Chris Froome motivated by thought of Alberto Contador in training and says pressure is off in 2015

Chris Froome is in a relaxed mood heading into 2015

Chris Froome has revealed he is motivated by the thought of how hard arch rival Alberto Contador is training and says he is going into 2015 free from the pressure of last year.

Speaking at Team Sky’s winter training camp in Mallorca, the Kenya-born Briton was in a relaxed but determined mood as he outlined his plans for an assault on this July's Tour de France.

The 2014 winner, Vincenzo Nibali, and Giro d’Italia champion Nairo Quintana are both expected to race the Tour, but Froome believes Contador will be the man he has to beat to claim a second yellow jersey.

The pair had crossed words during the 2013 Tour but their relationship is now healthy and Froome insists the rivalry is an inspriation.

Froome says Contador will be his biggest rival at the Tour

“It definitely pushes me to train harder,” he added. “When I am out training I am thinking, ‘I wonder what he is up to today? I wonder how hard he is training today?’ I assume he is, over in snowy, wet Lugano.

'Tough rival'

“We have both got mutual respect for each other as rivals. We don’t loathe each other or try to put each other off the road. There is a certain level of respect.

“He is an extremely tough rival for me. If anyone knows how to win a Tour de France it’s him. He can smell weakness. He can smell it when you are having a bad day. I tend to ride my own race but Alberto is more responsive.”

Froome won almost every race he entered in 2013 but endured a crash-strewn and injury-ravaged 2014 season that culminated in an early exit from the Tour and then a battling second place behind Contador at the Vuelta a Espana.

Two wins all year – at the Tour of Oman and Tour de Romandie - represented a step back by his own standards, but he insisted the silver lining has been a stress-free entry into the new campaign.

Froome in training in Mallorca last week

“If I had to compare where I am now to this time last year, I feel as if I am in a lot better place mentally,” he said.

'Starting from scratch'

“I don’t have nearly the same kind of pressure that I had last year. I feel last year I was very much through the winter, ‘OK, you have won the Tour, now you have got to do it again. You have to stay focused, you have to be on it, everyone is banking on you doing this’. And it was a bit overwhelming at times.

“Whereas this year I feel like, ‘Right, we are all starting from scratch here. We are all starting from zero and the Tour de France is where we want to get to’.

“We have got an amazing team to help us here and to support that goal. There is nothing stopping us and it is there if you want it. It feels good.”

With only one 14km individual time trial but five summit finishes in this year’s Tour route, the race is poised to be a battle in the mountains, and Froome admitted he will have tailor his preparations accordingly.

“It’s a climber’s Tour de France. It’s a bit daunting in some ways. It means I am going to have to work a lot harder in the mountains and I am going to have to make sure my weight is exactly where I need it to be come the start of the Tour de France.

Froome says he has 4kg to lose in weight before the Tour

'Hunger game'

“Hopefully my weight will be as close as possible to 66kg. It was about that in 2013 and I need to get back to that. It’s hard every year to get down that much. I am 70kg now, so I have got 4kg to lose.

“That’s going to be part of the challenge this year. Professional cycling in general is very much the battle of who is the hungriest, not so much just to eat, but also how badly do you want that victory? How badly do you want to win the Tour de France. You could call it the hunger game.”

Froome, who will start his season at the Ruta del Sol rather than the Tour of Oman, spoke glowingly of the renewed positivity around Team Sky this year and revealed he is enjoying racing so much that hopes to remain a professional for at least another decade.

“I love racing,” he said. “I love being on the road, I love this team, I love this team atmosphere, this team vibe, and I can quite happily do this for as long as I can, until physically my body starts breaking down.

“I would love to still be racing come 40 – that would be my goal – at least the next five or six years still at the top level.”