Chris Froome’s performance on the Vuelta a Espana first mountaintop finish at the Alto de Capileira on stage 7 raised more questions than it answered. The Sky man’s loss of half a minute to his overall rivals constituted a setback, certainly, but it was unclear as to whether it was a simple bad day or the first indication of a more lasting malaise.
Speaking to reporters after signing on for the start of stage 8 in Puebla Don Fadrique, a small outpost on Andalusia’s eastern fringe, Froome offered no mitigating circumstances for his showing at La Apuljarra, which saw him drop to 12th overall, 1:22 down on red jersey Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge).
“I suffered a lot yesterday, I just felt pretty empty,” Froome said simply.
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The temperatures have soared over the past few days in southern Spain, with Friday’s stage played out beneath baking sunshine, but Froome dismissed the idea that the heat had affected his performance. Instead, scarcely five weeks on from the Tour de France, he hinted that he was still feeling the effects of his winning effort.
“No, I’m pretty good with the heat, it’s not really an issue for me. It’s just the legs,” Froome said. “I think especially after the Tour, it’s tough at this stage, but I’m just going to keep pushing on and hope that in the second and third week I start feeling a bit better.”
Froome was surprisingly dropped from the reduced peloton of favourites with 1500 metres of Friday’s stage remaining, shortly after Fabio Aru (Astana) had launched a stinging attack that splintered the group on the final approach to the summit.
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