Published June 22, 2022 02:02PM
Chris Froome will be riding the 2022 Tour de France after being selected for Israel – Premier Tech’s squad.
The four-time champion made his return to the French Grand Tour in 2021 after two years out due to injury, riding to 133rd overall, the level that won him multiple Grand Tours lost in that Critérium du Dauphiné crash in 2019.
While the 37-year-old has struggled for form since that accident, leaving Ineos at the end of 2020 for the Israeli WorldTour squad, this season he’s shown glimpses of progress.
At the Mercan-Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes on May 31, Froome finished 11th, his teammate Jakob Fuglsang winning that race.
And it will be the Dane who leads the Israel – Premier Tech squad this Grande Boucle, who along with Canadian Michael Woods will be hoping to bring home a first-ever Tour stage win for the team.
In their Tour squad announcement, Israel – Premier Tech describe Froome as having had his “best season” with the team in 2022.
“It’s awesome to be starting my 10th Tour de France with Israel – Premier Tech,” Froome said. “I’ve worked exceptionally hard this year and I’m looking forward to giving it my all. We’ve got a great group of riders in the lineup and we can’t wait for the battle to begin in Copenhagen.”
The rest of the squad is made up of Hugo Houle, Simon Clarke, Daryl Impey, Omer Goldstein and Krists Neilands, who with an average age of 33 will have the oldest eight-man team at the race by more than two years, with Bike-Exchange Jayco in second.