Chris Froome will no longer start on Thursday in the eighteenth stage of the Tour de France. The Briton of Israel – Prime Minister Tech has tested positive for corona. The 37-year-old four-time Tour winner was 26th and announced that he would now focus on the Vuelta.
It was previously announced that Spaniard Imanol Erviti and Italian Damiano Caruso cannot continue due to a corona infection. Their teams, Movistar and Bahrain Victorious, respectively, announced this. At Israel – Premier Tech, the Australian Simon Clarke and the Dane Jakob Fuglsang had already dropped out.
This means that only four teams with a complete selection will start the third and final Pyrenees stage. These are Ineos Grenadiers, Groupama-FDJ, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert and B&B Hotels-KTM.
Vuelta
Froome focuses on the Tour of Spain after his failure in the Tour. The 37-year-old Briton from Israel – Premier Tech explained his failure on social media shortly before the start of the eighteenth stage. “I’m really disappointed that I won’t make it to Paris. It has become a very special race for us as a team and for me personally,” said the four-time Tour winner.
His team won this Tour thanks to the Australian Simon Clarke and the Canadian Hugo Houle, while in the stage to Alpe d’Huez Froome was somewhat reminiscent of the rider he was before his bad fall in the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2019.
Froome won the Tour de France four times between 2013 and 2017. “I have finally found my good legs again and I want to thank everyone for the support,” said the Briton, who is going home to recover. “After that I will focus on being ready for the Vuelta.”
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