Chris Froome "let down" by Tour de France snub, blames "frustrating" equipment issues

Chris Froome has once again spoken out about his disappointment at missing out on Israel-Premier Tech's Tour de France team, saying he feels "let down" and reasserting his belief that his preparation was derailed by "frustrating" mechanical issues.

The UCI ProTeam dropped out of the WorldTour for 2023 and have not been offered a wildcard spot at the Vuelta a España, meaning Froome will not get the opportunity to ride a Grand Tour this season, instead heading across Europe for the Czech Tour and Deutschland Tour.

Following up on comments made in the immediate aftermath of his Tour omission, Froome explained in a YouTube video, titled 'I WAS READY FOR THE TOUR', how "it was a pretty big disappointment, a pretty big let down".

"I took a bit of time off having missed out on Tour de France selection," he said. "I had been working so hard all season basically to get to that point.

"It was a pretty big disappointment, a pretty big let down not making the Tour de France squad this year, I really felt as if I was on track, as if physically I was ready and hit all my goals in terms of reaching race weight."

Addressing his poor form in the run up to Grand Tour selection, finishing 55th in the CIC - Mont Ventoux before a 40th place at La Route d'Occitanie, Froome doubled down on his assertion that he was let down by equipment issues, needing three bike changes at the first of the aforementioned races before suffering with saddle slip at the second.

> "Same Chris, it's the darn bike holding me back!": Fans react to Chris Froome's "equipment"

"The Mont Ventoux one-day classic didn't go well for me at all," he admitted. "I had a bit of a mechanical, I had something get stuck in my cranks right at the foot of Ventoux. I changed bikes, got onto a spare bike and for some reason the handlebar was completely bent so it must have got knocked by something on the roof of the car, so I had to change bikes again.

"I mean, first of all I'm not really a great one-day rider, I've never really had a top result in a one-day race so doing a few one-day races wasn't really ideal. 

"I did also do Route d'Occitanie which had one big day of climbing and it was down to that one big day of climbing that I needed to show what I'd be capable of doing in the Tour de France but unfortunately I just felt completely locked up through my lower back.

"I could feel something wasn't right, I wasn't pushing right on the bike. Having finished the stage I asked Gary [Israel-Premier Tech mechanic Gary Blem] to check things on the bike and he saw straight away that my saddle set back had slipped. I was basically too stretched on the bike and not really pushing in the right position. That was frustrating because that was my only real chance to show myself before the Tour de France."

The four-time winner remains confident he had "a lot more to show" and the mechanical-hit warm up races were not a true reflection of his form.

"It felt as though I still had a lot more to give and a lot more to show, it was disappointing, but the team has chosen to go with a different approach to the Tour this year, so I have had to refocus," Froome continued.

"I did take a bit of a break. Mentally and physically I have been working for so long for that point and for it not to come through it felt as though I needed to shut down for a little bit, just switch off mentally and physically before getting back into things."

It is not the first time Froome has been outspoken about equipment issues at the team he joined after leaving Ineos at the end of 2020. He has regularly expressed his criticism of disc brakes, in 2021 saying he does not believe "the technology is quite where it needs to be", comments supported by team mechanic Blem.

> Chris Froome's mechanic agrees with his boss: "I'm not a huge fan of disc brakes"

Then, that summer, at the Tour de France, Froome was spotted using Magura's MT8 SL FM, swapping out the Shimano callipers used by the rest of the team.

And his frustrations did not end there. Earlier this year, a fed up Froome denounced disc brake wheels on an Instagram Reel and insinuated that his recent Tour du Rwanda woes were down to slow wheel changes.

The veteran Grand Tour contender has been left to watch Israel-Premier Tech's more youthful line-up, also without 38-year-old Jakub Fuglsang, build on its double stage win success in 2022, Michael Woods winning Sunday's summit finish at Puy de Dôme.