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British cyclist Chris Froome says he has unfinished business as he bids to become only the third rider, after France’s Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, to win both tours of France and Spain in the same year.
“It certainly is a huge, huge motivation for me, given that no one in the modern era has done the Tour-Vuelta double,” the Team Sky rider said. “Especially since the Vuelta has moved to being after the Tour it’s never been done before.
“So in a way it’s an even bigger challenge for me than just targeting the Tour de France, so my motivation couldn’t be higher at this point.”
Froome, who won this year’s Tour in Paris for the fourth time, has previously finished second in the Vuelta on three occasions.
No rider has won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year since the latter was moved to August and September from April in 1995.
The 2017 Vuelta begins in the French city of Nimes France on August 19 and finishes three weeks later in Madrid.