“Chris isn’t a PR tool, he’s supposed to be our leader at the Tour de France and he’s not even here,” said team boss Sylvan Adams, who added that Froome is currently riding like a “pedestrian domestique” cycling TDF2023
, and cast doubt on his future with Israel-Premier Tech, where, Adams claimed, he may be resigned to the role of a “pedestrian domestique” if he decides to stay with the team.
In a video titled ‘I was ready for the Tour’, Froome claimed that “I really felt as if I was on track, as if physically I was ready and hit all my goals in terms of reaching race weight”. He also doubled down on his assertion that his poor pre-Tour form – which saw him finish 55th at the CIC-Mont Ventoux race before an equally underwhelming 40th place at La Route d’Occitanie – was the result of a plethora of mechanical issues.
“I am very respectful towards Chris. He is a four-time Tour winner, and I treat him with the same deference,” Adams said. “I respect his past accomplishments, but if you want to be on this year’s Tour team or next year’s Tour team, we don’t care what you did seven years ago, we care about what you have done this year and you need to earn your spot.
“But of course he was disappointed, because in his heart he believed he could come here and perform eventually. But not as a GC guy – and really we brought him as a GC guy, we didn’t sign him to be a stage hunter – and we all recognise, including Chris, he is not ready to compete for a GC podium, forget about winning, or even close, so if he wants to come here and hunt for stages he has got to displace one of these guys here. And frankly he didn’t earn that spot.
“Chris’ performances now have nothing to do with his injuries in my observation. I don't think Chris is using that as an excuse anymore. We took a risk, but we were signing, as I said, the best Grand Tour rider of this generation, and I was willing to take the risk as we were a little team and overnight we were hoping to become contenders here at the Tour.
“If he just doesn’t produce results in lower-tier races, would he really want to continue to be a pedestrian domestique on this team? Again, that’s up to Chris.”While those comments, and Froome’s recent video, may indicate that the relationship between team owner and big-money rider is rapidly deteriorating, Adams nevertheless stressed that he has committed to allowing the former Giro d’Italia winner to retire at Israel-Premier Tech on his own terms.
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