Chris Froome’s relationship with his current sponsor, the Israel-Premier Tech team, appears to be deteriorating, after the team owner, Sylvan Adams, said the four-time Tour de France winner had “absolutely not” been value for money since signing in late 2020.
“How could we say we had value for money?” Adams told cyclingweekly.com. “We signed Chris to be the leader of our Tour de France team and he’s not even here, so that cannot be considered value for money … Chris isn’t a symbol. He isn’t a PR tool … So no, I couldn’t say he’s value for money, no.”
Froome was expected to start this year’s Tour but after a series of anonymous results was surprisingly not selected for the eight-man lineup. In a video posted on YouTube on 13 July, Froome said: “It was a pretty big disappointment, a pretty big letdown. I really felt as if I was on track, I felt as if physically I was ready.”
The 38-year-old also detailed a number of mechanical issues he had suffered during Tour buildup races, suggested that his programme of races “wasn’t really ideal” and added that he felt he had “a lot more to give and to show”.
Froome did not reply when asked if he wanted to respond to Adams’s comments.
Froome, winner of one Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España twice for seven Grand Tours in total as well as multiple other races, joined Adams’s team as he continued his comeback from injuries sustained in a life-threatening crash in June 2019. Adams said: “His performances have nothing to do with his injuries in my observation. I don’t think Chris is using that as an excuse any more.
“We took a risk, but we were signing the best Grand Tour rider of this generation, and I was willing to take the risk.
“It did raise our profile, but this isn’t a PR exercise. My idea was: ‘Wow, we’re going to have somebody to be relevant for the GC [general classification] at the Tour de France,’ and that hasn’t happened.”
The Israeli-Canadian billionaire added: “I am very respectful towards Chris. He is a four-time Tour winner. I respect his past accomplishments, but if you want to be on this year’s Tour team or next year’s Tour team, we don’t care what you did seven years ago, we care about what you have done this year and you need to earn your spot.”
Froome will race next in the Czech Tour but will not ride the Vuelta a España, and so will not take part in any of the Grand Tours this season, having missed the Giro d’Italia. However, he has already said that he plans to compete in next year’s Tour de France.
