Froome will bypass Giro to focus on Tour mission

CHRIS FROOME has confirmed that he will not be defending his Giro d’Italia crown this year, and will focus instead on trying to beat all comers, including Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas, at the Tour de France. Colombian Egan Bernal, 21, will lead Sky at the Giro instead.

Froome, 33, is aiming to become the fifth rider to win five Tours after Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven titles for doping.

Thomas, 32, won the maillot jaune for the first time in 2018 and says he expects equal treatment from the start this year after Froome was prioritised by Team Sky in the first half of the 2018 race. The Welsh rider has clearly grown in confidence and stature since beating Froome into third place in that race.

Froome, though, can legitimately argue that he was below par at last year’s Tour having ridden a tough Giro just a few weeks earlier.

He won that Giro thanks to a stunning 80km solo break on stage 19, which turned the race on its head. But his exertions clearly caught up with him.

He said it was a “difficult decision” to skip the Giro, but an obvious one given his Tour ambitions.

“I’ve got some amazing memories from last year, but I think, with the Tour de France as my main objective, it’s probably better that I skip the Giro d’Italia in 2019,” Froome said.