Chris Froome pleased with 2016 Tour de France route

Chris Froome has declared that he is pleased with the 2016 Tour de France route, which will take riders across Spain, Andorra and Switzerland.

The defending champion said the course will only be bested by a "complete cyclist" and insisted that the route suits him better than its 2015 counterpart.

"It's going to have challenging climbs - we are going back to Mont Ventoux, which is a special one for me, but on top of that we have to pretty tough time trials and a first week with potential crosswinds," The Mirror quotes him as saying.

"My time-trialling is something I'm going to have to work on because I really think it's going to be a pivotal point of next year's Tour.

"They have included quite a few new climbs also that we haven't seen before, so we are going to have to get out there and go and do a bit more reconnaissance, go and ride these climbs and see what we're up against."

The 30-year-old, who has won the Tour de France on two of the last three occasions, is aiming to become the first rider since Miguel Indurain to defend his crown when the 2016 event gets underway next July.