No Chris Froome at Tour de France 2023 as Israel – Premier Tech leave out 'disappointed' four-time winner

Updated 23/06/2023 at 09:36 GMT

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome won't get the chance to continue his legacy in the famous race after he was left out of his Israel – Premier Tech team. Froome, 38, had declared in recent days that he was targeting a stage win at this year's Tour, but it now appears those hopes have been dashed. Froome rode in last year's race as he continues to fully recover from a 2019 crash.

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Chris Froome won't get the chance to fulfil his "ultimate goal" of appearing at the 2023 Tour de France after the four-time winner was left out of his Israel – Premier Tech team.

Froome recently said riding the Tour was his main objective of 2023, and declared his ambition to try and win a stage after going close on Alpe d'Huez last year.

His third place on Stage 12 was his best Tour de France stage finish since 2018, after the Brit fought back from serious injury incurred during a high-speed crash in 2019.

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Froome had been aiming to push himself further this year and, having overcome a tendon problem, he trained at a pre-Tour altitude camp in a bid to get himself in the best possible condition for another appearance at the famous race.

Speaking to GCN about his omission, Froome said: "’I'm obviously disappointed with the decision. The Tour de France holds an incredibly special place in my heart.

“Physically I was ready, but unfortunately I was unable to show my full ability at the races assigned to me due to equipment issues."

Mechanical issues have certainly interrupted Froome's progress this season, with the 38-year-old unable to finish with the leaders on the mountain stage of his last race at La Route d'Occitane.

And while at the CIC - Mont Ventoux, he was forced to change bikes several times.

Despite his disappointment, Froome shows no sign of giving up on the sport and has pledged to bounce back.

“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.”

With Froome omitted from the line-up, the team for Israel-Premier Tech is:

Guillaume Boivin (CAN)
Simon Clarke (AUS)
Hugo Houle (CAN)
Krists Neilands (LAT)
Nick Schultz (AUS)
Corbin Strong (NZL)
Dylan Teuns (BEL)
Michael Woods (CAN)

Clarke and Houle were both stage winners during last year’s Tour.

Speaking about the selection, IPT's team manager Kjell Carlstrom said: “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."

“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.

"We carefully looked at the necessary roles to fill when it comes to hunting for stage wins and chose our eight riders accordingly.”

The Tour de France starts on July 1.

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