PARIS — Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome was coy Thursday over whether he or Geraint Thomas would lead Sky at the 2019 edition, but said it would make a great 10th birthday gift for the British team.
Froome came third at the 2018 Tour de France as teammate Thomas emerged from his shadow to secure his maiden yellow jersey after a stronger start than his erstwhile captain.
"It doesn't matter if I am or not," Froome said when asked if he knew if he would lead Sky's victory bid next year. "It could end up being similar to 2018 where I had a double role to play alongside Geraint Thomas," said Froome.
"It's going to be a tough, tough, tough race, that's for sure. But if one of us could win it it would be really special as this year is the tenth anniversary of the founding of Team Sky," said the Kenyan-born Briton.
"There are five summit finishes and with three of the stages going over 2000 meters, well that just changes the whole dynamic of the Tour," added Froome. "It's hard but it makes for good racing."
When asked if he would defend his Giro d'Italia title from 2018, Froome brushed off the question. "I haven't even seen the route for the Giro yet," he said.
Defending Tour champion Thomas, meanwhile, was more open to the possibility of challenging for honors on the three-week Italian race.
"Racing both the Giro and the Tour is something I never thought I'd be able to do, but it is something to which I'll now maybe give some thought," said the 32-year-old Welshman.
"I'll be starting to have a chat about my program with my team in the next couple of weeks and then try and formulate some kind of decision. Chris did it last year, so maybe," he added.
Thomas said the 2019 Tour looked like a classic in the making. "It's got a bit of everything in it with some very high climbs indeed being the first thing that comes to mind," he said.
"But there are a great deal of lesser climbs too which will take their toll. The time-trial is a bit shorter but I'm sure that it will be just as key as a longer one in the end."
Tour de France route designer Thierry Gouvenou, said he felt Froome may be the stronger contender in 2019. "Of the two of them I'd say Froome was better equipped on this type of route," Gouvenou said.
"Froome remains an iconic leader for Sky, and Thomas has found his Holy Grail'."
Key stages on the
2019 Tour de France
A mountainous 2019 edition of the Tour de France should smile favorably on the strongest climbers in the peloton. Here, AFP Sports looks at seven potentially key stages that could decide the yellow jersey winner of the 106th edition.
July 11 — Stage 6: La Planche des Belles Filles On this first summit finish it looks likely some gaps will start to appear in the peloton. This is the race's fourth visit to the summit since 2012, but this time the Tour will go even higher: "The stage also races up a part that we had built up there so that the (publicity) caravan could turn around," says Tour director Christian Prudhomme. "That's an extra kilometer at an average gradient of 9.5%."
July 19 —Stage 13: Pau - Pau time-trial As the only individual time-trial on the 2019 edition, this 27km loop around Pau is the specialists' only chance to make their mark, while the weaker riders against the clock could be tempted to put too much into it. "It's on rolling terrain with a seven percent gradient hill, not as tough as the one last year, though," says race planner Thierry Gouvenou.
July 20 — Stage 14: Tarbes - Tourmalet The Tourmalet is the mountain most visited by the Tour de France and first featured in 1910. This year's ascent is on a comparatively short stage of 117km. The final ascent to the summit finish is 19km long at an average of 7.4 percent and was the scene of a classic struggle in the fog in 2010 where Andy Schleck just edged Alberto Contador.
July 21 — Stage 15: Limoux - Foix Prat d'Albis The final Pyrenean stage will offer a sense of drama given it runs though the ancient ruins of Cathar strongholds and fascinating geological formations and hills so steep that tourists to the region are often seen pushing their cars. The Prat d'Albis, 11.8km at an average gradient of 6.9 %, is a leap into the unknown.
July 25 — stage 18: Embrun - Valloire With summits sitting at over 2000 metres in altitude, the great Alpine classics of Vars, Izoard and Galibier speak for themselves. This is the first time the Tour has visited all three mountain passes since 2011. The finish line comes after a very technical descent.
July 26 — stage 19: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Tignes The peloton passes over the summit of the Col de L'Iseran, whose summit sits at an impressive 2770m altitude, at the 85km mark with 13km of climbing before a descent into a steep valley. The peloton will then swing past the Tignes dam and start a 7.5km climb before a final, flat kilometer rounds out the stage in the thin mountain air.
July 27 — stage 20: Albertville - Val Thorens This stage is as difficult for its descents as it is for the final climb to the summit, over a whopping 33.4km at an average gradient of 5.5 percent. This is the final showdown before a flight to Paris for the 21st stage. It featured once before on the Tour, on a stage won by the Colombian Nelson Rodriguez. — AFP
