Thursday 5 May 2016 18:39, UK
Sir Dave Brailsford says Chris Froome is “on track” for a successful summer despite his poor result at last week’s Tour de Romandie.
Having won the Swiss stage race in 2013 and 2014 and then placed third last year, Froome this time finished 21 minutes down on winner Nairo Quintana in 38th.
Team Sky principal Brailsford insists it was part of the plan for Froome to be short of his best given that he is aiming to win the Tour de France, Olympic road race, Olympic time trial and Vuelta a Espana this year and needs to hold peak form for longer than usual.
He told skysports.com: "Overall, he is in a pretty good place. We came into the season thinking we are going to build slower and try to get through the Tour de France, maintain that level through the Olympics and into the Vuelta.
"In that sense, I would say the trajectory is on track and, mentally, he is as strong as anybody, so I think it's all looking good."
Brailsford was also encouraged by the way Froome recovered from losing more than 17 minutes on the first mountain stage in Romandie by winning on a summit finish two days later.
He added: "That stage win gave him a lot of confidence, to bounce back like he did. Every now and then with Chris you see these moments of real grit, and that is what we saw that day."
The Vuelta was not among Froome's initial targets for 2016, but he reacted warmly to the unveiling of a climber-friendly route and Brailsford confirmed it is now on his provisional schedule.
"It's certainly the plan we are working to," he said. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. We will assess post-Tour and post-Olympics."
Froome's ambitious goals could be the crowning glories of a season that has already seen Team Sky win their first Monument classic through Wout Poels at Liege-Bastogne-Liege last month.
The victory came after six and a half years of trying in the Monuments, and Brailsford is now aiming to repeat the achievement, particularly at Paris-Roubaix following Ian Stannard's third place this year.
He said: "It has been a big goal and it has been very difficult to achieve. It has been something that we have really had to work at and it hasn't come easy.
"It's long overdue for a team like ours. We should have won a Monument by now, in all honesty. Having won grand tours, to have a Monument on our palmares now is very satisfying.
"The cobbled Monuments have got to be the next one. I thought for a split second that Ian had got away at Paris-Roubaix, but it wasn't to be. But being that close this year shows he can do it, and that will give him great confidence and great belief. He will be back to try again."
