Tuesday 23 August 2016 08:45, UK
Chris Froome said he is "pleased" with his condition after dispelling pre-race doubts over his form with a strong start to the Vuelta a Espana.
Having already ridden the Tour de France and both the Olympic road race and time trial this summer, the Team Sky rider predicted he would make a slow start to the season's third and final Grand Tour but improve in the second and third weeks.
However, he lies just 11 seconds off the lead in third overall thanks to an impressive performance on stage three's steep summit finish in which he dropped key rivals Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador.
Froome said: "I was quite pleased with how the legs felt and, for day three, I'm happy with the overall standings.
"Hopefully I can ride into the race a bit. I'm in good shape now, but I definitely feel that, given another week or so, hopefully I'll start feeling a bit better."
The climb to stage three's summit finish at Mirador de Ezaro was only 1.8km long but averaged 13.8 per cent in gradient and reached a maximum of 30 per cent.
Froome was distanced by his rivals at the bottom of the ascent but caught back up and even had the strength to launch a short-lived attack in the final 200m.
He added: "The climb can definitely catch you out if you start too fast. It's easy to think that at only 1.8km you can get a bit carried away at the bottom, and I think a few guys fell into that trap and paid for it in the final 500m. I was quite happy with how that went for me.
"I was trying to ride at my own pace. At the bottom I got gapped a bit from the leaders but kept pedalling away, trying to get back to the front. It's seven minutes long, but for a short climb, you know about it."
