Luke Rowe believes Froome could have competed against Pogacar and Vingegaard in his prime -"I think he could live with these boys, Froome in his prime"

Ineos Grenadiers rider Luke Rowe believes Chris Froome could have competed with Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar in his prime.

“The level is higher I’m not a big numbers man, but if you look at the numbers, they are going faster now than they were then, but the sport is evolving,” Rowe told Velonews. He continues, “They’re getting faster and faster with all this equipment, all this training, and all this jazz. He won, and in those years at the Tour, he was riding relatively within himself, to be honest.”

He believes without advanced techniques and machines, Froome managed to win four yellow jerseys, which shows he could have easily competed with Pogacar and Jonas without much difficulty. “We were conservative. This dull, robotic style that was written about, looking back, was dull and robotic. But I still stand by the fact that it was the most efficient way to defend the jersey. I think he could live with these boys, Froome in his prime," said Rowe.

Froome is still trying to reach his old self before his crash in 2019. He has made significant progress, but it's still a long way. His tour was far from perfect, but he managed to secure third place in the 12th stage of the Tour de France. He was forced to abandon the tour due to Covid-19.