Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has missed out on selection for Israel-Premier Tech’s eight-man roster for the race, for the second year running.
The British rider had a tough opening to the season after fracturing his scaphoid in Tirreno-Adriatico and only returned to racing in late May for the Mercan’Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes.
He then rode the Critérium du Dauphiné but admitted that “It will be tough to make the team,” due to his lack of race days.
With only one year left on his contract, the 2025 edition could be the 39-year-old’s final chance to ride the Tour again.
Flèche Wallonne winner and British compatriot Stephen Williams is one of the headline riders going to the Tour instead for Israel-Premier Tech with their team selection designed around chasing stage wins.
He’ll be joined by Derek Gee after the Canadian put on a career-best performance at the Dauphiné and took his first WorldTour stage win, as well as finishing third overall behind Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Gee will chase stage wins throughout the three weeks and is looking to follow in the footsteps of fellow Canadians Hugo Houle and Michael Woods who have netted stage victories for Israel-Premier Tech at the Tour in the past two seasons.
“I’m unbelievably excited to be lining up at my first Tour,” said Gee in a team press release. “It’s truly a childhood dream to race the Tour de France, and I can’t wait to experience the atmosphere of the biggest race in the world.”
Both he and Williams will be on debut at the Tour after successful 2024 seasons and joining them will be Houle, Jakob Fuglsang, Jake Stewart, Pascal Ackermann, Guillaume Boivin and Krists Neilands.
It is understood that Froome will now likely focus on the Vuelta a Espana, which he has won twice, in 2011 and 2017.
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