having achieved so much in the run-in to the 2013 Tour de France, Froome was ranked favourite for the win. He didn't disappoint, winning stages eight, 15 and 17, and placing second in the first individual time trial to win the race overall - the second consecutive Tour won by a British rider after Wiggins in 2012.

Froome crashed out of the 2014 Tour de France on stage five, landing heavily after nursing injuries from another crash the previous day.

In 2015, Froome became the first British rider to win two editions of the Tour, and the first to win both the overall and mountain classification, establishing himself as the nation's most successful Grand Tour racer in history.

Chris Froome results
2016
Herald Sun Tour; stage four

Herald Sun Tour; mountains classification

Herald Sun Tour; overall

Criterium du Dauphine; stage five

Criterium du Dauphine; overall

Tour de France; stage eight

Tour de France; stage 18 ITT

Tour de France; overall

Vuelta a Espana; stage 11

2015

Ruta del Sol; stage four

Ruta del Sol; overall

Critérium du Dauphiné; stage seven

Critérium du Dauphiné; stage eight

Critérium du Dauphiné; overall

Tour de France; stage 10

Tour de France; overall

Tour de France; mountains classification

2014

Tour of Oman; stage five

Tour of Oman; overall

Tour de Romandie; stage five ITT

Tour de Romandie; overall

Criterium du Dauphine; stage one ITT

Criterium du Dauphine; stage two

Criterium du Dauphine; points classification

2013

Tour of Oman; stage five

Tour of Oman; overall

Tour of Oman; points classification

Tirreno-Adriatico; stage four

Criterium International; stage three

Criterium International; overall

Tour de Romandie; prologue ITT

Tour de Romandie; overall

Criterium du Dauphine; stage five

Criterium du Dauphine; overall

Tour de France; stage eight

Tour de France; stage 15

Tour de France; stage 17 (ITT)

Tour de France; overall

2012

Tour de France; stage seven

Olympic time trial; bronze

2011

Vuelta a Espana; stage 17

2009

Cape Argus Giro del Capo Challenge two

2007

Tour of Japan; stage six

Giro delle Regione (under 23s); stage five

2006

Tour of Mauritius; stage two

Tour of Mauritius; stage three

2005

Tour of Mauritius; stage two

Related links

Cycling Weekly's Rider Profiles: Index

Thank you for reading 20 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

Founded in 1891, Cycling Weekly and its team of expert journalists brings cyclists in-depth reviews, extensive coverage of both professional and domestic racing, as well as fitness advice and 'brew a cuppa and put your feet up' features. Cycling Weekly serves its audience across a range of platforms, from good old-fashioned print to online journalism, and video.