Froome to ride for Israeli team

Britain’s most decorated road cyclist Chris Froome will leave Team Ineos at the end of the season, ending a long association with the British outfit with whom he won the Tour de France four times.

In a statement, team boss Dave Brailsford, the mastermind of Froome’s Tour wins in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, said he had taken the decision not to renew the British rider’s contract which ends in December.

The 35-year-old Froome has signed a multi-year contract at Israel Start-Up Nation.

“We are making this announcement earlier than would usually be the case to put an end to recent speculation and allow the Team to focus on the season ahead,” Brailsford said.

Kenya-born Froome suffered a dreadful accident in 2019 in training and missed the Tour, which was won by Colombian teammate Egan Bernal.

He said he was still focused on winning his fifth Tour de France title with the team in the 2020 race, which has been rescheduled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It has been a phenomenal decade with the Team, we have achieved so much together and

I will always treasure the memories,” Froome, who joined the team then known as Team Sky in 2010, said.

“I look forward to exciting new challenges as I move into the next phase of my career.”

The recruitment of Froome, who also won the Giro d’Italia in 2018, the 2017 Vuelta as well as the 2011 edition retrospectively, is a major coup for Israel StartUp Nation.

“This is a historic moment for ISN, Israel, Israeli sports, our many fans all around the world and, of course, for me personally — a moment of enormous pride,” said the team’s co-owner, Sylvan Adams. /