Ahead of the 2009 season, the young cyclist for the Barloworld team, Chris Froome, will be offering his insight into racing on the Continental circuit, exclusively for the readers of PCMdaily! I'm sure you will give Chris a warm welcome to the forum and hopefully follow him with some interest in the season ahead!
INTRO
Hi, my name is Chris Froome, and I'm a professional cyclist from Kenya.
Now the first thing you're going to say about that is "He sure doesn't look like he's from Africa!" and I don't blame you! My background is that my British grandparents moved to Kenya, and this would explain my pale complexion and British passport. Whilst I fly the flag for Kenya currently, I would be open to making use of my passport to represent GB at the World Championships in the future.
Now the second thing you're going to say is probably... "Kenya?!" Well I can assure you that I'm very proud of my Kenyan roots, and my major aim as a cyclist is to become known as the first cycling legend from Sub-Sahara. But that's a long way off yet.
BACKGROUND
Born in Nairobi, I found my passion for cycling on my MTB in the Kenyan Highlands, and so perhaps it's no surprise that I've been touted by some as a promising young climber/stage racer.
Last year, in 2008, I had my greatest chance in cycling yet - to ride the Tour de France. With my mother having recently died, this proved to be not just one of the most physically demanding, but also mentally demanding challenges of my life. However, I did myself proud, finishing the race as the twelth-best young rider and taking a superb 14th place in the final time-trial.
KRAZY KENYAN
Now you may wonder why my thread is titled as such. Maybe you should blame that on the time when, as a teenager, I phoned up the Keyan Cycling Federation, asking how to become the Kenyan National Champion. I was mockingly told that if I sewed a Kenyan flag design onto my racing jersey, I could be known as the 'National Champion'. And so I did! Ever since then my career certainly has been a bit "Krazy"...
Ajali! (Fall!)
Anyway, you can find out whether my "unorthodox" racing style strikes again this season by reading on! Riding again for Team Barloworld for this year, I'm hoping to better last years results and look forward to the season start. But as you might just find out, anything is possible with me!
Here are my major career results thus far:
2008 Giro dell'Appennino - 3rd
2008 Giro del Capo - 2nd overall
2007 Tour of Japan - 1st stage six
2007 Giro delle Regione - 2nd stage three; 1st stage five
2006 Tour of Mauritius - 1st overall; 1st stages two & three
2005 Tour of Mauritius - 1st stage two
And here is space for my results since I started posting:
None... yet!
Edited by pcm2009fan on 04-09-2012 23:16
Chris has just finished updating his Bio above so you can check that out now!
I know I said I would leave you all in peace after my RaboStory/Fail, but this was just something spontaneous that had a good feel about it!
The season might not kick off for a wee while yet cause I'm pre-occupied for the now. Updates may still prove to be rather slow-paced thereafter but I've got quite a lot of stuff to catch up on in real life unfortunately.
I hope you'll all enjoy the story of the Krazy Kenyan nonetheless!
Like I said, today is our big team presentation as the team looks to showcase the squad in front of the sporting media. It was quite exciting as we all stepped onto the stage, after our Directeur Sportif had announced the team's main goal - to gain entry to the Tour de France!
2009 Squad: John-Lee Augustyn Francesco Bellotti Diego Caccia Patrick Calcagni Felix Cardenas Giampaolo Cheula Marco Corti Steven Cummings Mauro Facci Chris Froome Robbie Hunter Daryl Impey Luis Laverde Paolo Longo Borghini Michele Merlo Carlo Scognamiglio Mauricio Soler Geraint Thomas Francisco Ventoso
The team was busy over the transfer period and managed to strenghten the team for the new season. A late big-money sponsorship deal even allowed the team to force through three late signings ahead of the season: Italian Mauro Facci, Colombian Luis Laverde, and a surprising, but equally exciting, deal for the Spaniard Fran Ventoso - he clearly had too much talent for the team manager to ignore.
Robbie Hunter and Fran himself will be the main leaders on the flat, whilst Mauricio Soler is the obvious man to look to when the road heads upwards. As for me, I'll be playing mostly a domestique's role but hopefully I'll find some chances to ride for myself at some point.
Our shiny new cycling jersey
Well, the new season is looming and I'm slowly beginning to get into racing shape after the off-season. My next update will probably be to catch up with you all once the season has got under way. Although our team calendar will only commence at the start of February.
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