(Paris) The Briton Chris Froome, four-time winner of the Tour de France, was, like last year, not selected for the 2024 edition by his team Israel Premier Tech which revealed its squad of eight riders for the Grande Loop Friday.
The Canadian Michael Woods, winner at the summit of Puy-de-Dôme last year, is also absent from the selection which will be led by Derek Gee, revelation from Dauphiné where he took third place in June, and Stevie Williams, winner of Flèche Wallonne in spring.
“It’s a childhood dream come true to be part of the greatest race in the world,” Gee said before the start of the Tour de France on Saturday, June 29, in Florence, Italy.
Rather than the general, the Israeli team will first aim for stage victories, explained sports director Steve Bauer who also retained Pascal Ackermann, Guillaume Boivin, Jakob Fuglsang, Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands and Jake Stewart.
The absence of Chris Froome, winner of the Tour de France in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, is not really a surprise.
The 39-year-old Briton is no longer the champion he once was, notably following a very serious accident in 2019 during the Dauphiné, a race he passed through like a shadow this year.
