Cadel Evans has backed Chris Froome to become the first man since Miguel Indurain to claim back-to-back victories at the Tour de France.
Froome won his second yellow jersey in July as he cruised to victory by one minute and 12 seconds from Movistar’s Nairo Quintana, the Team Sky rider leading from stage seven all the way to Paris.
The 30-year-old struggled when trying to defend his 2013 victory the following year, Froome suffering early crashes and then being forced to abandon the race due to injury in stage five.
He was back to his best in the latest edition of the Grand Tour event and Evans – who won the Tour in 2011 believes Froome is well set to challenge again in 2016.
“For him I think it’s possible,” Evans told Fox Sports. “He’ll be the only rider in this era who’ll be able to go back-to-back, barring illness and injury.”
Should Froome complete successive victories he would be the first rider to legitimately do since Indurain in 1995, with Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador having had their back-to-back successes erased from the record books.