No rest for Chris Froome as he goes for historic double after Tour de France win

No sooner had Chris Froome notched his fourth Tour de France victory than he was turning his attention to making history.

There are just 27 days from finishing on the Champs-Elysees in yellow to the start of the Vuelta a Espana.

Only two riders have won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year: Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault — but the French pair did it when the Spanish race was held in the spring.

From the outset, Froome’s season has been built around the double, hence just 19 days’ racing before the Tour. That led to questions about his ability to win the race for a fourth time when he looked lacklustre in the build-up.

It remains to be seen whether, after racing more 2,000 miles in three weeks, he can hold his form for another Grand Tour with little time for complete rest and recovery.

“It’s always been the plan to go on to the Vuelta,” he said in Paris yesterday. “I’ll have to see how I shape up over the next 10 days and when I get back into training.

“But the goal was to be strong in the third week of the Tour and, especially after a couple of hard days in the Alps, it’s worked out really well.”

The mastermind behind his historic attempt is Australian Tim Kerrison, who has meticulously plotted every day of Froome’s 2017 season.

Kerrison made a name for himself in both rowing and swimming as something of a coaching visionary before turning down a role in the England cricket set-up to join Team Sky in 2009.

Looking ahead to part two of the double, Froome said: “Tim has been a major part of that and I have to thank him for the planning and coming into the Tour the way I did.

“I’ve never felt this good in the third week of a Grand Tour. Even though I was pushing to the limits, I always felt as if I was in control.”

Froome announced himself on the world stage when he came second at the Vuelta in 2011, a result he repeated in both 2014 and 2016.