Chris Froome and Ineos, it’s almost over. The British team has decided not to extend the contract for the 35-year-old cyclist, four-time winner of the Tour de France.
Briton Chris Froome, four-time winner of the Tour de France, will leave Ineos at the end of the season, the British cycling team announced on Thursday 9th July 2020.
“Chris’ current contract expires in December and we have decided not to extend it,” said team leader Dave Brailsford.
According to the BBC, 35-year-old Froome will continue his career with the Israel Start-Up Nation team, which has joined the World Tour (the highest level in world cycling) this season. He will rub shoulders with the German sprinter Andre Greipel there.
Team INEOS confirms we will not be renewing @chrisfroome’s contract – so after 10 great years this season will be Chris’s last with the team.
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) July 9, 2020
In search of new challenges
“I am looking for new challenges as I enter a new period of my career, but at the same time, I am focused on the goal of winning a fifth Tour de France with the Ineos team,” said the Briton. in the press release announcing his departure from Ineos. Recall that the start of the Tour de France 2020 was postponed to August 29 because of the coronavirus crisis.
Chris Froome spent ten years with the British team, named Sky until 2019, of which he was the main headliner, winning the Tour de France four times (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) and both other Grands Tours, the Vuelta (2011, 2017) and the Giro in 2018.
His contested leadership
In recent years, he had suffered more and more competition within the team often described as a steamroller on the Tour de France.
His teammate and compatriot Geraint Thomas had been privileged for the victory during the 2018 Big Loop, and it was the Colombian Egan Bernal, 23, who won the 2019 Tour in the absence of Froome, a victim of a serious falls sometime before departure.
