Chris Froome to miss Tour de France 2023 as Israel-Premier Tech leave out multiple Grand Tour champion
Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome has been left out of the Israel-Premier Tech squad for this year’s event; Froome won the 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions of cycling’s most famous race with Team Sky; the 2023 Tour de France takes place from July 1 to July 23
Chris Froome will miss this year’s Tour de France after being left out of the Israel-Premier Tech squad.
Froome, 38, has struggled with form since the middle of 2019, when he crashed into a wall at high speed on a training ride – fracturing his right femur, elbow, and ribs.
He left Team Ineos, formerly known as Team Sky, at the end of 2020 to join Israel Premier-Tech and recently stated this year’s Tour was his “ultimate goal”, only to not be picked by his team.
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Only Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain have won more yellow jerseys than Froome, who is contracted to ride for Israel Premier-Tech until the end of 2025 which would take him into his 40s.
“‘I’m obviously disappointed with the decision. The Tour de France holds an incredibly special place in my heart,” Froome told GCN.
“Physically I was ready, but unfortunately I was unable to show my full ability at the races assigned to me due to equipment issues.
“I respect the team’s decision and will take some time before refocusing on objectives later in the season and returning to the Tour de France in 2024.”
Froome won the Tour de France in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017
Michael Woods and Dylan Teuns will lead Israel-Premier Tech’s team with Guillaume Boivin, Simon Clarke, Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands, Nick Schultz and Corbin Strong making up the rest of the eight-rider squad.
“It was a tough decision to select our Tour de France team this year but we feel we selected eight riders best suited to fulfilling our performance objectives,” added Israel-Premier Tech general manager Kjell Carlstrom.
“The fact that we had a difficult decision to make when looking at our long list shows the strength and depth of our rider group, and unfortunately we could not select everyone.”
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What to look out for at the 2023 Tour de France
This year’s Tour de France begins on July 1 in Spain and is set to see a big battle for the yellow jersey between Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard.
The pair had a thrilling duel last year and Vingegaard came out on top to claim his first Tour title. However, Pogacar was in superb form earlier this season as he notched up major wins at Paris-Nice, the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold and La Fleche Wallonne, before suffering an accident in April.
Mark Cavendish will retire at the end of this year, so will ride at the Tour de France for one last time. The Manx Missile needs just one stage win to surpass Merckx’s record of 34.
Former world champion and Olympic medallist Mark Cavendish has announced he will retire from cycling at the end of the 2023 season
Cavendish was not picked for last year’s event and will ride for Astana Qazaqstan in his final outing in the sport’s biggest race.
He won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in May, just days after announcing his retirement, and will be closely watched during the sprint stages at the Tour.
