Froome and Thomas left off Ineos Tour de France team
Tour de France champions Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas have been left off the Ineos Grenadiers squad for the upcoming 2020 Tour.
In a press release sent out Wednesday morning European time, Ineos announced that defending champion Egan Bernal will lead Ineos in the Tour’s 107th edition while Froome and Thomas will set their sights on the Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia respectively.
“Selecting the right leader in the right race with the right support team is critical and has meant we have had to analyse all the latest information to make sure we are in the best position possible to optimise our performances in the coming months,” said team principal Dave Brailsford.
“Egan will once again target the yellow jersey in France and we are very excited to give last year’s Giro winner, Richard Carapaz, his debut in this year’s Tour also. Geraint will target the Giro and take on the opportunity to double up his Tour de France win with another Grand Tour title, with the aim of being the first Welshman to win it.
“In turn, Chris Froome will target the Vuelta.”
With three past Tour de France winners on the squad — Bernal, Thomas and Froome — plus Giro winner Carapaz, the question of Ineos’ leadership for the Tour has been the subject of much discussion. At the recent Criterium du Dauphine, Bernal rode as the Ineos leader, but abandoned the race due to back pain. Thomas wasn’t at his best during the five-stage race, nor was Froome who’s still coming back from a serious injury sustained at last year’s Dauphine.
“Chris is a legend of our sport, a true champion who has demonstrated incredible grit and determination to come back from his crash last year,” Brailsford said. “We want to support him to compete for another Grand Tour title and the Vuelta gives him that little bit more time to continue his progress to the top level.”
Ineos’ team for the upcoming Tour de France, which starts on August 29, will be Egan Bernal, Richard Carapaz, Pavel Sivakov, Andrey Amador, Jonathan Castroviejo, Michal Kwiatkowski, Luke Rowe and Dylan van Baarle.
More to come …
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