For several years, Chris Froome has been suffering from bilharzia, a parasitic disease, and has received treatment since 2009. A recent test came back negative for the first time since 2009 and so Froome can now face the 2014 season without any health worries.

Many have questioned Chris Froome's meteoric rise through the ranks, with the Brit coming almost out of nowhere to finish 2nd in the 2011 Vuelta a Espana and going on to finish in the top 2 of the Tour de France in the past two editions. One of the reasons for his slow progress in the early years of his professional career was, however, the parasitic disease bilharzia that has plagued him for at least five years.

The disease was one of the reasons for Froome's inconsistent performances earlier in his career but in recent years he has had it under control. However, the Brit can now finally put his health issues behind him as a recent test has come back negative for the first time since his diagnosis in 2009.

"At last I am free of the debilitating disease bilharzia," he told The Independent. "I had a test when I went back to Kenya recently and it is the first time it has come back negative since the diagnosis [in 2009]. That is fantastic news for me. I'm not going to have to worry about that any more. That should be it gone now.

"I have been going back every six months for the past two years and returning positive results. When I was first diagnosed they said it had been in my system for at least two years, but it could have been there even longer, five or six years possibly."

With the disease now behind him, Froome can start to look forward to the 2014 season with more confidence. In 2013 the Sky leader was the dominant stage racer and won the Tour of Oman, Criterium International, Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphiné on his way to his triumph in the Tour de France.

The win in the world's biggest race has earned him a nomination for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards which has been won by a cyclist twice in a row. In 2011 Mark Cavendish was honoured for his world championships title while Bradley Wiggins took the price for his magnificent 2012 season that saw him win another Olympic gold medal and become the first British Tour champion.

The nomination has allowed Froome to look back at his exploits and his sees his stage win on the Mont Ventoux as the day where he laid the foundations for his overall win.

"The Ventoux stage sent a particularly strong message to my rivals," he said. "I was already in the yellow jersey so I think they were expecting me to ride in a very defensive manner, trying to minimise any losses, if there were any, and follow them. When I went on the offensive there and took the race on for myself, started opening up the advantage I already had, I think that sent the message, 'You guys are racing for second place already'. It was a risk. I ran the risk of going out too hard, blowing up and losing time. It is a very big mental challenge as much as it is physical. There is a very big mental battle going on there."

Froome is not the favourite to win the BBC award this year as many tip tennis player Andy Murray to receive the prestigious honour. Froome knows that the competition is fierce and keeps his feet firmly on the ground.

"It would be incredible to win the sports award, a dream end to the season, but looking at the competition I'm not even thinking about that," he said. "It's great to be on that stage. I'm just grateful for the year that I have had.

"One of the things I have to keep reminding people about is that it is something really extraordinary to have a British victory at the Tour de France two years successively, given that in the previous 100 years we have not had one. I think people get lulled into a false sense that this is easy, but it is certainly far from that. I would love to go back next year and do it again. There is a chance that could happen.

"I did get the better of my competition this year and they will be back with a vengeance, training harder than ever to take me on again. I'm going to have to rise to that. It's going to be a big challenge."

In 2014 Froome will again target the world's biggest bike race and he has said that he is more motivated by the thought of taking multiple wins in La Grande Boucle than by the idea of adding other grand tours to his palmares.

Loving his lifestyle, he plans to continue his career for a long time.

"Pro cycling is a bit of a strange thing but addictive in many ways, the freedom that it gives you, that feeling of being able to express yourself, being close to nature training every day," he said. "It is something quite special.

"I'm going to keep doing it as long as I can, until my body says that's enough. As long as I have that motivation to keep doing the Tour de France, challenging for the top spot, I'm going to keep doing it. Riders do go on until their forties."

Froome has recently returned from the first Sky training camp but hasn't unveiled his race schedule for the coming season.