Chris Froome says Tour de France 2016 time trials will be pivotal
Last Updated: 20/10/15 5:17pm
Chris Froome says he will have to improve his time-trialling ahead of next year's “well-balanced” Tour de France.
Froome was among the riders in attendance at a presentation ceremony in Paris on Tuesday as race organisers unveiled a route containing four summit finishes and two individual time trials.
One of the summit finishes is a Bastille Day visit to Mont Ventoux, where Froome climbed to an iconic stage win in 2013, while the two time trials cover a total of 54km.
Froome told Sky Sports News HQ: "I think it's a great route. It's very well balanced. There is a bit of everything and it is going to take a winner who can do everything.
"It is going to have challenging climbs. We are going back to Mont Ventoux, which is a special one for me, but on top of that we have got two pretty tough time trials and a first week with potentially some crosswinds.
"My time-trialling is something I'm going to have to work on this next season. I really think it's going to be a pivotal point of next year's Tour."
As well as Mont Ventoux, the race will visit several other roads familiar to Froome, not least Andorra - site of his race-ending crash at this year's Vuelta a Espana - and the summit finish at Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, where he claimed a stage win at this year's Criterium du Dauphine.
Froome added: "I definitely did flinch a little bit when I saw the stage in Andorra on stage nine. That's going to be tough and that is still fresh in my mind from the Vuelta this year and riding that stage with a fractured foot. Hopefully things go a little bit better over there than they did a few months ago.
"I do know a few of those roads, but they have included quite a few new climbs also that we haven't seen before, so we are going to have to get out there and go and do a bit more recon, go and ride these climbs and see what we're up against."
As well as the climbs, of which there are 28 in total, the riders will also have to negotiate some treacherous descents, in particular the run down from the Col de Joux Plane into Morzine on stage 20.
Froome said: "There are also a few stages that arrive close to the foot of quite technical descents, so that is also going to be quite a tricky aspect. It really does test every aspect of cycling."
