Froome to stay with Team Sky in 2012

Team Sky has announced that Chris Froome has signed a new three-year contract that will keep him with the British team until 2014. The talented Kenyan-born British climber finished a close second to Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC) at the Vuelta a España earlier this month. He had several rivals offers after his performance in spain but opted to stay with the British team.

"Chris' performance at the Tour of Spain was tremendously exciting and generated much interest and competition for his services from other teams," explained Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford in a statement from the team.  "In light of this we are very pleased that he has chosen Team Sky as the best place to continue his career."

"We are all very much looking forward to supporting Chris' future development and working with him to consolidate and build on his breakthrough performance over the coming seasons."

Froome's general classification result in Spain, his spectacular stage 17 victory on the Peña Cabarga and team-mate Bradley Wiggins' third place on the podium stood out as the most successful Grand Tour result ever for British cycling.

"Standing on the podium at this year's Vuelta a España was the highlight of my professional career so far," the 26-year-old said. "But that success was only possible because of everyone at Team Sky, both on and off the road, and so I am absolutely delighted to be signing an extension to stay with the team for the next three years."

Froome was also named as part of the Great Britain team for next week's world championships in Copenhagen. He has not been selected for the time trial but will ride the road race as part of an experienced team designed to help Mark Cavendish.