Sport in Kenya road racing cyclists in the world, breaking through with runner-up finishes at the 2011 Vuelta a Espana and 2012 Tour de France before winning a bronze medal in the time trial at the 2012 Olympics and the 2013 Tour de France, becoming the first African-born rider to win the race. Froome rode as a Kenyan before switching his nationality to represent the United Kingdom before the 2008 Tour de France. He took his second Tour win in 2015 and a third the following year, followed by another time trial bronze at the 2016 Olympics. Froome was mentored by Kenyan professional
2012 Vuelta a España of , who finished second in the 2012 Giro d'Italia, Igor Antón of , Jurgen Van den Broeck of , Damiano Cunego of and Robert Gesink of . Riders who could have made the top ten included Froome's Colombian teammates at , Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Henao, 's Bauke Mollema, 's Maxime Monfort, 's Thomas De Gendt and 's Nicolas Roche. For details see 2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11 and 2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21 There were four main classifications contested in the 2012 Vuelta a España, with the most important being