Chris Froome notices that he could use the switch to his new team Israel Start-Up Nation well. The four-time Tour de France winner is currently preparing for his first race of this season, the Tour of San Juan at the end of January.
“Switching to another team now helps me mentally so much and gives me new motivation,” said 35-year-old Froome in a video on Sunday. YouTube. “It’s a new project, a new chapter. It feels quite rejuvenating.”
Froome has driven for INEOS and its predecessor Sky for the past eleven years. With the British formation, the Briton won the Tour de France in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. He also won the Vuelta a España (2011 and 2017) and the Giro d’Italia (2018).
“I am now 35 years old and coming back from a serious injury”, Froome refers to the injuries he sustained from a fall during training last year. This season he noticed that he needed a new environment. “Year after year, I rode for the same team. That felt a bit like copy-paste.”
‘My goal is to get back to top level’
Last year Froome missed the Tour due to his serious injury and this year he was not included in the selection of INEOS Grenadiers for the French cycling round. Despite this, he still wants to compete with his new team for the overall victory in ‘La Grande Boucle’.
“My goal is to get back to top level. I am very optimistic about the coming season”, he says. In recent times he has worked in California on “weaknesses from his injuries and his balance”.
Froome will start his season in Argentina on January 24. There he will ride the Tour of San Juan until January 31.
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