Froome leads Team Sky at Vuelta, goes for Grand Tour double

By foxsports
Published

MANCHESTER, England (AP) Tour de France champion Chris Froome will lead Team Sky at the Spanish Vuelta as he looks to become only the third rider to win both of the Grand Tour races in the same year.

Team Sky announced Monday a nine-man lineup for the Vuelta, which starts in Puerto Banus on Saturday.

Froome, confirmed as the team leader rather than a support rider, says ''I've had a good rest after the Tour and now I'm ready for my next challenge.''

Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978) are the only riders to have won the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year.

The 30-year-old Froome has twice been a runner-up at the Vuelta.