Chris Froome (Israel Startup Nation) said he suffered a setback in his early season training. After an off-season break, he trained too hard, too fast, and suffered knee pain that forced him to take a week off the bike, he said.

Froome, a four-time Tour de France winner, explained on his YouTube channel that the pain is caused by inflammation of the tensor fascia femoris, a small muscle attached to the iliotibial ligament and involved in hip flexion, abduction, internal rotation, knee flexion and lateral rotation.

"For the last 10 days or so, I've had quite a bit of pain on the outside of my knee when I'm pedaling," said Froome, touching his right knee. It's the same leg where he fractured his femur in a dramatic crash during the 2019 Criterium du Dauphiné time trial reconnaissance.

"The scans showed that I basically damaged the TFL tendon," he said. [Unfortunately, my return to training over the last couple of weeks has been a little over zealous and maybe a little too much. It was after a few weeks off the bike, so maybe my body wasn't ready to push as hard. I got some inflammation."

Froom has not returned to the level of his seven Grand Tour wins since the crash, but the 36-year-old said he hopes to be back at a competitive level by 2022.

The knee injury has prevented Froome from ramping up his training in the coming weeks and has left his early-season race plans uncertain.

"It's pretty delicate, I have to take a week off the bike completely, and then I have to start gradually without any load for two or three weeks.

"It's definitely a setback for me. I'm not too sure where I want to start the racing season. This will definitely set everything back slightly."

"It's unfortunate, but we just have to do our best and keep working on what we can work on off the bike. I'm going to work on my core a lot and try to strengthen the muscles that I can work on without putting any more strain on my tendons."