Froome named in Team Sky squad for Liege-Bastogne-Liege

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Team Sky has confirmed that Chris Froome will ride Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday as part of a strong line-up that also includes Michal Kwiatkowski and Wout Poels.

Froome has recently spent time at an altitude training camp on Mount Teide with several teammates, and was not expected to race until the Tour de Romandie stage race in Switzerland. Team Sky lost Sergio Henao from its Ardennes squad when he was suspended from racing after the UCI formally opened a Biological Passport investigation into the Colombian’s blood values.

Also in the Team Sky line-up for Liege-Bastogne-Liege are Ben Swift, Michal Golas, Sebastian Henao, Salvatore Puccio and Lars Petter Nordhaug.

Froome has often mixed-up his race calendar but may have to race in the snow and cold due to expected bad weather in Belgium this weekend.

Froome will take on 2015 Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Fleche-Wallonne winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). Other major contenders include Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida), Daniel Martin (Etixx-QuickStep), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge).

Froome first rode Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2008. He was due to ride in 2014 but did not start the race due to a chest infection. He went on to ride and win the Tour de Romandie after obtaining a controversial Therapeutic Use Exemption certificate (TUE) to treat his illness. Froome did not start in 2015 after crashing during Fleche Wallonne.

Froome's last race was the Volta a Catalunya in Spain at he end of March, where he finished eighth overall.

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