Chris Froome was one of the face's of cycling in the 2010's, and although he is long past his prime and currently does not race for results, he continues to be part of the peloton with a millionaire contract for years but only racing as a domestique for a ProTeam in small races. It is a scenario that baffles many including Johan Bruyneel.
"They're (Israel - Premier Tech, ed.) currently ranked 12th in points which is very good and then impressively the second division team Lotto who is 9th... But there's doing this no thanks to their highest paid rider Chris Froome who is at the Tour of Guangxi. I did not know he was racing until you text me about him," Spencer Martin said to Bruyneel on 'The Move' podcast. "He's invisible, and the amazing thing about Chris Froome is he's getting worst, every race he's getting worst than the race before".
A rough statement but one that is correct, taking into consideration the veteran's absence from action this year. A 27th place at the Tour du Rwanda is the 'best' result to mention, but this was in a race of mostly a continental field and a few ProTeam squads - with him supporting development team riders. This has been much of what the past few years with the Israeli team have been and at this point in his career it looks obvious that a Tour de France return won't happen, much less take hunt for a result in it.
"First of all whoever signed that deal for Froome, I'd say great job to his manager and to his agent; Incredibly bad job to the person who signed that deal, reportedly five-year contract, €5 million per year," Johan Bruyneel responded. "i think it was renegotiated for the last two years, but anyways that's just a bad decision. The fact that INEOS let him go so easily was I think already a red flag". Froome signed with the team into the 2021 season and the signing has been rated as one of the most notable in the sport's history, as his large salary has led to virtually no results for years on end, and the team ended up trapped in a deal they could not escape.
"We know the accident was terrible in the Dauphiné or before the Dauphiné, there's a before and after Chris Froome. To me it's just sad to see, it's sad to see a legend like Chris Froome who won four Tours, two Vueltas, one Giro, to see this now..." Froome most recently raced the Tour of Guangxi where he was part of one breakaway but was largely away from the screens. It was the end of his season, and although he will race in 2025 it's not certain what he will be racing or what role he will have in the team.
"He must like riding his bike a lot and of course you know if you get paid so much money: it's ok 'Im just going through this' every week and every day, probably saying another day on the jackpot," Bruyneel adds. "But it takes away from his legacy I think, Chris Froome is a legend and now everybody is basically looking at him and saying what is he doing." It is the result of a negotiation that seems to have largely benefited the Briton: "He keeps going next year by the way, another year of five or four or three million or whatever it is, it must drive the team owner crazy in my opinion, but there's nothing he can do he signed that deal right".
"With all the respect I have for Chris Froome but to me it looks really sad to see him drag himself, and it's not that he's dropped in big races, he gets dropped in the small races".
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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