would make him the seventh rider to win all three Grand Tours, and the third rider to hold all three Grand Tour titles simultaneously in a single 12-month period. On 5 February 2018, Froome announced he would start his season with an entry into the Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta del Sol), despite calls for him not to race until his case was resolved. However, there were also signs of support for Froome, with Ruta del Sol organiser Joaquín Cuevas claiming it to be "a pleasure and an honour" to have Froome in the race, and Mauro Vegni, the organiser of the Giro d'Italia, commenting that 'If he [Froome] wins the pink jersey, he'll always be the winner for me'. Cyclingnews.com also reported that Froome would be likely to compete in two Italian pre-Giro stage races: Tirreno–Adriatico and the Tour of the Alps. Froome entered the 2018 Giro d'Italia as one of the favourites to take the overall victory in Rome at the end of May. Once at the start of the Giro d'Italia, he was he would be cleared of his offences. However, before the race could even begin Froome crashed whilst performing a recon of the opening time trial in Jerusalem. Froome finished the time trial in 21st place, ceding 35 seconds to overall rival Tom Dumoulin. After the race, Team Sky directeur sportif Nicolas Portal admitted that the injury Froome sustained in the crash was worse that they had stated at the time, and Brailsford said that the crash was a setback to Froome's physical condition, which the team felt was below the required level at the start of the Giro. By the end of the first summit finish on Mount Etna, Froome had risen to eighth overall, one minute and 10 seconds behind early race leader Simon Yates. On stage 8, Froome fell on his injured side when his rear wheel slid on a wet climb. By the end of stage 9 to Gran Sasso d'Italia, Froome had lost a further one minute and 17 seconds to Yates, dropping to 11th overall. Stage 10 could have also proven ominous when afterwards he admitted to feeling pain and an imbalance between his legs; and was glad to maintain his position. Froome's first signs of recovery came through on the most difficult climb of the race to that point, Monte Zoncolan, where he distanced all of his main overall