Tour de France champion Chris Froome was among an A-list cast of honourees at the UCI Cycling Gala hosted by Abu Dhabi’s Du Forum on Sunday night.
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Still recovering from injuries he picked up during a crash at last month’s Vuelta a Espana, Froome was unable to compete at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour, but still made the trip to the UAE capital to celebrate a highly successful year of cycling with his fellow riders.
“I think this is the first time cycling has had an event like this and I think it’s great that at the end of the season we can come together and celebrate and be proud of the achievements that we’ve had this year,” said Froome.
You don’t see this everyday! All 3 winners of the #UCI Grand Tours. #aru #froome #contador #ridetoabudhabi pic.twitter.com/aMuNLkPOJY
— Matt Boucher (@mattjboucher) October 11, 2015
Froome claimed a second Tour de France yellow jersey this year to add to the one he won in 2013, and he singles it out as his proudest moment of 2015.
“The build-up to the Tour, the hype, the pressure, everything that goes into being ready for the Tour de France, it’s just… the enormity of it all, the intensity of it all. It’s one thing planning for it but another thing actually pulling it off and going through the race and wearing that yellow jersey all the way to Paris,” said the Team Sky rider.
Froome added: “It’s hard to go better than winning the Tour de France but next year, being an Olympics year, that would be incredible to do well there.”
New faces have emerged as Grand Tour contenders this year and Froome named Giant-Alpecin’s Tom Dumoulin – who received the ADSC Fair Play Special Recognition award on Sunday – as a standout performer thanks to his surprising efforts at the Vuelta last month, where he lost the jersey at the penultimate stage to Fabio Aru.
“The one that sticks out is Tom Dumoulin, his performance in the Vuelta, I think it’s great. It’s great for cycling, it’s great to see more guys coming into that GC contender group and making it even more competitive,” said Froome.
Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde was given an award as the winner of the UCI WorldTour individual classification.
“I’m happy to be world No. 1 for a second straight year. We had a great week here in Abu Dhabi and I’m glad to finish it like this,” said Valverde.
Other riders who did not compete at the Abu Dhabi Tour but still attended the awards night include Giro d’Italia champion Alberto Contador and Vuelta runner-up Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez.
